When was SPARK Ventures founded?

SPARK Ventures was founded in 2007.

Where is SPARK Ventures' headquarters located?

SPARK Ventures' headquarters is located in Cairo (Egypt).

How many companies has SPARK Ventures invested in?

SPARK Ventures has invested in 4 companies, including Cameo & Academia.

Which companies has SPARK Ventures invested in lately?

Cameo & Learning without Borders are the latest investments by SPARK Ventures.

How many unicorns are there in SPARK Ventures' portfolio?

There is 1 unicorn in SPARK Ventures' portfolio.

SPARK Ventures - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends

SPARK Ventures, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2007, is based in Cairo, Egypt. With a presence in 2 countries, it has supported around 4 startups in sectors like High Tech, Consumer. As of Jul 2026, SPARK Ventures has 1 unicorn under its belt. Most notable companies in its portfolio include Cameo, Academia and Antenova. The program is backed by a team of 2 people who primarily support Series B startups based in United Kingdom. Its latest investment was a $50M Series B round in Cameo on Jun 17, 2019, which also saw participation from Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2007

Location

Cairo, Egypt

Portfolio Companies

Cameo, Academia & 2 more

Sectors of Investment

High Tech, Consumer & 5 more

Stages of Investment

Series B, Seed & 1 more

Locations of Investment

United Kingdom & United States

Unicorn in Portfolio

Cameo

View SPARK Ventures's full profile

SPARK Ventures has a portfolio of 4 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in Learning without Borders and Academia.Their portfolio spans across United Kingdom and United States. They have invested in High Tech, Consumer, HealthTech and 4 other sectors, across stages such as Series B, Seed and 1 more. Here is the list of all investments by SPARK Ventures:

1. Cameo

Online platform offering personalized video messages from celebrities. It enables users to book personalized video shoutouts from their favorite celebrities, sportsmen, influencers, and more. It also allows users to download videos and share them across their social media pages.

Key facts about Cameo

Founded Year: 2017
Location: Chicago (United States)
Valuation: $*****
Stage: Series C
Total Funding till date: $194M
Employee Count: 347 as on May 31, 2026
Investors: Google Ventures, Amazon and 41 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series C, Dec 13, 2024, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

2. Academia

Academia is a social knowledge-sharing platform for researchers. Users can share papers, monitor their impact, and follow the research in a particular field. It also enables users to review each others' papers online and award them a PaperRank, a rank that determines the quality and validity of a paper. The platform also helps in boosting citations for research papers.

Key facts about Academia

Founded Year: 2008
Location: San Francisco (United States)
Stage: Series D
Total Funding till date: $58.4M
Employee Count: 286 as on May 31, 2026
Investors: Greyrock Investments, Spark Capital and 16 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series D, Feb 22, 2022, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

3. Antenova

Antenova provides antennas for wireless M2M, IoT, and consumer electronic devices. Products include RF antenna modules and other various types of antennas that can be classified based on Cellular, GNSS, ISM, LTE, Transfer Jet, WLAN, and other technologies. Has use cases in smart homes, automotive, wearables, healthcare, retail, smart grid, and other areas.

Key facts about Antenova

Founded Year: 2001
Location: Hatfield (United Kingdom)
Annual Revenue: £1M - £10M as on Jul 31, 2013
Stage: Series C
Total Funding till date: $37.9M
Employee Count: 42 as on Mar 31, 2026
Investors: Invesco, Yasuda Enterprise Development and 11 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series C, Oct 29, 2008, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

4. Learning without Borders

Manufacturer of laboratory equipment, pipettes, and consumables. The company produces a variety of mechanical and electronic pipettes, pipette accessories, and a comprehensive line of laboratory consumables including deep well plates, bottles, petri dishes, pipette tips, and centrifuge tubes. They also offer benchtop instruments such as centrifuges, stirrers, vortex mixers, and plate washers. The company provides a range of PCR consumables and cryogenic storage products. Their product line is designed for use in various laboratory settings.

Key facts about Learning without Borders

Founded Year: 2011
Location: London (United Kingdom)
Stage: Series B
Employee Count: 4 as on May 31, 2026
Investors: SPARK Ventures and Lianchuang Capital Group
Latest Funding Round: Series B, Mar 29, 2019, $*****

SPARK Ventures has invested in 4 companies over the last 18 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Cameo and most recent follow-on round was in Academia.

View all investments by SPARK Ventures

SPARK Ventures has made 2 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $50M, 1 investment in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.2M and 1 investment in Series C stage with an average round size of $6.5M.

Here are SPARK Ventures' investments by stage:

Stage of entry	No. of Investments
Series B	2
Seed	1
Series C	1

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by SPARK Ventures

SPARK Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, Education, HealthTech, High Tech and Life Sciences. Notably, it has invested in 3 Consumer (B2C) companies, 3 Tech companies, 2 Enterprise (B2B) companies and 1 company focusing on Tech hardware.

Here are SPARK Ventures' investments by sector:

Sector	No. of Investments
Consumer	2
Education	1
HealthTech	1
High Tech	1
Life Sciences	1
Others	2

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by SPARK Ventures

SPARK Ventures has made most investments in United Kingdom (2), followed by United States where it has made 2 investments.

Here are SPARK Ventures' investments by geography:

Country	No. of Investments
United Kingdom	2
United States	2

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by SPARK Ventures

SPARK Ventures has not made any investment in 2026 so far.

Here are the most recent investments by SPARK Ventures:

Filter this list

Date	Company	Location	Round Details	Round Amount	Co-Investors
Jun 17, 2019	Cameo	United States	Series B	4302	Kleiner Perkins [+3]
Mar 29, 2019	Learning without Borders	United Kingdom	Series B	1462	-
Apr 28, 2010	Academia	United States	Seed	2824	Mark Shuttleworth [+2]
Aug 03, 2009	Academia	United States	Seed	7116	-
Oct 29, 2008	Antenova	United Kingdom	Series C	3469	Azini Capital [+1]

See more recent investments made by SPARK Ventures

SPARK Ventures has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - Cameo. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Cameo which became a unicorn in 2021, 1 years after SPARK Ventures first invested in it.

Here is a list of unicorns in SPARK Ventures' portfolio:

Filter this list

Tracxn Score	Company	Short Description	Founded year	Sector	Location	Company Stage	First Investment/ Acquisition Details
76	Cameo	Online platform offering personalized video messages from celebrities	2017	Consumer [+1]	Chicago	Series C	oaebmtd

View more details about unicorns in SPARK Ventures' portfolio

SPARK Ventures has a team of 2 members including 2 Partners located in United States. SPARK Ventures' team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.

View team details of SPARK Ventures

Over the past 18 years, 41 investors have co-invested in SPARK Ventures's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.

Invested before SPARK Ventures: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Origin Ventures and 14 others have invested in rounds before SPARK Ventures. There is 1 company where Lightspeed Venture Partners has invested before SPARK Ventures and 1 company where Origin Ventures has invested before SPARK Ventures.
Top Co-investors of SPARK Ventures: 5 investors entered a company along with SPARK Ventures. These include investors like Kleiner Perkins (1 company).
Invested after SPARK Ventures: A total of 20 investors have invested in SPARK Ventures's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Spark Capital (2 companies) and Headline (1 company).