The Commons Project Foundation
The Commons Project Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds open-standard digital health infrastructure, including the CommonHealth app, CommonPass travel verification, the SMART Health Card Verifier, and the CommonTrust Network registry, serving governments, enterprises, and individual consumers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What The Commons Project Foundation does
The Commons Project Foundation (TCP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2019 with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation to build digital public infrastructure for personal health data. Headquartered in New York with a Geneva office, the organization operates a portfolio of interconnected products: CommonHealth, an Android app that lets individuals collect and manage personal health records; CommonPass, a mobile app for documenting COVID-19 health status for cross-border travel; the SMART Health Card Verifier App, a free QR-code scanner for businesses and venues; CommonTrust Network, a global registry of trusted health issuers; and CommonCheck, a verification service used by governments and enterprises. These products share infrastructure built on open interoperability standards, principally HL7 FHIR, W3C Verifiable Credentials, and the SMART Health Cards framework, with privacy-preserving and offline-capable verification as core technical design choices.
The organization co-leads the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a coalition of more than 900 public and private stakeholders, and works alongside technology partners including Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. Government deployments include national adoptions of SMART Health Cards by Japan and North Macedonia, statewide use in California and Hawaii, and pre-departure verification by the Cayman Islands. Enterprise issuers include Walmart, CVS Health, and Epic, with 30+ airlines including Delta deploying partner-built verification flows. TCP monetizes through donations and grants (including an active $1.5M Be the Change Campaign for CommonHealth 2.0), supplemented by subscription-based enterprise API access for organizations building their own verification solutions; the consumer apps and the Verifier App are free. Leadership includes CEO Zhenya Lindgardt (former Uber), Executive Founder and President Paul Meyer, Executive Chair Jen Zhu Scott, Cofounder and Chief Architect JP Pollak, and Chief Legal Officer Ruth Atherton (former Gates Foundation Deputy General Counsel).
The Commons Project Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Commons Project Foundation
- Legal name
- The Commons Project Foundation
- Website
- https://thecommonsproject.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Commons Project Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that builds open-standard digital health infrastructure, including the CommonHealth app, CommonPass travel verification, the SMART Health Card Verifier, and the CommonTrust Network registry, serving governments, enterprises, and individual consumers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Commons Project Foundation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Health Credential Platform
- SIC
- Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Patient-Mediated Exchange & Personal Health Data Access (Blue Button, SMART on FHIR) (HLACABAN)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Interoperability Standards, Profiles & Implementation (HL7/FHIR/IHE) (HLACABAA), Consent, Documentation & Certification (Records/Passports/Proof of Vaccination) (HLAJAHAM), Traveler Health Compliance & Digital Health Passes (THALAPAF)
Keywords
Where The Commons Project Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Geneva
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
The Commons Project Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Grants: Nonprofit organization relying on donations and grants. The Be the Change Campaign aims to raise $1.5 million for CommonHealth 2.0 development.
- Foundation Support: Established with support from Rockefeller Foundation. Seeking funding for product development and expansion.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free SMART Health Card Verifier App |
| Subscription | Monthly | API Suite for Organizations |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels5 records
The Commons Project Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Commons Project Foundation builds free consumer digital health apps (CommonHealth, CommonPass, SMART Health Card Verifier App) and enterprise verification APIs (SMART Health Card Verifier API, CommonCheck) that use open interoperable standards such as HL7 FHIR and SMART Health Cards to let individuals store, manage, and share verifiable health credentials and allow organizations and governments to verify those credentials in a privacy-preserving way. The products are anchored by the CommonTrust Network, a global registry of trusted issuers, and the Vaccination Credential Initiative coalition of 900+ public and private stakeholders.
Product overview
The Commons Project Foundation operates a platform of interconnected digital health products and services. The core offerings include CommonHealth (for Android users to access and manage personal health data), CommonPass (for travelers to document COVID-19 status for border crossing), and the SMART Health Card Verifier App (free scanner for vaccination credentials). These products share infrastructure through the CommonTrust Network (global registry of trusted issuers), CommonCheck (government/organization verification service), and the SMART Health Card Verifier API. The organization co-leads VCI, an open standards coalition. The products enable users to collect, store, share, and verify health credentials using interoperable standards based on HL7 FHIR. The portfolio also includes a Digital Insurance Card Project initiative.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CommonHealth: App helping people access, manage, and share their health data, designed to improve health outcomes by helping people engage with their health information.
- CommonTrust Network
- CommonPass
- CommonCheck
- SMART Health Card Verifier App
Products and services
- CommonHealth Mobile app that helps Android users collect, manage, and share their personal health data across health services, organizations, and trusted apps, providing a holistic view by importing data from multiple providers.
- CommonPass Mobile app that lets travelers securely document and share their COVID-19 health status to satisfy country entry requirements while protecting their health privacy.
- SMART Health Card Verifier App Free mobile app that scans SMART Health Card QR codes to verify an individual's COVID-19 test or vaccination credential, checking validity and confirming the issuer is part of the CommonTrust Network registry without storing personal data.
- CommonTrust Network Global registry of trusted health organizations committed to providing individuals with access to their health information using open, interoperable standards, including governments, health systems, testing providers, vaccination providers, and public health registries.
- CommonCheck Digital service that helps governments and organizations verify the health status of individuals, helping communities reopen and recover by automating border-entry processes and confirming traveler requirements before departure.
- Digital Insurance Card Project Initiative that enables digital storage and sharing of health insurance cards, extending the Foundation's focus on personal health data management.
- SMART Health Card Verifier API API that checks whether a SMART Health Card is valid and was issued by a participant in the CommonTrust Network Registry, designed for organizations building their own verification solutions.
- CommonCheck API API that checks the validity of a range of verifiable credentials beyond SMART Health Cards, enabling organizations to integrate comprehensive health credential verification.
- Verification Solutions Suite of verification solutions helping organizations of all sizes verify individuals' health status quickly and confidently, including the free SMART Health Card Verifier App for small businesses and API solutions for larger organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 150 million Americans can access COVID-19 vaccination records in verifiable digital format
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use The Commons Project Foundation
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Commons Project Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability1 record
Feature4 records
The Commons Project Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- ServiceNowmajorIntegration enables ServiceNow customers to validate vaccination status using The Commons Project's verification solutions.
- Smart AfricamajorPartnership for accelerating digital health across Africa. Aims to expand access to digital health solutions across African nations.
- Cayman Islands GovernmentcoreFirst government to use CommonCheck at scale. Integrated into Travel Cayman Portal for pre-departure health credential verification of incoming travelers.
- Government of JapancoreJapanese government adopted SMART Health Cards as national standard for digital vaccine certificates. TCP supported implementation and enabled verification via free Verifier App.
- GooglecoreCollaboration to introduce SMART Health Cards for Android. Users can save digital vaccination records as shortcuts on home screen or access through Google Pay.
- Government of North MacedoniacoreFirst country in world to adopt SMART Health Card standard nationwide. Citizens can download vaccination certificates and use CommonPass for verification.
- Zhenya LindgardtcoreFormer Uber executive appointed as CEO to lead organization in next phase of growth, focusing on scaling digital platforms and services.
- VCI (Vaccine Credential Initiative)coreVoluntary coalition of 900+ public and private organizations co-led by The Commons Project. Committed to empowering individuals with access to trustworthy, verifiable vaccination records using open, interoperable SMART Health Cards specification.
- SamsungcoreSMART Health Cards displaying COVID-19 vaccination status integrated within Samsung Pay. Allows users to download and securely store verifiable digital vaccine records in Samsung Pay via CommonHealth app on Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
- AffinidicoreGlobal solution for end-to-end health status verification. Affinidi's Unifier enables airlines and immigration authorities to verify different technologies, standards and formats on a single platform.
- TrustAssure / CLX HealthcorePartnership brings together world's largest testing lab network spanning over 15,000 locations across 82 countries. TrustAssure enables scheduling COVID-19 tests and converting results to globally recognized format.
- Delta Air LinesmajorOver 30 leading global airlines including Delta have deployed the partners' solutions for health credential verification.
- CARIN AllianceminorCollaborator in development of CommonHealth app for health data management.
- Cornell TechminorCollaborator in development of CommonHealth app.
- Sage BionetworksminorCollaborator in development of CommonHealth app.
- UCSFminorCollaborator in development of CommonHealth app.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Commons Project Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Salesforce: Salesforce partners with TCP and offers Health Cloud and workflow tools that can ingest verifiable health credentials at employer and customer scale. It is a broad incumbent providing an adjacent platform for issuers/employers who might otherwise consume the TCP API Suite.
- Google: Google supports SMART Health Cards on Android via Google Pay and home-screen shortcuts and contributes to the VCI coalition. As a platform incumbent, Google can route Android verification flows through proprietary surfaces that compete with TCP's standalone verifier experience.
- Apple: Apple integrates verifiable vaccine/test records into Apple Wallet and the Health app and participates in the VCI coalition. As the steward of consumer hardware and wallet distribution, Apple is a broad incumbent that can embed or sideline open-credential standards via its own wallet stack.
- Microsoft: Microsoft is a VCI coalition member and offers identity, cloud, and integration services into which health credential workflows can be embedded. It is a broad incumbent that shares the open-standards vision but can also leverage its enterprise footprint to anchor competing verification offerings.
Direct peers
- Verifiable: Verifiable (formerly Safe Health) provides a credentialing and health verification API platform focused on vaccination, lab, and employment compliance. It targets the same enterprise/government verifier market as TCP's CommonTrust Network and CommonCheck, primarily via health systems and employers.
- CLEAR: CLEAR's Health Pass product enables individuals to store and share verified health credentials (vaccines, test results) for travel, venues, and employers. It is the most direct commercial competitor to TCP's CommonPass and SMART Health Card Verifier App in the consumer-facing verifiable health credentials space.
- TrustAssure / CLX Health: TrustAssure runs the world's largest testing-lab network (~15,000 locations across 82 countries) and converts results into globally recognized formats, integrated with CommonPass. Despite being a TCP partner, it operates a competitive lab-to-credential verification value chain aimed at the same travel health segment.
- Affinidi: Affinidi (Temasek-backed) provides the Unifier platform for airlines and immigration authorities to verify different credential standards on a single API. It is a TCP partner for universal health pass but is a direct competitor in offering multi-credential verification rails to governments and travel operators.
- IATA Travel Pass: IATA Travel Pass is the airline industry's reference app for travelers to manage and verify COVID-19 and other health credentials across borders. It directly competes with CommonPass for the international travel verification use case.
- AOKpass: AOKpass, developed by SICPA, is a blockchain-based verifiable health credential used at borders and for workforce verification. It competes directly with TCP's SMART Health Card and CommonPass in enabling tamper-proof, cross-border health credential verification.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Commons Project Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceThe Commons Project Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Commons Project Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
The Commons Project Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Commons Project Foundation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Commons Project Foundation
What does The Commons Project Foundation do?
The Commons Project Foundation builds free consumer digital health apps (CommonHealth, CommonPass, SMART Health Card Verifier App) and enterprise verification APIs (SMART Health Card Verifier API, CommonCheck) that use open interoperable standards such as HL7 FHIR and SMART Health Cards to let individuals store, manage, and share verifiable health credentials and allow organizations and governments to verify those credentials in a privacy-preserving way. The products are anchored by the CommonTrust Network, a global registry of trusted issuers, and the Vaccination Credential Initiative coalition of 900+ public and private stakeholders.
Is The Commons Project Foundation a public or private company?
The Commons Project Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Commons Project Foundation founded?
The Commons Project Foundation was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Commons Project Foundation based?
The Commons Project Foundation is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does The Commons Project Foundation make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Donations and Grants are the primary driver. The others are foundation Support.
Who are The Commons Project Foundation's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Salesforce, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Direct peers are Verifiable, CLEAR, TrustAssure / CLX Health, Affinidi, IATA Travel Pass and AOKpass.
Does The Commons Project Foundation have an API?
Yes. The Commons Project offers a set of APIs designed for organizations building their own verification solutions: (1) The SMART Health Card Verifier API checks that a SMART Health Card is valid and was issued by a participant in the CommonTrust Network Registry; (2) The CommonCheck API checks the validity of a range of verifiable credentials beyond just SMART Health Cards. Developer resources and API documentation are available on GitHub. Pricing information and sandbox testing available upon contact. Developer documentation is at github.com/the-commons-project.
What industry is The Commons Project Foundation in?
The Commons Project Foundation's product category is Digital Health Credential Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLACABAN, Patient-Mediated Exchange & Personal Health Data Access (Blue Button, SMART on FHIR), with a secondary code of HLACABAA, Interoperability Standards, Profiles & Implementation (HL7/FHIR/IHE). Its SIC code is 8000.