Impact Engine

Profit and purpose can be a virtuous cycle. Solving humanity's biggest problems can provide superior financial returns. Tech-enabled companies can have significant impact at scale BUT Tech companies and impact investors largely live in different worlds. Avesta can bridge these worlds to harness the tech world toward positive impact. Areas of Focus We invest in tech-enabled companies whose positive impact is aligned with their business. We prioritize (but are not limited to) diverse entrepreneurs. Stage: pre-seed or seed; Typically raising $750K to $4M in the round. ClimateSustainable Agriculture Energy Efficiency Clean Energy Carbon Sinks Clean Manufacturing Circular Economy Green Buildings OpportunityEducation Financial Inclusion Future of Work Health Access & Affordability Housing Entrepreneurship Development What we offerTypical investments of $150K to $500K per company Best-practice based coaching to help founding teams optimize their impact, and align it with their business Unique mix of experiences that help companies bridge both the VC and impact worlds Connections to our broad network of investors and partners interested in impact-oriented tech startups

“Spero” is Latin for hope. We help founders build a hopeful future. We’re a team of former startup founders, operators, and investors from landmark companies including eBay and Tesla. We invest in determined founders building mission-driven technology companies in three focus areas: wellbeing; sustainability; learning, work, and play. We prefer to lead or co-lead a $3-$10M round (late seed or Series A). Our typical check is $2-$4M, and we reserve capital for follow-on. We are conviction-based investors who play the long game. How We Work With YouWe have the conviction to lead and price your round. We participate in follow-on funding and help with subsequent fundraising. Our concentrated portfolio approach allows us to engage deeply with our founders. We’re supportive throughout the life of a company. Every one of our founders has full access to the entire Spero Ventures team. We know some ideas take time to catch on, so we offer patient capital. We are calm and steady partners in uncertain times. We help companies scale to serve billions of customers. We’ve done this as operators and founders, and as advisors and board members. We connect our companies to a network of founders, advisors, coaches, domain experts, and executive talent. We build community by bringing founders and leaders together through our CEO Summits, Product Leader Summits, founder breakfasts, workshops and thought-provoking events. We offer expert-led workshops that help founders with brand/storytelling, sales/go-to-market, consumer growth, and fundraising. Our focus Wellbeing Agency over physical and mental health People deserve to be in control of their own physical and mental health. For that, they need new kinds of information and access to care. What devices, apps, tools and services will help people live longer, healthier, more vibrant lives? How can genomics help us better understand our world and ourselves, and contribute to new solutions? Companies that answer these questions will make life worth living. Sustainability Protecting and preserving our planet Life is worth living on a healthy planet. But many of the largest systems we rely on - water, food, energy, transportation, product production and waste - were designed in a way that’s unsustainable and detrimental to our personal and planetary health. The economic, social, and health impacts of climate change and industrial pollution are growing too large to ignore: unprecedented droughts, fires and floods have disrupted millions of lives and result in billions of dollars of loss each year. How can we develop safer, more efficient systems? What can we do to improve power grids, recycling, environmental monitoring and disaster analytics? We invest in sustainability with conviction. Learning, Work, and Play Freedom in work and life Savoring relationships, art, joy, and laughter makes life worth living. Today, the way we do these things is changing. We can now learn, work, and play in hybrid ways that suit individual needs. This means self-directed learners need access to education and job preparation. Likewise, self-directed workforces need freedom, flexibility, and the ability to manage their goals. How can we provide better access to rewarding, satisfying work? What tools and support systems do people need to thrive? We invest in powerful visions for the future of learning, work, and play.

With each investment we consider the lasting impact on future generations. Our primary focus is on supporting growth companies. Building stronger and more sustainable companies in order to accelerate positive change, our mission is making impact mainstream. Vision on impact At SevenGen, we believe that a sustainable world can be achieved through individual choices. Your choices of today conduct the impact for generations to come. As meaningful impact is driven by innovative companies that offer sustainable solutions to a wide audience, we focus our investments on sectors with the highest positive impact on climate. To achieve this synergy, we rely on our extensive experience and network. Our managing partners have consistently delivered both impact and strong financial returns since 2015. Identifying and supporting impactful opportunities, SevenGen builds upon a rigorous investment approach and solid knowledge of the field, to accelerate positive change through growth capital. Vision on investing SevenGen prioritizes companies with strong management, clear risk profiles, solid governance, high impact potential and a commitment to setting the new standard to their industries. Within our field, we target companies with the ability to be price competitive in order to reach a wider audience and make their products mainstream. How we create value in our portfolio? Through strategic planning for growth and strengthening of teams using our ambassador network. We offer disciplined financial management and pursue international opportunities. Our commitment to transparency and accountability ensures we closely monitor and adapt to financial, impact, and operational metrics, driving long-term success for our investments. Team Allow us to introduce our dedicated and dynamic team: Frederik Deutman, Pieter Smit, and Rass Butt, all armed with extensive expertise in driving positive change through climate impact investments. Core to our success are our joint values of ambition and reliability, connecting to whom we work with and for, thinking beyond generations and adding a bit of fun into each endeavor. Join us on our exciting journey towards impactful and profitable investments.

We are experienced venture capital investors who have been at the forefront of impact investing since 1999. We are passionate about generating extraordinary results, creating positive changes, and partnering with visionaries who combine these two. Our team has invested in over 70 ventures, bringing time-tested perspective and expertise to partnerships with entrepreneurs. We are ready and eager to build something special together.

Genius Guild is a venture firm that invests in high-growth companies using innovation to build, grow and promote healthy people, communities and environments in untapped markets. From urban electric car charging stations to primary care clinics that center the chief decision maker in families to seeding investment funds with innovative diverse investors, Genius Guild invests in innovations that improve the health and wellbeing of diverse communities. We look for high growth companies with scalable business models, and exceptional founders.

We are an organization dedicated to creating pathways to opportunity so people can live to their full potential. We center our work on education, immigration reform, the environment, health, with justice as our goal. We use a wide range of tools and strategies - partnering with entrepreneurs and experts, makers and policymakers, advocates, and creatives - to build and execute innovative solutions that will spur change and promote equality. In order to address national and global-scale problems, we employ a wide range of tools and strategies. We believe that a combination of Philanthropy and Venture Capital can support the greatest leaps of innovation. This model allows us to deploy resources in the most flexible way for the greatest impact. Other ways we work include: Policy and Campaigns Arts and Activism Data and Technology Communications, Creativity, and Storytelling Learn more about us by reading the letter from our founder Laurene Powell Jobs.