About
25+ years leading technology. Now on your side.
Suhit Gupta has spent 25+ years leading technology, much of it inside investment firms, buying the kind of software founders build. At Sparked Ventures, we write early checks and stay close long after.
- 46companies
- 8funds as LP
- 0investment committees
01
The short version
We back pre-seed and seed companies in enterprise B2B: cybersecurity, fintech and business applications, with the occasional wildcard when the founder is too good to pass on.
Sparked invests directly, with no investment committee or fund cycle to wait on, so decisions come quickly. Checks run from $10K to $100K, usually paired with advisory, with a target of about 1 percent.
People first, ideas second.
“Honestly, I care about the founder more than the idea: is this person going to kill it?”
Suhit Gupta
02
What we look for: sparkle.
“I look for sparkle. People with sparkle are very hard to find. But you know it when you meet them.”
Suhit Gupta
They’re engaged and engaging. They are on, and the room is better for it.
They work very hard. Nobody sparkly is sitting around collecting a paycheck.
They think many moves ahead. Strategic about where the company is going, not only where it is.
They’re thoughtful. Quick to move, careful about what matters.
They expect the best from everyone around them. They push the people near them to be better, and they want to be better themselves.
If you’re reading this and nodding, we should talk.
03
How we work with founders
- 01
A CIO in your corner.
We can tell you what a buyer needs to hear, what a security review will ask, and how the enterprise actually decides, because Suhit spent more than 25 years leading technology, much of it as that buyer.
- 02
Strategy and roadmaps.
Where to focus, what to build next, and how to scale the team and the stack.
- 03
Doors, opened.
Introductions to investors, partners and first customers. In 2025 Sparked co-hosted a private dinner for financial services security chiefs with two portfolio companies, Onyxia and Natoma.
The rule he gave founders when he was the buyer still holds: “don’t oversell.” He respects the team that says what it solves today.
04
Before Sparked
- 1997Adelphi UniversityBachelor of Science, Systems Administrator
- 2000Columbia UniversityPhD
- 2004GoogleSoftware Engineer
- 2005MicrosoftBing Maps Search
- 2008Bridgewater AssociatesTechnology Manager
- 2012Maverick CapitalCTO
- 2014The Carlyle GroupCIO, Solutions
- 2020General AtlanticGlobal CIO
- 2024Sparked VenturesBacking founders
Suhit taught himself computers through trial and error, starting with BASIC. He earned his Bachelor of Science at Adelphi University while working there as a systems administrator. He went on to a PhD in Computer Science at Columbia, where he built the infrastructure for a new research lab and co-wrote a paper on separating a web page’s real content from its clutter, a Best Paper finalist at WWW 2003.
That research brought an invitation to Google, and from there he moved to Microsoft to work on ranking and relevance for Bing Maps Search.
Then came the buyer’s side of enterprise technology. At Bridgewater Associates he helped take technology from boutique to enterprise class, and as CTO of Maverick Capital he owned the whole stack for the first time. Along the way he was a founder himself, as CTO and Principal at Mapt Technologies, learning what it takes to build a company.
He went on to lead technology for The Carlyle Group’s Solutions business, then served as Global CIO of General Atlantic until 2024, on the firm’s Operating Committee and helping manage cybersecurity risk across the portfolio.
In 2024 he started Sparked Ventures. He advises several startups and funds, and also serves on the Board of Trustees of Adelphi University.
Founder, operator, buyer, investor.
05
In his words
“I like to have people who feel comfortable pointing out what I’m doing wrong and how I should improve.”
“Treasure these people, these connections, for they are gems to be collected.”
“Stop fretting over the small stuff. Keep an eye on the bigger picture.”