First Spark Ventures

First Spark Ventures is structurally integrated with SRI International, the former Stanford Research Institute whose 75-year innovation history includes Siri, the computer mouse, and foundational AI methods. The firm's partners access research breakthroughs emerging directly from SRI's labs in biosciences, robotics, advanced imaging, and AI — a pipeline that few other early-stage investors can replicate at equivalent scientific depth. This arrangement gives the partnership a proprietary sourcing advantage for companies built on fundamental technical insights.

The firm invests in three deep-tech domains: advanced compute (which includes probabilistic AI, edge inference, and federated learning), digital biology and biotech (therapeutics platforms, precision medicine, GI health diagnostics), and cyber-physical systems (autonomous system infrastructure, smart grid storage, robotics). Portfolio examples include Normal Computing in probabilistic AI, Unnatural Products in macrocyclic peptide therapeutics, and Inlyte Energy in iron-based grid batteries.