Fundraising FoxSparta Group
Family officeSeed · 5 people tracked
Also known as Sparta
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Investment thesis
Sparta Group LLC operates as the investment office of Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande, a serial entrepreneur who has founded or been an early investor in companies including Cascade Communications, Sycamore Networks, Airvana, and Tejas Networks. As Desh's primary investment vehicle, the firm backs exceptional entrepreneurs and fund managers, pursuing a broad strategy that includes direct investments in private companies across life sciences and emerging category-creating technologies, as well as global public and private partnerships.
Source: firm website, verified Oct 2, 2026.
Team · 5 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 21 of 23 portfolio companiesBiotech ×8Deep Tech ×6AI & Machine Learning ×5Medical Devices ×5Hardware ×4Healthtech ×4SaaS ×4Cleantech ×3
HQs:United States×14India×1
Who they back
founder profiles across 13 portfolio companiesFounding team size:solo founder×52 founders×43 founders×34+ founders×1
What their founders studiedfrom 10 founders with field-of-study data
Computer Science ×4Engineering ×4Business & Management ×2Mathematics & Statistics ×2
Investments · 23 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2025 · 32023 · 22020 · 12015 · 17 dated
Tadavo provides a platform that consolidates market knowledge and a brand's own data into a continuously updated, live brief for product teams.
AI & Machine LearningRetail TechSaaS
Aequs is an aerospace and consumer durable goods manufacturing company that operates precision engineering facilities in India, including the Belagavi Manufacturing Cluster recognized as the country's first precision engineering SEZ.
Advanced ManufacturingHardwareBelagavi, IN
Aravind Shivaputrappa Melligeri(Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer)Rajeev Kaul(Managing Director)in
Co-investorsAmicus Capital PartnersBlackRockCatamaran VenturesSBI Mutual FundSteadview Capital
Avant-garde Health provides software that gives healthcare providers detailed visibility into clinical, financial, and operational data across physicians, departments, and hospital systems to identify improvement opportunities and reduce costs.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechSaaSCambrdige, US
Derek Haas(CEO and Founder)in
BoardMatthew Rhodes-Kropf(Director)inDavid Frankel(Director)inPhilip Lewis(Director)
Co-investorsFounder CollectiveFulcrum Equity PartnersGeneral CatalystTectonic Ventures
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Brixton Bio develops Reneurx therapy, a treatment aimed at providing long-lasting pain relief for up to six months from a single administration.
BiotechMedical Devices
Charles Sidoti(Founder)in
Co-investorsAngel Physicians FundCatalyst Health VenturesExcelestar VenturesFemHealth VenturesSchooner CapitalSV Health Investors
Dig Energy develops technology to lower the cost of drilling for distributed geothermal energy, aiming to make geothermal heating and cooling cost-competitive for buildings.
CleantechClimate TechEnergy
Dulcie Madden(Co-Founder & CEO)Thomas Lipoma(Co-Founder & CTO)Dan Jepeal(VP Engineering)
Co-investorsAvilaAzolla VenturesBaukunstSunna Ventures
Fauna Systems develops biobots (programmable biological systems) that operate autonomously in complex environments.
BiotechDeep TechRobotics
Michael Levin(Co-founder)Joshua Bongard(Co-founder)
Co-investorsDraper Associates
Instylla develops resorbable liquid embolic agents for interventional radiology and oncology, including the Embrace Hydrogel Embolic System and the Tembo Embolic System used to embolize hypervascular tumors and occlude peripheral blood vessels.
BiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesBedford, US
Amarpreet Sawhney(Executive Officer)Raymond Lareau(Executive Officer)inSteven Cagnetta(Executive Officer)Sean Boyle(Chief Executive Officer)in
BoardHenry Chen(Director)inTasneem Dohadwala(Director)in
Co-investorsAngel Physicians FundAscension VenturesCatalyst Health VenturesDelos CapitalExcelestar Ventures
Materialize Bio develops a 3D manufacturing platform that processes natural biopolymers such as silk, collagen, chitosan, and alginate into complex shapes for medical and surgical applications.
BiotechMedical DevicesNew Materials
Co-investorsJosephine Collective
Mesa Quantum develops chip-scale quantum sensors — including atomic clocks, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and gravimeters — for industrial and defense applications, with a focus on Alternative Position, Navigation, and Timing (Alt-PNT) as a GPS backup.
Defense TechHardwareQuantum Computing
Wale Lawal(CTO)in
Co-investorsJ2 Ventures
Nabla is a drug development company that applies design discipline and scientific rigor to the development of new medicines.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechHealthtechBoston, US
Surge Biswas(Founder)inFrances Anastassacos(Founder)inGeorge M. Church(Founder)Surge Biswas Frances Anastassacos(Founder)
Co-investorsCantos VenturesFifty YearsPetriPillar VCRadical VenturesY Combinator+6 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+13 more
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Pixxel builds hyperspectral satellite systems and software to monitor Earth's ecosystems, resources, and atmosphere for environmental management and climate action.
AgTechAI & Machine LearningCleantechClimate TechData & InfrastructureDeep TechSpace TechPalo Alto, US
Awais Ahmed(Founder)inKshitij Khandelwal(Founder)in
Co-investorsAditya Birla VenturesAthera Venture PartnersGlade Brook Capital PartnersgrowX VenturesInventus Capital PartnersLightspeed India Partners+18 more
Prox provides an AI product specialist for manufacturers of complex physical products, grounded in their manuals and deployed on product pages, dealer portals, internal tools, and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude.
AI & Machine LearningE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSan Francisco, US
Dima Yanovsky(Founder)inGregory Makodzeba(Founder)inDima YanovskyinPranathi Kollolli(Chief of Staff)Lisa Didenko(Recruiting)
Co-investorsY CombinatorBloomberg BetaAliaksandr HudzilinBurst CapitalCRV (Charles River Ventures)Flyer One Ventures+11 more
Rejoni is a company focused on uterine health, developing technology to address women's reproductive and gynecological health needs.
BiotechFemTechHealthtechMedical DevicesBedford, US
Amar Sawhney(Founder)inNICK SVENCER(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)FARHAD KHOSRAVI(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
BoardTARA BUTLER(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
Co-investorsAscension VenturesCatalyst Health VenturesClavystBioDelos CapitalFemHealth VenturesIyengar Capital Partners+1 more
Sealonix develops hemostatic sealants based on proprietary biomaterials to control surgical bleeding, targeting surgeons and patients undergoing abdominopelvic and other surgical procedures.
BiotechMedical DevicesNew MaterialsBedford, US
Amarpreet Sawhney(Executive Officer, Director)Amar Sawhney(Founder)
Co-investorsExcelestar VenturesJ2 VenturesAmed VenturesIyengar Capital Partners
Stoke Space develops fully reusable rockets for space transportation and mobility services.
Advanced ManufacturingDeep TechHardwareSpace TechSeattle, US
Andy Lapsa(Founder)inTom Feldman(Founder)inKelly Hennig(Executive Officer)inSula Bondaruk(Recruiter)Marla Nielsen(Recruiting Coordinator)Chantal Penton(Recruiter)
Co-investorsAcequia Capital (AceCap)AF WPartnersATEL VenturesAurelia FoundryBalerion Space VenturesBeyond Capital+53 more
Vireo Ag offers the Whole Plant Delivery platform, a greenhouse-based plant genome engineering method that edits crops directly in soil without tissue culture, delivering stable seed in a single plant generation.
AgTechBiotechDeep TechMinneapolis, US
Dan Voytas(Co-founder & former CSO of Calyxt)Feng Zhang(Co-founder & former COO of Calyxt)Jenette Ashtekar(President & CEO)inPaul AtkinsJon Cody
Co-investorsGROOVE CAPITAL
Snowline builds a patent-pending zero-emissions electric transport refrigeration unit and a connected platform that combines sensor, vehicle, and telematics data with predictive maintenance for refrigerated fleets.
CleantechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & Transportation
Co-investorsFTW Ventures
Wasabi provides low-cost cloud object storage for businesses storing data such as backups, medical images, surveillance footage, financial records, and multimedia.
Cloud ComputingCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareBoston, US
Jeffry Flowers(Executive Officer, Director)David Friend(Founder)inJeff Flowers(Founder)inMike Welts(Executive Officer)Michael Bayer(Executive Officer)inMarty Falaro(Executive Officer)in
Co-investorsAlumni VenturesBasecamp FundBoston Harbor AngelsBrightstone Venture CapitalEnergy Impact PartnersEQx Fund+8 more
Westaim is an investment company that acquires and holds interests in insurance businesses, including specialty insurers and property and casualty insurance companies.
FintechInsurTechToronto, US
STEPHEN REGINALD COLE(Director)IAN WILLIAM DELANEY(Chairman of the board of directors)ROBERT TERRANCE KITTEL(Chief Operating Officer)BRUCE VINCENT WALTER(Director)JOHN WILLIAM GILDNER(Director)PETER HARRY PUCCETTI(Director)
Zolve provides financial products and tools aimed at people relocating to the United States, helping newcomers access banking and credit without an established US financial history.
Fintech
Raghunandan G(Founder)inPiyush Agarwal(Founder)Raghunandan Gangappa(Founder)
Co-investorsAccelDG Daiwa VenturesGMO VenturePartnersLightspeed India PartnersTrifecta Capital AdvisorsDST Global+3 more
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Cypher AIT33
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Stoke Space · stokespace.com · Sep 8, 2026
Rejoni · finance.yahoo.com · Jun 16, 2026
Northwood Space · finsmes.com · Jan 29, 2026
Wasabi, Inc. · wasabi.com · Jan 21, 2026
Aequs · aequs.com · Dec 3, 2025
Prox · ycombinator.com · Nov 11, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- How many investments has Sparta Group made?
- Sparta Group has 23 tracked investments, including 3 dated in the last 24 months.
- What stage does Sparta Group invest at?
- Sparta Group invests at the Seed stage.
- What sectors does Sparta Group focus on?
- Sparta Group focuses on Biotech, Deep Tech, Enterprise Software, Impact & Social Good.
- Who does Sparta Group co-invest with?
- Sparta Group most often shares deals with Catalyst Health Ventures, Excelestar Ventures, Ascension Ventures, among 76 tracked co-investors.
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