Venture studio and fund for the Era of Autonomy

Fast‑forward the hard stufftogether.

Next Wave Partners builds deep tech companies side by side with technical founders. We put experienced operators in the room, research the market before we commit and finance the build with the Safer.

I am building a company I invest in companies

A small, diverse founding team gathered around a workbench and a robot rover prototype, talking and smiling

Small teams, hard problems

Ways to work with us

Build, back and grow the next wave

Founders build companies with the studio. Corporate partners turn their expertise, customers and IP into new ventures with us. Accredited investors back that work through Fund I or deal by deal through the Next Wave Investor Network. Funds, buyers and sellers work with our Advisory team.

Three engineers working together at a bench full of electronics

For founders

The Venture Studio

Research first, then experienced operators inside your company as fractional executives, funded with the Safer. Governance stays with the founding team.

See how the studio works For accredited investors

Fund I

Next Wave Capital Fund I offers pooled exposure to the Era of Autonomy thesis across a portfolio financed with Safers. Full terms appear only in the Fund I materials.

Read about Fund I For accredited investors

Investor Network

A membership for investors who prefer to decide deal by deal. Members receive original research, quarterly briefings and access to co-investment alongside the studio.

Explore the Network

A corporate engineer and a venture builder working on a battery and sensor prototype in a workshop

For established companies

Corporate Venture

Put your expertise, customers and IP to work in new ventures, built hands-on with our operators from research to pilot to market.

Explore Corporate Venture

A small fund team reviewing an investment memo together at a conference table

For funds, buyers and sellers

Advisory

Fund Advisory for venture capital funds that invest with the Safer, and M&A Advisory for buyers and sellers of privately held companies. A separate line of work from the studio, Fund I and the Network.

Explore Advisory

Who we build with

Technical founders building machines that think

Robots, drones, sensors, batteries and the networks between them. Our founders work on hardware and software that has to survive the physical world, and we work right there with them.

Two engineers assembling a battery storage module on a lab bench

Two engineers testing a robotic bionic hand prototype at a desk

Three founders sketching system architecture on a glass wall

A small team discussing work beside a 3D printer

Two founders testing a quadcopter prototype with a tablet

AI and automation

Agentic and embodied AI, industrial robotics and autonomous systems.

Data infrastructure

Edge computing, low latency networks, real-time processing and sensor fusion.

Next-generation power

Distributed generation, advanced storage, smart grids and energy management.

Intelligent infrastructure

Smart factories, autonomous logistics and machine-to-machine commerce.

Read the thesis behind these areas

The Safer

Let revenue buy back the round

The Simple Agreement for Future Equity with Repurchase starts like a familiar early-stage investment. After a grace period, a small share of revenue buys back part of the investor’s position each quarter until a target is met. What remains converts at the original cap.

Walk through the Safer Download the open template

1
Investment
Purchase amount and terms agreed up front.
2
Honeymoon
The company builds with no repurchase payments due.
3
Repurchase
A set share of revenue funds quarterly buybacks until the target return.
4
Conversion
The remaining position converts at the original cap at a sale or listing.

Portfolio

Building intelligent and sustainable infrastructure

On the intelligent side, the portfolio covers positioning networks, edge fiber, swarm autonomy, drone ports and 3D perception. On the sustainable side, it covers wastewater evaporation and carbon capture. Every company maps to the Era of Autonomy thesis.

Surge Holdings

Positioning systems and environmental sensors that make urban corridors and utility rights-of-way machine-readable.

Genios

Carrier-neutral fiber and edge computing built into large private real estate developments.

Adaptive Swarm Technologies

Patented autonomy software for multi-agent coordination and navigation where satellite positioning is unavailable.

Tubular Network

Vertiport infrastructure inside buildings for drone logistics at airports and large mixed-use sites.

CronAI USA

The senseEDGE platform for edge-based 3D perception, used by cities, transport authorities and industrial operators.

EcoVap

Wastewater evaporation services financed through a two-phase project capital model.

Carbon GeoCapture

Carbon capture delivered as a pay-per-use utility service.

Company reports

Detailed reports on each company go to Fund I investors and members of the Network.

Request a conversation

Company descriptions summarize our March 2026 portfolio research report. Detailed company reports go to Fund I investors and members of the Next Wave Investor Network.

Books

We publish the playbooks

Cover of Venture Capital 2.0 by John Cowan

Venture Capital 2.0John Cowan · Amazon

Cover of Venture Capital Without Unicorns by James Thomason

Venture Capital Without UnicornsJames Thomason · Amazon

Latest research

Browse all research

Next Wave general partners John Cowan and James Thomason together in a studio

The people in the room

Operators who have sat in the founder’s chair

We have been founders, CTOs and executives for decades. We have raised capital, shipped products, closed enterprise customers and been through acquisitions. Now we do that work alongside the founders we back.