The investors funding the Autonomous Era
The Next Wave Network brings together family offices, exited founders, and experienced angels who think in decades to co-invest, collaborate, and build.
Our Thesis
We believe the Autonomous Era represents a generational shift in technology and infrastructure, on the scale of electrification or the internet. Autonomous systems, intelligent infrastructure, and the machine economy will reshape industries over the next two decades.
We built the Network to deploy capital against this thesis with investors who think the same way.
What the Network Delivers
Thesis-Aligned Deal Flow
First look at co-investment opportunities in Next Wave portfolio companies. Every opportunity is pre-screened against our thesis and operational criteria. You evaluate and act independently.
Portfolio Support
Have portfolio companies that need more than capital? If the opportunity aligns with our thesis, we evaluate fit, embed operators, and may co-invest alongside you. This isn't passive capital. It's how we built our own companies.
Research & Insights
Deep research on the Autonomous Era: sector analysis, market mapping, and our annual State of the Thesis report. Institutional depth, not newsletter fluff.
Peer Network
Family offices, exited founders, and experienced angels who share a patient capital philosophy. Member events, deal sharing, and introductions across the member base.
Transparency & Reporting
Quarterly briefings with portfolio updates and sector trends. Direct access to company leadership and full visibility into how we evaluate opportunities.
The Builders
John Cowan and James Thomason spent 50 years combined building companies, not advising from the sidelines. We've raised capital, been in the founder's seat, and learned what the venture model gets wrong.
We built the Network for investors who see it too.
The Network is for investors who:
Founding Membership: $1,000/Year
We're building the Network with 50 founding members. Investors who want to shape infrastructure, not just access it. After the founding cohort closes, membership moves to $2,000/year and the governance structure is set. Membership funds research, quarterly events, and deal sourcing. Accredited investors only; verification required before first investment.
What Founding Members Shape
Governance structure, deal review process, event format, and transparency standards. We've built companies and know that good outcomes don't come from top-down mandates. They come from aligned people making decisions together.
Become a Founding Member
Traditional venture structures optimize for fund cycles, not outcomes. We built something different: investors and operators with shared conviction, patient capital, and skin in the game.
If that's how you invest, we should talk.
Important Disclosure: Next Wave Partners LLC ("NWP") is an operating company and venture studio, not an investment fund. NWP is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an Exempt Reporting Adviser (ERA) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. NWP is not a broker-dealer, underwriter, or FINRA member, and does not solicit or place securities on behalf of third parties. Any investment opportunities presented through the Next Wave Network are offered only to accredited investors and are subject to applicable securities regulations. NWP does not receive transaction-based or success-based compensation. All investors are encouraged to perform independent due diligence and consult their own legal, tax, and financial advisors before investing.