Sht 05 / For founders
Start with the engineer.
We write first institutional checks and take meaningful ownership at inception. Technical founders choose us because we understand what they're building — and we diligence it the way they do.
Founders who've done hard things
Demonstrated ability to build under pressure — not just credentials.
Technical differentiation
A defensible edge: IP, process know-how, or something genuinely hard to replicate.
Real customer signal
LOIs, pilots, design partnerships, or serious buyer conversations. Revenue isn't required at seed.
A realistic capital plan
You understand what it costs to reach the next fundable milestone. Optimistic timelines are a flag.
A clean cap table
Founders retain enough equity to stay motivated. Messy early structures create later problems.
Regulatory clarity
You've thought about ITAR/EAR, supply-chain exposure, and NDAA compliance.
“Would we be embarrassed if this failed — not because failure is bad, but because we didn't do the work?”
“Is this a founder we'd want to work with for the next seven to ten years?”
What does Eigenstate invest in?
The foundational layer of American industrial capacity — the materials, components, and physics-based platforms behind defense, nuclear and energy, space, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and critical materials.
What stage do you invest at?
Inception. We write first institutional checks and take meaningful ownership before generalist capital recognizes the opportunity. Revenue isn't required at this stage; real customer signal is.
How do you diligence a company?
Technical-first. We work through founder background, technical validation, market timing, customer signal, use of funds, risk inventory, and the cap table.
Who runs the firm?
Brennan Thomas, founder and general partner — an engineer and operator with a background in optics and hardware who still runs a hardware company.