Fundraising FoxSparkwave Capital
Venture capitalSeed · 1 people tracked
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Investment thesis
Sparkwave Capital is a family office that makes early-stage, seed investments internationally.
Source: firm website, verified Oct 3, 2026.
Team · 1 people
from public directories
A 2020 Stanford graduate in Film & Media, Ben is a generalist investor with particular interest in space, energy, defense, and Bitcoin applications. Before founding Sparkwave, he was an award-winning music supervisor at Electronic Arts (FIFA, Madden, F1, The Sims) and later worked as an artist and songwriter in Los Angeles.
What they invest in
from 26 of 29 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×13Deep Tech ×10Hardware ×9Advanced Manufacturing ×7Defense Tech ×7Space Tech ×5Energy ×4Cybersecurity ×3
HQs:United States×22Canada×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 23 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×42 founders×93 founders×64+ founders×4
Where their founders studiedfrom 32 founders with education data
Stanford University ×5Massachusetts Institute of Technology ×3Dartmouth College ×2McGill University ×2Penn State University ×2Purdue University ×2
What their founders studiedfrom 35 founders with field-of-study data
Engineering ×20Computer Science ×5Mathematics & Statistics ×4Economics ×3Physics ×3Business & Management ×2
Where their founders worked beforefrom 37 founders with career history
Stanford University ×5Blue Origin ×3Google ×38VC ×2Kleiner Perkins ×2NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration ×2Northrop Grumman ×2SpaceX ×2
Accelerator rootsportfolio companies that came through a program
6 founders hold a PhD · 4 hold an MBA (of 37 with degree data)
Investments · 29 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 12025 · 22016 · 14 dated
Revolutionizing space technology to make life multi-planetary
Hawthorne, US
Elon Musk(Founder)inBret Johnsen(Executive Officer)inGwynne Shotwell(Executive Officer, Director)Tom Mueller(Founder)
BoardAntonio Gracias(Director)inSteve Jurvetson(Director)in
Co-investors1/1 Capital137 Ventures1802 Ventures2080 Ventures3Spoke Capital4DX Ventures+214 more
Anduril builds autonomous systems and software for defense and military applications, including attack aviation, unmanned aircraft, and underwater vehicles, unified by an autonomy platform.
AI & Machine LearningDefense TechHardwareRobotics
Palmer Luckey(Founder)inBrian Schimpf(Founder)inTrae Stephens(Founder)inJoe Chen(Founder)Joseph Chen(Founder)inMatt Grimm(Founder)
Co-investors137 Ventures1435 Capital1Flourish Capital8VCAliya Capital PartnersAltra Venture+109 more
Antares Industries develops nuclear reactor technology, with teams spanning nuclear, reactor hardware, and mission engineering as well as manufacturing and regulatory operations.
Advanced ManufacturingCleantechDeep TechDefense TechEnergyParker, US
Jordan Bramble(CEO & Co-Founder)inJulia DeWahl(Founder)inRian Bahran(Chief Nuclear Officer)inMark Massie(Chief Engineer)inDONALD G MACK(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardJack Altman(Director)
Co-investors53 StationsAtacama VenturesBalerion Space VenturesBoxGroupCaffeinated CapitalHeartfelt Capital+22 more
Astranis manufactures small, high-powered geosynchronous satellites equipped with advanced digital processing technology for global telecommunications and connectivity services.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardwareSpace TechSan Francisco, US
John Gedmark(CEO)inRyan McLinko(CTO)inMike Mancini(Executive Officer)Siamak Ebadi(Lead RF Engineer)inHall Chen(RF Payload Design)inShraddha Pandya(Talent Acquisition)
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzATEL VenturesBlack FlagBoxGroupCantos VenturesCherubic Ventures+87 more
Astro acquires land and secures grid connections for renewable energy projects, then sells the developed sites to larger energy companies.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningEnergyNew York City, US
Alex Fuster(CEO)inHouston Warren(Founder)inAndy Pflaum(Founder)Fred Schott(Founder)Jessica Jap(Founder)Marcella Moniaga(Founder)
Co-investorsY Combinator468 CapitalAC VenturesAccelAcrew CapitalAndreessen Horowitz+11 more
DeepSim provides a physics simulation platform that automates complex setup procedures to accelerate engineering design workflows.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Connor McClellan(CEO)inAlexander Gabourie(CTO)inChuck Koroglu(Founder)in
Co-investorsFoundersX VenturesY CombinatorFoundersXLux CapitalOurCrowd
Dream builds sovereign technology systems that let national governments manage critical assets and infrastructure within their own borders and control.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDefense TechGovTech
Shalev Hulio(Founder & CEO)inSebastian Kurz(Founder)in
Co-investors7GC & CoBain Capital VenturesCriticalityGiTV, Inc.Invariantes FundXT Venture Capital+7 more
Erebor is a US national bank in Columbus, Ohio serving AI, crypto, defense and advanced manufacturing companies.
Palmer Luckey(Founder)
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzAntiArctic DigitalBalerion Space VenturesCastle Island VenturesChapter One+21 more
FINNY is a growth platform that identifies and targets financial prospects for advisors through data aggregation and automated outreach, enabling personalized client acquisition at scale.
AI & Machine LearningFintechMarketing TechSaaSSales TechNew York City, US
Eden Ovadia(CEO)inTheodore Janson(CTO)inVictoria Toli(Founder)inAlexander Bush(Executive Officer, Director)Chris Gandolfo(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsActivant CapitalBreakpoint CapitalFinancial Venture StudioMaple VCRestive VenturesVenrock+4 more
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Hybron develops composites manufacturing technology, with all production based in the United States.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechNew Materials
Co-investorsGaingelsMantis Capital
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Impulse Space develops in-space mobility infrastructure and spacecraft, enabling transportation and logistics between Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars.
Deep TechDefense TechSpace TechRedondo Beach, US
Tom Mueller(Founder)inThomas Mueller(Founder)inEric Romo(Executive Officer, Director)inMargaret Abernathy(Executive Officer)in
BoardMichael Linse(Director)inJohn William Raymond(Director)
Co-investors137 VenturesAlumni VenturesArctic DigitalAsahi Kasei Corporate Venture CapitalBalerion Space VenturesBanner VC+28 more
Interlune is a space resources company developing technology to harvest natural resources from the Moon and deliver them to customers on Earth and in space.
Deep TechHardwareNew MaterialsSpace TechHouston, US
Harrison H. Schmitt(Director)H. Indra Hornsby(Executive Officer, Director)inRob Meyerson(Founder)inIndra Hornsby(Founder)inPrateek Lal(Executive Officer)inGary Lai(Founder)
Co-investorsAurelia FoundryGaingelsJude GomilaRosecliff VenturesSeven Seven SixSpacecadet Ventures+3 more
Kopra Bio develops cancer immunotherapy technology that converts cancer cells into biofactories to produce their own destruction.
BiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesSan Francisco, US
Alexander Haddad(Founder)inAndrew Bartynski(CEO)
Co-investorsBoutique Venture PartnersChamaeleonLexi VenturesMetaplanetMythos Ventures Management, LlcNoxo Capital+14 more
Mesh Optical Technologies designs and manufactures optical systems at scale, operating its own factories and building the hardware and software behind them.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardwareLos Angeles, US
Cameron Ramos(Founder)inSerena G(Founder)Travis Brashears(Founder)in
Co-investorsMantis CapitalThrive Capital
Nephrogen develops AI-powered AAV delivery vehicles for genetic medicines targeting kidney and pancreatic diseases.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechData & InfrastructureHealthtechMedical DevicesNew York City, US
Demetri Maxim(Founder and CEO)Demetri M.(Founder)inVivek Bhalla(Chief Medical Officer)
Co-investorsChicago Early Growth Ventures (CEGV)GaingelsNational Kidney Foundation, Inc.Novogenia GmbHStartXTechstars+14 more
Northwood provides end-to-end ground infrastructure for space missions, from concept through deployment to live data delivery.
Deep TechHardwareSaaSSpace Tech
Shaurya Luthra(Founder)inBridgit Mendler(Founder)Griffin Cleverly(Founder)
Co-investorsAlpine Space VenturesAlso CapitalAlumni VenturesAndreessen HorowitzAurelia FoundryBalerion Space Ventures+14 more
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Panthalassa is building a planetary-scale clean energy platform designed to meet global energy demand through offshore deployment with zero emissions at ultra-low cost.
CleantechDeep TechEnergy
Garth Sheldon-Coulson(Founder)inBrian Moffat(Founder)
Co-investorsBeyond CapitalCollaborative FundCompoundGigascale CapitalHOF CapitalLowercarbon Capital+15 more
Parallax describes itself as an AI energy company, combining artificial intelligence with the energy sector.
AI & Machine LearningEnergy
Peregrine is a data intelligence platform that transforms disconnected data into operational context for law enforcement and emergency response organizations.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureGovTechSan Francisco, US
Ben Rudolph(Founder)inNick Noone(Founder)in
Co-investors137 VenturesCox EnterprisesCraft VenturesFantail VenturesFifth Down CapitalFriends Family Capital+9 more
Perseus Defense builds autonomous defense systems.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningDefense TechHardwareRoboticsAustin, US
Jason Cornelius(CEO)inSteve Messinger(CTO)inJason Cornelius Steve Messinger(Founder)
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesBow CapitalGaingelsLobster CapitalMaiora Rebel VenturesOlive Tree Capital+17 more
Rocketable acquires software businesses and automates their operations by replacing human staff with AI agents across functions; the company develops tools to coordinate these agents toward shared business objectives.
Enterprise SoftwareSan Francisco, US
Alan Wells(CEO)in
Co-investorsMaiora Rebel VenturesRebel FundSeaplane VenturesTrue VenturesY Combinator468 Capital+7 more
Saronic builds autonomous surface vessels — including the 180-foot, long-range Marauder — along with Echelon, a command-and-control software layer for planning, simulating and operating single vessels or fleets.
AI & Machine LearningDefense TechHardwareRoboticsAustin, US
Dino Mavrookas(Founder)inRob Lehman(Founder)inVibhav Altekar(Founder)inDoug Lambert(Founder)inPatrick DePriest(Chief Financial Officer)inSoo Cho(Chief People Officer)in
Co-investors1Flourish Capital8VCAdvent InternationalAlpha PartnersAndreessen HorowitzAnti+39 more
Shield AI develops AI pilot systems for military applications including aircraft, drones, ships, satellites, and submarines.
AI & Machine LearningDefense TechSan Diego, US
Brandon Tseng(Founder)inRyan Tseng(Founder)inAndrew Reiter(Founder)inKingsley Afemikhe(Executive Officer)inGary Steele(Chief Executive Officer)in
BoardKeith Dunleavy(Director)
Co-investors515 Ventures645 VenturesAdvaita CapitalAF WPartnersAlpha PartnersAltra Venture+54 more
Starfish Space develops Otter, an autonomous satellite servicing vehicle that uses electric propulsion to dock with satellites for life extension and disposal.
Deep TechHardwareSpace TechTukwila, US
Trevor Bennett(Founder)inAustin Link(Founder)in
BoardMorgan Beller(Director)inPeter Ortez(Director)Letitia Long(Director)
Co-investorsACTIVATE CAPITAL PARTNERSAlumni VenturesBooz Allen VenturesCarbonDenver VenturesHypothesis+26 more
Sygaldry develops quantum-accelerated AI servers that combine multiple qubit modalities to speed up training and inference for AI models.
Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningHardwareQuantum ComputingAnn Arbor, US
Chad Rigetti(CEO)inIdalia Friedson(Founder)inMeghan Hudson(Head of HR)
BoardChristian Garcia(Director)inAndrew Sather(Director)inMichael Keiser(Founder)in
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesBloomberg BetaCollaborative FundDetroit Venture PartnersEarth Venture CapitalEight Capital+51 more
Tailscale provides secure connectivity infrastructure.
Cloud ComputingCybersecurityDeveloper ToolsToronto, CA
Avery Pennarun(Founder)inBrad Fitzpatrick(Founder)inDavid Crawshaw(Founder)inDavid Carney(Founder)in
Co-investorsAccelAvenir Growth CapitalCRV (Charles River Ventures)Cyber Mentor FundFlex Capital PartnersGaingels+9 more
Kibu is building a digital "trust layer" designed to verify the real identity of people online and prevent AI-driven fraud such as voice clones and deepfake video impersonation.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise Software
Eric Keyes
Co-investorsConstruct Capital
Uphold provides a licensed, infrastructure platform that enables businesses to move operations on-chain and offer cryptocurrency trading and digital assets services at scale.
Crypto & Web3Fintech
Simon McLoughlininHalsey Minor(Founder)
Co-investorsBlockchain CoinvestorsIntegra PartnersRaptor GroupSparq Capital (SFO)Arrington XRP CapitalFrontier Venture Capital+1 more
Washington, US
Julie Bush(Founder)Paul Kwan(Founder)Connor Dougherty(Founder)in
Co-investorsAbstract VenturesFifth Down CapitalFriends Family CapitalMVP VenturesNarya Capital
Exits · 2
1 IPOs · 1 acquisitions · showing 1SpaceXNASDAQ: SPCX
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesNephrogen · finance.yahoo.com · Oct 8, 2026
Impulse Space · globenewswire.com · Sep 16, 2026
Tailscale · en.wikipedia.org · Aug 28, 2026
Erebor Bank · pymnts.com · Aug 10, 2026
Peregrine · finchannel.com · Jul 31, 2026
Antares · govconwire.com · Jul 28, 2026
Anduril · geekwire.com · Jul 24, 2026
Dream Security · siliconangle.com · Jun 18, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Sparkwave Capital made?
- Sparkwave Capital has 29 tracked investments, 2 of which have exited, including 3 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Sparkwave Capital invest at?
- Sparkwave Capital invests at the Seed stage.
- What sectors does Sparkwave Capital focus on?
- Sparkwave Capital focuses on Advanced Manufacturing, Crypto & Web3, Defense Tech, Energy, Enterprise Software, Healthtech, Space Tech.
- Who does Sparkwave Capital co-invest with?
- Sparkwave Capital most often shares deals with Gaingels, Y Combinator, Alumni Ventures, among 250 tracked co-investors.
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