Commonweal Ventures

Thomas Kaplan serves as Managing Partner and leads investment decisions at Commonweal Ventures. Kaplan's background combines technology investing with expertise in defense and natural resource sectors. The firm operates with a lean team structure, meaning Kaplan maintains direct involvement in sourcing and portfolio management rather than delegating to a large investment committee.

Commonweal focuses on seed-stage and early-stage investments, typically entering as a first institutional capital provider. The firm concentrates on companies that have moved beyond the prototype phase and require growth capital to scale their technology. This positioning allows Commonweal to establish meaningful ownership stakes and board influence early in a company's trajectory.

The firm targets artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms, cybersecurity infrastructure, and technology serving regulated industries such as healthcare, agriculture, and defense. Commonweal's investment lens emphasizes national resilience and critical civilian infrastructure, distinguishing its sector focus from generalist venture funds that lack a public-interest orientation.

Commonweal Ventures operates as a direct investment firm, making equity investments in individual companies rather than committing capital to external venture funds. The firm prefers to build concentrated positions where it can provide strategic guidance rather than diversifying through fund-of-funds allocations.

Deal flow draws from Thomas Kaplan's network across defense, energy, and technology ecosystems, as well as federal and Washington, DC-based technology contacts. Commonweal's specialization in national security-adjacent technology creates proprietary sourcing channels — particularly in AI and cybersecurity — that generalist investors do not typically access. The firm also benefits from referrals through its existing portfolio founders.