Why Spero Ventures: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Spero Ventures Overview

Spero Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Burlingame, California.

Founded in 2018 by Shripriya Mahesh, the firm focuses on investing in areas that improve the quality of life – including sustainability, wellbeing, and the domains of learning, play, and work.

Spero Ventures adopts a thesis-driven approach, committing to investments with strong conviction. Unlike many other funds of comparable size, Spero Ventures invests in fewer companies, allowing each investment to represent a more significant percentage of their fund. This strategy demonstrates their commitment to each portfolio company.

The firm typically leads or co-leads investment rounds ranging from $3 to $10 million, specifically targeting late seed to Series A stages. Their standard investment check ranges from $2 to $4 million, with additional capital reserved for follow-on investments in subsequent rounds.

Spero Ventures is particularly drawn to companies that exhibit compounding characteristics, such as network effects or data assets that grow with increased platform usage. This focus on scalable and impactful businesses aligns with their overarching mission to invest in ventures that make life worth living.

Spero Ventures AUM

There is no publicly available data regarding the assets under management of Spero Ventures as of writing.

Spero Ventures Interview Process & Questions

Firms can adjust their interview processes for different candidates, but if you’re interviewing at Spero Ventures or a similar firm, you can generally expect around 4-6 interview rounds.

Initial interviews are often conducted by junior investment professionals or the HR team, with senior team members leading the later rounds. At Spero Ventures, interviews will include a mix of fit questions, behavioral questions, and technical/investing questions.

The entire process typically spans several weeks, unless it’s during “on-cycle” or “on-campus” recruiting periods.

If you need help preparing for interviews, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Why Spero Ventures

“Why this firm?” is a crucial and frequently asked interview question.

If you’ve engaged in networking, now is the perfect time to mention anyone you’ve connected with at the firm and the positive impression they’ve made on you.

In addition, researching the firm beforehand is definitely important. A great way to gain insights is by listening to interviews with its founders or investors.

For starters, here’s an interview with Shripriya Mahesh, Founding Partner at Spero Ventures:

More Interviews

• Interview with Andrew Parker, General Partner at Spero Ventures
• Interview with Ha Nguyen, Partner at Spero Ventures

Spero Ventures Case Study

During interviews, candidates are frequently presented with case studies. These exercises allow firms to evaluate your technical skills and communication abilities.

At firms like Spero Ventures, case studies typically center around financial modeling and investment recommendations. For junior positions, you may also encounter a cold calling case study.

If you need help preparing for case studies, check out our course: Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Spero Ventures Salary & Compensation

According to Glassdoor, the estimated total pay for investment associates at Spero Ventures is $167K per year, while there is no recent data for analyst hires. Figures may vary depending on your experience, certifications, education, and other factors that the firm considers.

Associate

Spero Ventures Careers, Jobs, & Internships

To see open roles at Spero Ventures, check out our job board which features all open roles for them and other similar firms.

Spero Ventures Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Spero Ventures has made 47 investments across one fund. Some of their notable deals include Eli, Base Operations, and Confirm.

Notable Transaction: Tiny Health

The United States is dealing with a serious issue where over 40% of children have chronic conditions like eczema, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and food allergies. This number is increasing, putting a lot of pressure on families and healthcare systems.

Tiny Health is tackling this problem with their advanced at-home testing services.

They work with microbiologists, pediatricians, and scientists to offer detailed gut and vaginal microbiome analyses. Their tests provide useful advice to improve gut health and fix imbalances. Using the latest technology, they can detect over 120,000 microbes.

On March 5, 2024, Tiny Health announced that they successfully raised $8.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Spero Ventures.

This brings their total funding to $13 million, helping them continue their mission to innovate gut health solutions and address the growing problem of chronic conditions in children.

Next Steps

If you’re interested in joining Spero Ventures as a professional investor, I would highly suggest checking out my self-paced online course Growth Equity Interview Guide.

The course was specifically created for professionals who want to excel in their interviews and break into growth equity investing. It covers financial modeling, case studies, and many more.

Check it out and start learning today!