“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 You
- We 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.