{"data":{"type":"company_profile","id":163705,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:163705","attributes":{"canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere","generated_at":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","updated_at":"2026-06-10T05:01:27Z","entity_ids":{"company":"wefunder:company:163705","slug":"wefunder:company_slug:oursphere"},"profile_visibility":{"owner_published":true,"public_search_results":true,"site_search_listed":true,"privacy_mode":"promote","invite_only":false},"provenance":{"source":"wefunder_public_company_profile","as_of":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","claims":{"total_amount_raised":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#amount_raised","last_verified_at":"2026-06-10T05:01:27Z","as_of":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","confidence":"high"},"total_investors":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#number_of_investors","last_verified_at":"2026-06-10T05:01:27Z","as_of":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","confidence":"high"},"active_raise_states":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil)","last_verified_at":"2026-04-14T19:23:19Z","as_of":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","confidence":"high"},"latest_fundraise_state":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil).order(funding_started_at)","last_verified_at":"2026-04-14T19:23:19Z","as_of":"2026-06-11T03:36:31Z","confidence":"medium"}}},"company":{"id":163705,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:163705","slug":"oursphere","name":"Sphere","tagline":"Working to move $1T of 401(k) funds out of fossil fuels, featured in Forbes \u0026 FastCompany","story":"Making climate-friendly options available on 401(k)sAs CEO of Ayar Labs, it took Sphere founder Alex Wright-Gladstein over 3 years to get a single climate-friendly option on her company's 401(k) plan. It turns out she wasn't alone. Climate-friendly funds just weren't checking the boxes of what 401(k) fiduciaries were looking for. So she started Sphere, which makes climate-friendly funds that are easy to add to existing 401(k) plans and that are designed to check the boxes of what 401(k) fiduciaries need to see. Sphere also helps companies understand the climate impact of their investments with the AtmoSphere platform, which calculates the emissions from 401(k)s and helps sustainability and HR teams understand how to reduce those emissions.The Problem: We're all forced to invest in fossil fuelsThe vast majority of Americans consider climate change a threat, but 99% of Americans with a 401(k) have to invest in fossil fuels. Why? They have no other options. When you have a 401(k), you’re often investing in lots of different companies across different industries. And for over 99% of people, that includes the oil and gas industry. The worst part is, it gives fossil fuel companies $1 trillion dollars. Our 401(k) money accounts for 1/5th of all investments in fossil fuel companies.The 401(k) system keeps us stuck in the status quoAlex Wright-Gladstein was running what is now a $1B+ climate tech company called Ayar Labs. But even as CEO, it took her three years of pushing just to get one climate-friendly fund in her company’s 401(k) menu . And it turns out she wasn't alone. Not only were other climate tech founders like herself looking for these solutions, but there were entire social movements at big tech companies, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, asking for these options. There were two reasons they weren't getting them:Funds need to check a lot of boxes to get on 401(k)s.Climate funds can have trouble checking those boxes.There are lots of law suits in the 401(k) industry, where employees sue their employers, most often for having funds that are too expensive in their 401(k) menus. Climate-friendly funds tend to be actively managed and expensive. It’s no surprise they’ve had trouble breaking into the 401(k) market.It turns out fossil fuels have not been a good investmentWhen ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) funds started to grow in popularity, the fossil fuel industry lobbied to push the belief that climate-friendly investing has bad financial returns. We kept hearing from Fox News to the Senate floor that you had to choose between investing with your progressive values or investing for good returns. But all the noise was created by fossil fuels lobbyists distracting us from this fact:Source: Performance and volatility data from Sept 2014 to Sept 2023 for the ETFs with the following tickers: IYC, IYW, IYH, IYK, IDU, IYM, IYF, IYJ, and IYE. Inspired by the sector performance and volatility data presented by S\u0026amp;P Global for the decade from 2010 to 2020, here.Our Solution: A climate-friendly fund that can check the boxes 401(k) fiduciaries need to seeWe offer a climate-friendly fund that can finally check the boxes that 401(k) fiduciaries look for: it's diversified, it's reasonably priced, and it can be added to any 401(k) plan without requiring companies to switch 401(k) providers.Please note: Investing in this community round via WeFunder means investing in Sphere, the company that created this index fund. If you invest in this community round, you will not be investing in the index fund.The 401(k) market is primed for changeThere are $30 trillion dollars in retirement savings in the US alone.Source: MorningstarIt turns out 77% of Americans who have 401(k)s want to be able to invest for a better climate future.That means there are $23 trillion dollars of retirement savings that want to be able to invest for a better future.Outside of 401(k)s, close to one third of all investments are in values-aligned funds. Within 401(k)s, less than 1% of money is in climate funds. There is a huge amount of pent-up demand for climate-conscious investing in 401(k)s.We meet people where they areAny employer can add our products to their existing retirement plan, without having to change providers, because we offer funds that can be made available on any 401(k) platform. All it takes is an email to your 401(k) provider to request the fund be added.Rather than ask HR teams to go through time-intensive and costly switches from one 401(k) provider to another, we let them stay with their current 401(k) provider and just add climate-friendly options to their existing retirement plans.Our products look and feel like the funds that are typically offered in retirement plans when it comes to risks, returns, and fees - while also being climate-friendly.The 401(k) industry offers unique scalable growthPartnerships offer unparalleled access to large customer bases not available outside 401(k)s. One type of partner in particular, the 3(38) fiduciary, offers access to many employer plans once we are approved for a single 3(38) fund menu. We are already on four 3(38) menus.401(k) advisory groups also offer a scalable path to market - rather than selling our product to an individual investor, or to an individual employer, we can sell to advisors, who can then add our funds to all of their client 401(k) plans. That means one new 401(k) advisor partnership can lead to dozens of new 401(k) plans and tens of thousands of new individual investors as customers.The 401(k) industry offers a unique opportunity to access large groups of investors, for a few reasons:A single plan can have tens of billions of dollars in it, meaning getting our funds added to one big plan can result in over a billion dollars being invested in our fund.Benefits teams compete with each other to attract and retain talent, so if one big company offers our funds, others will follow.401(k) assets are sticky - once people start investing, they stay. And they automatically invest more every two weeks with their paychecks.All of these companies have existing social movements for climate-friendly 401(k)s. We regularly meet with their leaders.We have become a leader in this movementGenerating mass awareness is the first step in getting employees to demand a climate option. So we brought together a 35+ member coalition, including 30+ A-List celebrities, to create public awareness campaigns together.\u0026nbsp;A social movement has existed for years, and we have emerged as leaders. Our last campaign got over 25 million views and we expect our next celebrity-fueled campaign to bring even more exposure to this cause.Employees at companies like Microsoft and Google started organizing to get climate-friendly options on their retirement plans in 2016. They have sent hundreds of emails and petitions with thousands of signatures to their benefits teams. Employees elsewhere are following their example as the movement is growing.We help companies measure 401(k) emissionsCorporate sustainability teams are starting to pay attention to the emissions from 401(k)s for the first time - and can become a major driver of demand for climate-friendly options.The Green House Gas Protocol (GHGP) is the gold standard methodology used by both the SEC and its EU equivalent to describe how companies should measure their emissions. The concept of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions comes from the GHGP. They are currently making the first update to the GHGP in 10 years. We jumped on the opportunity and led a mass submission of proposals to add 401(k) emissions to the Scope 3 definition. Once sustainability teams measure emissions from 401(k)s, they'll start working to reduce them.We're building a platform for measuring, comparing, and improving your company's 401(k) carbon emissions. This will launch as we get closer to the GHGP deadline for requiring companies report their 401(k) emissions.AtmoSphere Starter is a free tool that's currently available for anyone to look up their company's 401(k) and understand how much money it has invested in fossil fuel companies. AtmoSphere Enterprise is a paid SaaS platform that we will make available to sustainability teams at large companies to understand the emissions from their 401(k)s and how to reduce those emissions.Why has no one done this before?They've tried. But big providers keep falling flat when it comes to offering climate-friendly options. They see \"Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)\" funds as cash cows and charge high fees for them - which is a no-go in the price-sensitive 401(k) market, where excessive fee lawsuits abound. And by investing in fossil fuel companies in their ESG funds, they've created a pervasive impression of greenwashing when it comes to big brand names in finance.Climate-focused asset managers exist, but they use active fund management strategies, having research teams deeply investigate the environmental credentials of every stock, and must charge higher prices as a result. This also boxes them out of many 401(k) plans where low-fee index funds are the norm.We have been added to over 250 401(k) plans so far, and climate champions everywhere are adding us to more as our social movement grows.What makes us the right people for the job?Our team is led by a second-time founder with a highly successful first company. With that first company, she broke into the semiconductor industry, which is similar to the 401(k) industry in that it is well-established and notably hard to break into. She doesn't shy away from big challenges, and that grit may make the difference in breaking into the 401(k) market.In founding Sphere, she teamed up with a financial manager who has decades of experience in values-aligned investing at the biggest asset management firms in the world. He managed values-aligned investment strategies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and is a professor of sustainable investing. She also teamed up with a creative director who has won countless awards and made billions of impressions with his creative campaigns.Together with experienced fund and index managers at US Bank, Ultimus, and BITA, and marketing experts at Buena, this team has decades of financial know-how and movement-building experience - exactly what it will take to make climate-friendly solutions available on every retirement plan.Sphere's advisory board includes 401(k) industry and climate finance experts who bring decades of experience and social networks to the table.Why now?We're running out of time on climate. We have less that five years left to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. When Alex realized this after hiring her replacement as CEO at Ayar Labs, she started exploring business ideas that could have not only a big impact, but also have that impact quickly.She had spent most of her life feeling like an outlier, worried about climate change when it felt like most people around her were not. In recent years, with youth-led movements creating the Green New Deal and bringing global warming to the forefront of the national conversation, it felt like that changed. She no longer felt alone. And the data backed that up. Today, over 80% of Americans are worried about climate change. That's an incredible majority. So why haven't we solved the problem?As a student at MIT, she had learned about system dynamics - and the fact that we all live within systems that make it hard for us to change our impact alone. We live in neighborhoods that don't have public transit. Electric cars are expensive. Food is sold in plastic packaging. We need those systems to change if we want to truly reverse climate change. Individuals can't fix this alone.How do we change the system?Money helps.She decided to start following the money. She had been annoyed when it had taken over three years to get a single climate-friendly option on the Ayar Labs 401(k) plan, but she hadn't realized the scale of the money that was holding status quo fossil fuel systems in place. Once she learned that there are $30 trillion dollars in retirement savings in the US alone, she realized someone had to do something. And since no one else was, she realized she'd have to do it herself.Before now, no one had created a solution for the 401(k) climate problem that addresses the sticky law-related problems that have boxed out climate options in the past, like the fact that there are so many excessive fee lawsuits against 401(k)s.No one had created a solution for the 401(k) climate problem that meets people where they are, without requiring HR teams to go through costly and time-consuming transitions to new 401(k) providers.No one had created a solution for the 401(k) climate problem in a way that raises awareness so more people can join the army of climate people demanding better options.Over 80% of Americans are worried about climate change. They're ready for solutions.They are ready for this solution.Why you?Alex's first company spun a technology out of MIT that can cut the energy use of AI in half. Despite that company’s success, with customers like NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD and a valuation over half a billion dollars, she has something she wishes she’d done differently.\u0026nbsp;If she had a chance to do it over, she would have insisted the opportunity to invest early on were opened up to small investors who were early believers in what they were building, not just professional venture investors who represent a small slice of the population.That’s why we're doing it differently this time around. That's why we're offering you the opportunity to join us as an investor today.\u0026nbsp;We would love to have you on the journey.","location":"Covina, CA","website":"https://oursphere.org/","total_amount_raised":50000,"total_investors":266,"is_funded":true,"is_active":true,"quality_score":2,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/oursphere","https://oursphere.org/"]},"media":{"share_image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/163705/xxl_blob.jpg","logo_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/logo/163705/large_blob.png","header_media_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/163705/standard_blob.jpg","cover_photo_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company/header_media_photo/163705/standard_blob.jpg"},"links":{"company_url":"https://oursphere.org/","linkedin_url":"https://linkedin.com/company/oursphereorg/","blog_url":"https://www.oursphere.org/blog"},"highlights":[{"id":62781,"name":"venture_backed","url":"venturebacked","presentable_name":"VC-Backed","description":"Raised $250K or more from a venture firm","image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/profile-highlights-check.svg"},{"id":75537,"name":"repeat_founder","url":"repeatfounder","presentable_name":"Repeat Founder","description":"Started a prior company with $2M+ in funding or revenue","image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/profile-highlights-replay.svg"},{"id":75541,"name":"investment_memo","url":"investmentmemo","presentable_name":"Investment Memo","description":"An investor has written an Investment Memo","image_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/profile-highlights-pencil.svg"}],"quick_facts":[{"index":1,"claim_id":"claim-fact-1","value":"Offering climate-friendly funds that can check the boxes of what 401(k) fiduciaries look for."},{"index":2,"claim_id":"claim-fact-2","value":"$40M AUM. 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Creator of ad campaigns for Coca-Cola, Samsung, Kellogg's. 2x winner of Webby Best Good Cause Campaign of Year.","avatar_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/uploads/company_role/custom_photo/5199935/square_blob.jpg?1724821253","related_urls":[]}],"featured_investors":[{"id":9986,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9986","investor_profile_id":3986808,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3986808","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:user:4495540","name":"Fairbridge Park","role_title":"Founder \u0026 General Partner","bio":"Fairbridge's purpose is to eradicate humanity's widest progress gaps by investing in Founders who are deploying technology to build startups that confront big problems in foundational areas of Health \u0026amp; Wellness, Economic Mobility, and Planetary Wellness.","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MjE1MDMyLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--4bf93987913ff2140626a7c3afc2b83057a9d535/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/david.tswamuno","endorsement_quote":"When we invest in companies, we are focused on backing founders with the passion and capability to bridge society’s widest progress gaps and Alex is the best founder we could find in the climate space. 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Ambitious, deeply conviction-driven, and a measured force of nature - we knew we wanted to support her journey as she set about changing the future of finance for the better.","endorsement_name":"Heidi Lindvall","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/pale.blue.dot"]},{"id":9755,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9755","investor_profile_id":3959975,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3959975","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13349","name":"Cool Climate Collective","role_title":"Founding Partner","bio":"Cool Climate Collective collectively supports visionary entrepreneurs architecting systemic solutions that catalyze prosperity, fortifying the pillars of a prospering society for our climate-forward future.","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTkwMDY5LCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--51c81b30489d5d3aa9aacec758dfbe5937d9766d/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/cool.climate.collective","endorsement_quote":"I invested in Sphere because accessibility to socially responsible investing will not only make the world more money, it will make it better.","endorsement_name":"Tristan Pollock","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/cool.climate.collective"]},{"id":9847,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9847","investor_profile_id":3972925,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3972925","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13457","name":"Carmel Rafaeli","role_title":"","bio":"Carmel is the founder of The Table, bringing more venture investing to women-founded climate companies. She is an investor and entrepreneur with a background in radio news production, marketing communications, eCommerce, and hospitality.","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MjAzMDc4LCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--a72b1d6a3b4cdad9c70bb5ab0cfdf796e06f3a4c/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/carmel.rafaeli","endorsement_quote":"I invested in Sphere because of how much I was impressed by the vision and by Alex. 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It invests in next-gen digital businesses (Block-chain, Fin-tech, Digital Media \u0026amp; Marketplaces, and ClimateTech/ESG).","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTkwMDcxLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--2ab654ff726d3073e1f45e8056ab4b8b26b40b48/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/knickerbocker.financial.group","endorsement_quote":"I invested in Sphere to put my money where my mouth is. Educating the public about climate change has always been important to me. The most effective way to get action here is through financial incentives and disincentives and so 401k investments are the perfect pathway. 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Prior to co-founding the Firm, he served in roles integral to the success of multiple high-profile startups in solar, including SolarCity, Sunrun, and Aurora Solar.","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTkwNjkyLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--0fc4352f0efc426db1dd143c5ae92f87ad8d2acb/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/kareem.dabbagh","endorsement_quote":"I invested in Sphere because I believe that consumers need better, and cheaper choices for decarbonizing their investment portfolio. I invested in Sphere because Alex and her teammates are rockstars. 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I'm excited about the potential Sphere has to make a real difference, both for individual investors and for our planet. I believe that by investing in companies like Sphere, we can help accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future.","endorsement_name":"","investment_total":5000,"investment_info":"Invested $5,000 this round","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/etosha.cave.1"]},{"id":9779,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9779","investor_profile_id":3961737,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3961737","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13371","name":"Craig Micon","role_title":"","bio":"Craig works with companies who challenge the status quo to improve their business and customer experience. He has done this for 10+ years with high growth companies in product leadership roles.","avatar_url":"https://wefunder.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsiZGF0YSI6MTkwMDc1LCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--ca088fc5e869d02a9aedf8b249066c9af19bdf4c/filename","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/craig.micon","endorsement_quote":"I invested in Sphere because it's an incredibly simple method to align financial incentives with environmental impact. Many environmental startups ignore the incentive alignment problem and instead focus on a moral imperative. I think that's unrealistic and prefer Sphere's approach. As a serial early stage startup person myself, the simplicity of the solution spoke to me. Also, Alex is amazing.","endorsement_name":"","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/craig.micon"]},{"id":9756,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9756","investor_profile_id":3959977,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3959977","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13350","name":"Eunoia Capital Partners","role_title":"","avatar_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/user_default_icon_circle.png","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/eunoia.capital.partners","endorsement_name":"","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/eunoia.capital.partners"]},{"id":9764,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9764","investor_profile_id":3960768,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3960768","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13358","name":"Jeremy Yap","role_title":"","avatar_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/user_default_icon_circle.png","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/jeremy.yap.1","endorsement_name":"","investment_total":75000,"investment_info":"Invested $25,000 this round \u0026 $50,000 previously","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/jeremy.yap.1"]},{"id":9765,"entity_id":"wefunder:company_investor_profile:9765","investor_profile_id":3960769,"investor_profile_entity_id":"wefunder:investor_profile:3960769","subject_entity_id":"wefunder:notable_investor:13359","name":"Tod Hynes","role_title":"","avatar_url":"https://uploads.wefunder.com/2021/user_default_icon_circle.png","profile_url":"https://wefunder.com/tod.hynes","endorsement_name":"","is_lead_investor":false,"memo_paid_for_by_company":false,"related_urls":["https://wefunder.com/tod.hynes"]}],"investor_memos":[],"tab_counts":{"posts":0,"ask_questions":30,"featured_investors":12,"faq_entries":5},"active_fundraises":[{"id":123385,"entity_id":"wefunder:fundraise:123385","state":"successful","offering_type":"4(a)(6)","funding_type":"note","structure":"ttw","security_type":"","currency":"USD","testing_the_waters":true,"min_purchase":100,"max_purchase":9,"funding_target":1235000.0,"minimum_target":"50000.0","maximum_target":"0.0"},{"id":123384,"entity_id":"wefunder:fundraise:123384","state":"successful","offering_type":"4(a)(6)","funding_type":"note","structure":"safe","security_type":"equity","currency":"USD","testing_the_waters":false,"min_purchase":100,"max_purchase":9,"funding_target":50000.0,"minimum_target":"50000.0","maximum_target":"0.0","funding_started_at":"2025-06-04T19:23:35Z","funding_closed_at":"2025-09-01T03:59:59Z","auto_close_at":"2025-09-01T03:59:59Z"}],"latest_fundraise":{"id":123385,"entity_id":"wefunder:fundraise:123385","state":"successful","offering_type":"4(a)(6)","structure":"ttw","testing_the_waters":true,"can_invest_now":false,"funding_started_at":null,"funding_closed_at":null,"terms":{"eb":"$15M","nb":"$17M","txt":"valuation cap"}},"recent_posts":[],"q_and_a":[{"id":300461,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:300461","question":"This is a great idea, and the product is something I have been wanting for a long time - a low-cost index fund that is diversified, excludes fossil fuels, and votes for climate in shareholder resolutions. A few questions. 1) From a customer standpoint, what would happen to the money they invest in SPFFX if Sphere was to go out of business? Would their investment still be protected? 2) How might your expense ratio for your existing product change over time? What is the process and lead time for changing it? 3) Am I understanding the following correctly? If I were to invest, I believe I would be investing in a SAFE with a valuation cap of $15m. At the same time, you are looking to raise $4m in a seed round, with a valuation above $15m. For example, if VC investors will buy the equivalent of a 25% stake for $4m, your valuation would be $16m. If/when VC investors invest seed money, my SAFE will automatically convert to shares. 4) In a prior question, you said you expect breakeven to be at about $300 AUM. Is that if you create additional products? Or is that the breakeven just with your current product? What would your breakeven be with your current SPFFX product if it's not ~$300 AUM. 5) I understand you cannot speculate about future products you might offer. Hypothetically, could you offer products like a target retirement date fund, without any fossil fuel companies? Hypothetically, could you offer an index fund that includes all companies in the Russell 2000 without the fossil fuel companies (and without tobacco, arms, deforestation, etc.). 6) What are your thoughts about voting on board seats? I feel like the boards of many non-fossil fuel companies (e.g. a bank) often include fossil fuel executives on them. Do you vote against those nominations today? If not, would you in the future?","author_name":"Aaryaman Singhal","votes":4,"created_at":"2025-01-19T06:33:01Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-300461","answers":[{"id":300508,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:300508","answer":"You've done your homework - I'm impressed! All good questions. In order asked: 1) Yes, if Sphere were to go out of business, customers' money invested in SPFFX would be protected. When customers invest, US Bank acts as the custodian of the money and stocks in the fund. If Sphere goes out of business/the fund shuts down, US Bank returns the shares/cash to customers to invest as they'd like. 2) The expense ratio can decrease at will. For an increase, it must go to a shareholder vote to all existing fund shareholders, so an increase is not likely. It is possible to launch a new share class of the existing fund and charge a higher fee there. That is how we can get the fund added to more expensive retail brokerage platforms like Fidelity and Schwab, while keeping the low-fee share class available on their 401(k) platforms. (We're not allowed to talk publicly about our plans, but you can email us at hello@oursphere.org if you have more questions.) 3) Yes, you are understanding correctly that you are investing in a SAFE with a $15M post-money cap. If VC investors buy shares at a higher post-money valuation than $15M in the future, your SAFE will automatically convert to preferred shares at the lower $15M valuation. 4) That is the breakeven for our current fund, assuming we do launch a new share class as discussed at the end of #2. 5) Hypothetically, yes, we could offer products like the ones you describe. Hypothetically, we would raise a $4M round to do so sooner rather than later. 6) Right now we outsource our voting to As You Vote, a proxy voting service managed by the non-profit As You Sow. This helps us keep our costs low so we can keep our fund prices low. You can find more about their proxy voting policy here: https://www.asyousow.org/as-you-vote","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":2,"created_at":"2025-01-21T00:07:20Z"}]},{"id":294260,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:294260","question":"Was today's Zoom session recorded? I was unable to attend and would appreciate a link to the recording, if possible.","author_name":"Allen Barth","votes":3,"created_at":"2024-10-15T23:43:49Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-294260","answers":[{"id":294423,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:294423","answer":"Hi Allen, It wasn't recorded, but we will host another one soon. We'll email you when it's scheduled.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-10-17T22:56:45Z"}]},{"id":307790,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:307790","question":"I am part of a investment club that is officially registered with a EIN. Can we also invest or this is only open to individuals?","author_name":"Michael Adeyoju","votes":2,"created_at":"2025-05-08T18:42:37Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-307790","answers":[{"id":308234,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308234","answer":"Yes, an entity can invest. Here's Wefunder's FAQ on the topic: https://help.wefunder.com/investing/304307-can-i-invest-via-an-entity","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-05-16T21:42:45Z"}]},{"id":293640,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:293640","question":"With a very low 0.07% expense ratio for the available-to-the-public Sphere 500 Climate Fund – assuming that's also comparable for your 401(k) offerings, if that's correct – what size of assets under management do you estimate is required for Sphere to be cashflow positive? (Morningstar lists assets as $13.9 million.)","author_name":"Aron Roberts","votes":2,"created_at":"2024-10-07T18:55:08Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-293640","answers":[{"id":293641,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:293641","answer":"Great question Aron. We aren't allowed to discuss publicly our plans for future products (per SEC rules), but the level of assets under management required to be cashflow positive decreases when we launch additional products. We're estimating it's $300M. Getting on Fidelity in the next couple months will play a big part in getting us there. In the meantime, our assets have grown to over $17 million in just the past month.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":3,"created_at":"2024-10-07T18:59:29Z"}]},{"id":312433,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:312433","question":"Hi Alex and team - I appreciate Sphere's mission to give people climate-friendly investment options, which is clearly needed. I have some questions that might help other investors better understand the approach: FUNDING VS. TRADING CLARIFICATION: I was surprised to see references to \"climate-friendly investing\" in your marketing materials. Unless I'm missing something, purchasing existing shares in the secondary market doesn't actually provide capital to companies - it just transfers ownership between investors. The only exception would be IPOs or secondary offerings. Are you planning to participate in climate company IPOs? This distinction seems important for investors to understand. RECENT ESG RESEARCH CONCERNS: Yale economist Kelly Shue recently published research suggesting that ESG divestment strategies may be counterproductive, potentially pushing polluting companies to emit more greenhouse gases since they lose access to ESG capital pressure. How does Sphere's approach address these findings? Do you have research showing that fossil fuel divestment actually reduces emissions rather than just shifting capital flows? HOLDINGS ANALYSIS QUESTIONS: Looking at your top holdings, I'm curious about the social responsibility screening: Apple - While climate-friendly, their planned obsolescence business model creates massive electronic waste (often toxic), and they're known for sophisticated tax avoidance strategies. How do these practices align with broader ESG goals? Bank of America - According to Violation Tracker, they're the #1 most penalized corporation in America for customer abuses, hidden fees, and reckless financial practices. Does being \"fossil-free\" override these concerns? UnitedHealth Group - With denial rates reportedly around 32% (double the industry average), how does profiting from healthcare denials fit your ESG framework? COMPARATIVE IMPACT: For investors interested in direct climate impact, how would you compare this approach versus crowd investing in specific renewable energy projects, regenerative agriculture, or clean technology companies where investors can see direct environmental outcomes and their money actually funds new infrastructure? I'm genuinely curious about these points as someone who works in investment education. Understanding these dynamics would help me and other investors make more informed decisions. Thanks for any insights you can provide!","author_name":"Paul Lovejoy","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-08-04T18:03:29Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-312433","answers":[{"id":312830,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:312830","answer":"Hi Paul, Thank you for your good questions. Key to understanding our approach is first understanding the 401(k) environment. In 401(k)s, it's rare for plan participants to invest in a single sector, because it can be risky to concentrate investments in any one sector. Diversification is encouraged, and because there are so many lawsuits in the 401(k) industry, most employers offer a relatively standard set of diversified funds: US large cap, mid cap, small cap, international, bonds, and target date funds. They are motivated to find funds in those categories that perform well (to avoid underperformance lawsuits) and that have low fees (to avoid excessive fee lawsuits). We've designed our approach to fit within this ecosystem. We start by asking one simple question: is this company's core line of business compatible with a climate-safe future? If the answer is no (fossil fuel companies, lead contributors to deforestation, weapons companies, etc.) we don't invest. For the remainder, we encourage them to do better through our shareholder vote. Many don't realize that they have the power as a shareholder to hire and fire board members, and to set the strategic direction of companies. (It's no surprise this isn't common knowledge - for those who invest through 401(k)s, the fund manager votes on their behalf and doesn't ask their opinion.) Big asset management firms vote against 98% of climate-related shareholder proposals. By flipping that equation and voting in favor of these proposals, we're encouraging companies to do better - for example by voting for big banks to stop financing new fossil fuel development projects. We invest in them because they can continue to be banks in a climate-safe world. Then we use our power as shareholders to get them to do better on climate. For companies with big fleets of vehicles, this can mean voting for them to transition to electric fleets. For companies with big warehouses, we vote for them to install solar on those warehouses. We invest in many of the biggest companies in the economy, and as our assets under management grow, so too will our power to get those companies to do better for people and planet. Now back to the impact of divesting from fossil fuels: it is twofold - (1) we are protecting the life savings of people who are saving fore retirement from an industry that is in decline, and (2) we are shining a spotlight on the issue of climate change, telling fossil fuel companies that we are not ok with the status quo. By taking away our money, we are taking away the social license that these companies have to influence policies in DC and around the world and prevent commonsense policies from being put in place that can protect us all from climate change. Divestment is an organizing tool at the end of the day, because money speaks louder than words. It can also be an effective way to protect long-term investments from an industry in decline.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-08T23:17:36Z"}]},{"id":309515,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:309515","question":"Hello, I'm getting this message in my Fidelity SDIRA. Is this the wrong account to purchase SPFFX? \"Mutual Fund Symbol is Not Valid critical message The symbol you're interested in is either not a valid Mutual Fund or is a fund that's not available on Fidelity.com.\" Update 6/23/2025, Yes, I understand that Wefunder is not the platform to invest directly into SPFFX. I was wanting to clarify when I can invest in my Fidelity individual brokerage account. Thank you for your clarification. Please notify investors of which platforms allow direct investment for SPFFX.","author_name":"Allen Barth","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-06-11T02:05:12Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-309515","answers":[{"id":309720,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:309720","answer":"Hi Allen, Thanks for this question. For the time being we're only available on Fidelity via 401(k) plans (i.e. on the Fidelity 401(k) platform). We are working to become available to investors on Fidelity who are investing on their own outside of 401(k) plans (i.e. on the Fidelity brokerage platform) this fall. In the meantime, you can invest via another brokerage platform like Vanguard, or you can open an account directly with us. To be clear: this community round on Wefunder is not an investment in the index fund. It is an investment in the company Sphere itself to become a partial owner of the company Sphere. Your question here seems to be about investing in the index fund, so I want to clarify that the Wefunder platform does not let you do that.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-06-15T15:12:47Z"}]},{"id":308612,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308612","question":"Sorry if this is a noob question, but can you explain the difference between investing here at Wefunder or directly buying the SPFFX on a platform like Vanguard / Interactive Brokers? Thanks so much!","author_name":"Alex Chen","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-05-26T17:51:45Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-308612","answers":[{"id":308665,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308665","answer":"Hi Alex, Here on Wefunder you have the opportunity to invest in Sphere the company itself, to help us invest in new products like the tech platform we're launching later this year. The risk/return profile is high/high, as it would be investing in any early-stage company. Sphere also has a products that is an index and its risk return profile is more low/low, similar to any index, since it is made up of large public companies. Investing on Wefunder does not mean investing in the index. It means investing in the company Sphere that created the index. I hope that helps.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":2,"created_at":"2025-05-27T11:31:23Z"}]},{"id":305905,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:305905","question":"A bunch of quick and hopefully easy questions. Is there any potential payout for investors prior to IPO? Does the expense ratio provide investors with any sort of \"dividend\"? Your pitch material mentions poor 10-year oil and gas returns, which, if eliminated, would have resulted in better S\u0026amp;P 500 returns. However, the pitch material also mentions removing deforestation (great!), private prisons (are they in the S\u0026amp;P 500), tobacco (wonderful), civilian firearms (are there any in the S\u0026amp;P 500? S\u0026amp;W is pretty small), and weapons manufacturers. So, what’s the new 10-year return with all these additional companies removed, compared to the S\u0026amp;P 500? Does “weapons manufacturers” include companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, GD, N-G, who make military weapons and civilian-use items? If you are eliminating about 100 S\u0026amp;P companies, shouldn’t it be “Sphere 400”? Investment materials doesn't seem like you will supplement the missing 100 with the next 100 biggest companies (not involved in fossil fuels). So, just keeping the “500” name for parity with S\u0026amp;P 500 name? You mention Fidelity. They show 9034 different mutual funds available to purchase. I don’t see SPFFX. When may it be added? My former employer Fidelity 401(k) account only has 18 funds available to purchase, about half Fidelity and half other brand, and then a bunch of Fidelity age-based lifecycle funds. Are you going to have to go to Fidelity’s thousands of corporate customers, employer by employer (my former employer was a small company, \u0026lt;5000 employees) and get them all to add SPFFX to the limited offering that they currently have. I am skeptical they would add SPFFX, especially when they can easily add more Fidelity funds. I asked my Raymond James brokerage about purchasing SPFFX, and they said it was unavailable (seemly for a Roth IRA or standard investment account). How do small (nano) investors help make the change with companies like Raymond James, John Hancock, and others? I see SPFFX on Schwab, but it won’t let me purchase it in my brokerage account. Does it have to be a 401(k) account to purchase?","author_name":"Eugene Bolton","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-04-12T06:05:22Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-305905","answers":[{"id":308666,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308666","answer":"Hi Eugene, Here you go: Is there any potential payout for investors prior to IPO? Sometimes private company shares become available on secondary markets. Does the expense ratio provide investors with any sort of \"dividend\"? Some of the companies in the index do pay dividends, and customers can choose to reinvest those dividends or receive the cash. Your pitch material mentions poor 10-year oil and gas returns, which, if eliminated, would have resulted in better S\u0026amp;P 500 returns. However, the pitch material also mentions removing deforestation (great!), private prisons (are they in the S\u0026amp;P 500), tobacco (wonderful), civilian firearms (are there any in the S\u0026amp;P 500? S\u0026amp;W is pretty small), and weapons manufacturers. So, what’s the new 10-year return with all these additional companies removed, compared to the S\u0026amp;P 500? Removing those additional categories had no impact on the risk/return profile of the index, compared to only removing fossil fuels, becaus they made up such a small part of the index on a market cap basis. Does “weapons manufacturers” include companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, GD, N-G, who make military weapons and civilian-use items? Yes, these companies are excluded. If you are eliminating about 100 S\u0026amp;P companies, shouldn’t it be “Sphere 400”? Investment materials doesn't seem like you will supplement the missing 100 with the next 100 biggest companies (not involved in fossil fuels). So, just keeping the “500” name for parity with S\u0026amp;P 500 name? We start with 500. It is a rules-based index and there is no rule regarding how many companies must be included after the exclusions. Only that the starting universe must contain 500 companies. You mention Fidelity. They show 9034 different mutual funds available to purchase. I don’t see SPFFX. When may it be added? It is currently only available on the Fidelity 401(k) platform. There they earn fees from employers. On the brokerage platform they charge fees to fund companies, and so fees will need to be higher. We hope to be there soon. My former employer Fidelity 401(k) account only has 18 funds available to purchase, about half Fidelity and half other brand, and then a bunch of Fidelity age-based lifecycle funds. Are you going to have to go to Fidelity’s thousands of corporate customers, employer by employer (my former employer was a small company, \u0026lt;5000 employees) and get them all to add SPFFX to the limited offering that they currently have. I am skeptical they would add SPFFX, especially when they can easily add more Fidelity funds. Yes. Though usually it's the employees of companies asking them to add our fund. We also get added to pre-approved lists called 3(38) fiduciary lists, which adds us to the plans of lots of companies at once. Our pitch details this. I asked my Raymond James brokerage about purchasing SPFFX, and they said it was unavailable (seemly for a Roth IRA or standard investment account). How do small (nano) investors help make the change with companies like Raymond James, John Hancock, and others? You can request us with them. If you have a financial advisor, have them request us. I see SPFFX on Schwab, but it won’t let me purchase it in my brokerage account. Does it have to be a 401(k) account to purchase? Yes, Schwab is very similar to Fidelity in this way.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-05-27T11:37:30Z"}]},{"id":293514,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:293514","question":"Hey there, I run a community round focused venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?","author_name":"Tristin Chambers","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-10-04T13:12:15Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-293514","answers":[{"id":293611,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:293611","answer":"Hi Tristin, That sounds great. Please email us at hello@oursphere.org. Best, Alex","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-10-06T21:20:12Z"}]},{"id":325546,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:325546","question":"Why was my investment cancelled?","author_name":"Bonnie R.","votes":0,"created_at":"2026-02-18T02:11:39Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-325546","answers":[{"id":327324,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:327324","answer":"Hi Bonnie, It looks like you didn't confirm your investment via the Wefunder system ahead of the deadline. Not to worry - we're planning to open up a future round to our community as well. If you follow us here, you'll get a notice when that happens. Then after making your reservation, make sure to pay attention to emails asking you to confirm as the round gets closer to closing. We'd love to welcome you to the Sphere team.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2026-03-10T16:42:39Z"}]},{"id":314867,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:314867","question":"Why was my investment cancelled?","author_name":"Bonnie R.","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-09-12T20:28:56Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-314867","answers":[{"id":316263,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:316263","answer":"Hi Bonnie, It looks like you never confirmed your investment when we sent a few emails asking you to confirm. I'm so sorry you missed the window! We may open up a future round to the community and will keep you posted.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-10-03T17:35:10Z"}]},{"id":313745,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313745","question":"Just saying. For the fund. For future investments. These are private companies now, pre ipo. That you should keep an eye on. The solar car company Aptera . The company Timeplast . Timeplast has a replacement for plastic. And here are some companies that were on Wefunder, that you should keep an eye on for future investment. Hempitecture , Joule Case , Geoship , ZenniHome , Jetoptera , Lit Motors .","author_name":"BENJAMIN STARK","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-26T13:36:41Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-313745","answers":[{"id":313749,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313749","answer":"Thank you for bringing these to our intention! We don't currently have any actively-managed funds. But as we explore offering them in the future, we'll keep ideas like this in mind.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-26T14:11:53Z"}]},{"id":313741,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313741","question":"Just a suggestion. I know this is not going to happen. But I have to say it anyway. For the fund. You should drop Tesla . And put that money into the electric car company BYD. The valuation of Tesla is insane. The valuation is based on 95 percent hype. It’s total BS. The One trillion valuation is BS , when you look at the amount of cars it sells. If you use the same valuation that people use for every other car company in the world. Based on numbers of cars sold. The true stock price of Tesla should be around 7 dollars a share, not 346 a share. You don’t even have to reply to this question. I know you are going to give the same BS explanation that everyone on Wall Street gives. No need to reply.","author_name":"BENJAMIN STARK","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-26T13:11:40Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-313741","answers":[{"id":313748,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313748","answer":"We don't make active investment decisions - we've created an index - so as long as the markets value Tesla as they do, we'll be invested. But we are proud of the impact we intend to have on companies like Tesla. We invest in them, because their core line of business is compatible with a climate-safe future, and then we vote our shares to get them to do better for planet and people. As shareholders, we have the power to fire the board members who enable the erratic behavior of the CEO. We have the power to hold Tesla accountable to its employees. As we grow, so too will our ability to influence the decisions at the top at companies like Tesla.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-26T14:11:07Z"}]},{"id":313241,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313241","question":"Where can I find what stocks are held in SPHERE, and are there any dividends or interest paid while the fund is in a 401 (k)?","author_name":"Theodore Robert Parker","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-17T16:17:43Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-313241","answers":[{"id":313481,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313481","answer":"Hi Theodore, you can find the full list of fund holdings, as well as full information like the fund prospectus and disclosures on the fund page here: https://www.oursphere.org/fund Yes, dividends and interest are accrued and typically reinvested on 401(k) plans. And to be abundantly clear: investing in this equity crowdfunding campaign via Wefunder means investing in Sphere the company, not in the index fund that Sphere created.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-21T20:48:02Z"}]},{"id":313187,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313187","question":"Hi Alex, With your low fee structure how are you going to increase revenue? Do you have other products on your road map that could help increase revenue? Thank you, Glenn","author_name":"Glenn Burney","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-08-15T17:10:29Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-313187","answers":[{"id":313205,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:313205","answer":"Hi Glenn, Yes - we do plan to launch more products that will increase our margins - we plan to offer climate-friendly versions of everything that's typically found on a 401(k) plan. Thank you for your good question! And please join us on our webinar with Kingscrowd on Tuesday where we'll dive into more depth on the business model, or check out the podcast episode they released today, where we discuss this topic in depth: https://kingscrowd.com/inside-startup-investing-episode-145/","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-08-15T23:52:22Z"}]},{"id":311409,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:311409","question":"Hi OurSphere Team, I’m Zac Stahlhut with D3VC, a venture fund specializing in investment crowdfunding. To better understand your path to profitability, could you outline your key AUM milestones, including the strategic pathway to reach break-even, and how you envision your growth strategy evolving once that is achieved? We're also interested in the mechanics of your customer acquisition strategy. Given that you empower employees to drive change, could you walk us through how you activate that initial interest and what a typical sales cycle entails to convert that momentum into company-wide adoption? Thank you for any details you can provide.","author_name":"Zac Stahlhut","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-07-16T17:33:59Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-311409","answers":[{"id":311416,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:311416","answer":"Hi Zac, Thanks for these questions. I'll start with our strategic pathway to break-even. There are two parts to the answer: the first has to do with growing assets in our current product, and the second has to do with launching additional products. We can get to break-even with our current product. To get there, we need to get on large 401(k) plans where there can be $50B on a single plan. With our current product, we can get $1B in AUM from a single large plan - more than what we need to get to break-even. And once we're on one large plan, we expect to be added to more, because benefits teams at that high end of the market compete with each other, and this is an issue employees care about. To get on a large plan, we need a competitive product (we've designed ours to check all the boxes, and the only one remaining is AUM - a large plan needs to see at least $100M in a fund before they'll consider adding it to their plan), and then we need to build relationships with the decisionmakers at those plans, which we have been doing. The other path to break-even is through launching more products. Regulators don't let us talk about future products, but what's relevant here is that while the one we launched first has very low fees because non-climate funds in the category charge very low fees, non-climate funds in the other categories where we may launch future products tend to charge higher fees, so margins will be higher for future products. Higher margins get us to break-even sooner. When Facebook first launched they didn't make any money and they focused on user growth. They continued to make no money for their first decade in existence, but when they did turn on ads, they became a money-printing machine. Similarly, our first product helps us prioritize user growth, and future products will help us monetize that growth. Regarding customer acquisition: we activate initial interest by educating the public about the issue - we find that when people find out they're invested in fossil fuels, they care, and they want to do something about it. Our most recent campaign helping actors get the SAG-AFTRA pension out of fossil fuel companies has gotten over 150M views so far. Once employees are activated, we help them take the next step by giving them template emails to reach out to HR and make the request. We also do targeted LinkedIn advertising to employees of specific companies we're targeting to get them to email HR. Once HR gets the emails, they reach out to their external 401(k) advisor letting them know that employees are making this request. We spend a lot of time building our relationships with 401(k) advisors so that they know to come to us when they get these requests. We sponsor 401(k) conferences, speak on webinars, and give keynotes and events, so that all 401(k) advisors know that Sphere is the brand for climate-friendly options that check all the boxes they need to check. When a 401(k) advisor recommends a fund to a company's 401(k) committee, the committee usually votes in favor of what the 401(k) advisor recommends. The timeline of this sales cycle is about one quarter. Companies don't have to switch 401(k) providers (an annual, time consuming, and costly effort) to add our option. 401(k) committees meet quarterly, and once they decide to add a fund, they send out a notice and 30 days later the fund is added. Does that answer your questions?","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-07-16T20:59:50Z"}]},{"id":308796,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308796","question":"I am wondering if there is any update on current AUM since the ~$27M number mentioned earlier in January in a previous question. In that question, you mentioned that there was a burst of growth from appearing on an NPR show, but have there been any similar catalysts for growth done since then or that are planned in the future? I see the team involves an art director who has been involved in high-profile ad campaigns, and I am wondering how exactly advertisement will work. Is a cash raise like this one required to do initiatives like outreach or advertisement? Looking at the .07% expense ratio with the AUM, that doesn't leave too much cash flow for those initiatives. You also mention that oil and gas are the worst-performing S\u0026amp;P sector, but it looks like SPFFX has underperformed the S\u0026amp;P for most timeframes, including since inception. Is this just because of unfortunate timing with other sectors, including the huge tech sector, dipping around the time of inception? While people may want to help the climate in any way possible, it seems like it would be a hard sell to have people transfer assets to a fund when the chart showing them performance shows it underperforming the market as a whole.","author_name":"Jason Burtnick","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-05-29T08:23:56Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-308796","answers":[{"id":308959,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308959","answer":"Hi Jason, AUM is currently at $34.3M. We've been on NPR again recently (Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal this time), and we do indeed have catalysts planned for the future, including an awareness-building campaign that we will launch with partners in the next few months, with which we expect to achieve millions of views. This cash raise enables us to increase our advertising spend, but it is not required for advertising. Our Chief Creative Officer specializes in getting millions of views without spending a single dollar on an ad. Regarding performance of the index: it has been 99% correlated to the S\u0026amp;P 500 over its lifetime. We find that the correlation is what matters most to 401(k) advisors and customers. This is a product that can offer a similar risk/return profile to its secondary benchmark, the S\u0026amp;P 500.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-06-02T14:01:21Z"}]},{"id":306720,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:306720","question":"Hi, when does this raise close? I cannot find the deadline. Thank you.","author_name":"Michael Daurio","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-04-23T19:35:08Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-306720","answers":[{"id":308235,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:308235","answer":"We are working to file our Form C now. Once it's filed, we'll have an exact deadline, but I expect the raise to close in a few weeks.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-05-16T21:43:37Z"}]},{"id":299846,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:299846","question":"Based on your prior responses, fund AUM was around $17M in October '24 and increased to $22.5M in November. Yahoo lists your current AUM as $27.68M; is that correct, and if so, can you talk about what's driving the growth? Also, how sustainable is it (i.e., when do you expect it to slow down)?","author_name":"Kevin Hardman","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-01-10T18:14:46Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-299846","answers":[{"id":300507,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:300507","answer":"Yes, that's correct. We were featured on an NPR show called Reveal at the end of September '24, which drove a lot of interest to our fund. We thought the boost in growth would be short-lived, but it has remained elevated. We went live on Fidelity at the start of January '25, and are working to get added to bigger 401(k) plans on Fidelity during 2025, which will drive additional growth.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2025-01-20T23:55:52Z"}]},{"id":296122,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:296122","question":"Hi Alex, First off, thank you for your quick and thorough answer to my last question. I just want to follow up on the details of your special exception to lower the minimum investment account to $10. Wefunder lists a minimum fee of $8. Assuming you were able to negotiate a better rate for your smallest investors, what percentage fee are they paying?","author_name":"Jason S.","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-11-13T00:31:16Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-296122","answers":[{"id":296192,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:296192","answer":"Unfortunately we were not. Wefunder has fixed costs for each investment regardless of the investment size.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-11-14T00:19:16Z"}]},{"id":295947,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295947","question":"Alex, Cool initiative. I love what you and your team are upto. Few questions - what goes into determining the company a climate friendly? If for example Microsoft power demands (for their growing AI/Cloud workload) are met by burning fossil fuel, will you exclude them? Likewise someone that is making gasoline cars, will they be excluded in your fund? Fundamentally, if we apply all these filter, we may end up in financials and tech sector. Even there the likes of Amazon by the virtue of large fleet of gas powered trucks may get disqualified. So are the likes of Fedex and UPS. - Have you done any historical (hypothetical) model based on your filter how Sphere fund would have performed in the last 20 years? It would be good to have this. - Once you break the barrier in to the 401K space and build significant momentum, what would be your competitive moat to differentiate from the new players like you competing for the same dollars (basically the barrier to entry becomes low) - Are there any preferential overhang, liquidation preference, warrants etc that are senior to this CF raise? - What is your current burn rate and how much runway do you have? - What is your AUM now with over 150 companies signed up for your fund? What percentage of the employee populations in these companies switch from their S\u0026amp;P500 fund to Sphere? Appreciate your answers, I will be signing into this campaign soon. Keep up the momentum.","author_name":"Prakash Sripathy","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-11-09T19:31:41Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-295947","answers":[{"id":296121,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:296121","answer":"Hi Prakash, We don't label companies as climate-friendly or not. We just exclude companies whose core business models are not compatible with a climate-just future - i.e. companies whose main lines of business include extracting, refining, or selling fossil fuels, or making equipment for those purposes, cutting down forests, etc. Our first product is an index called the Sphere 500 Fossil-Free Index that includes over 400 out of the top 500 US Companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Fedex-types. We don't pass judgement on whether those companies are truly climate-friendly. Instead, we vote our shares every time there's a shareholder proposal having to do with climate change, to encourage those companies to do better on climate. We have a 10-year back test of that index, and it's 99% correlated to its index the S\u0026amp;P 500 over that 10-year period. The slight difference is outperformance over the 5- and 10-year periods, mainly because the fossil fuel sector has had the worst returns of any sector of the economy over the past ten years. This fact is important when it comes to 401(k)s: employers must justify adding a fund to their menu by financial measures only. We help them make that case. The barrier to entry is the trustworthy brand recognition that we create - established asset management firms have deep ties to the fossil fuel industry and it is hard for them to make truly climate-friendly products as a result. As for newcomers - it's very hard to break into the 401(k) industry. We've managed to build relationships with some of the most notable members of the industry that other startups will have trouble replicating. There are not any overhang, liquidation preference, or warrants that are senior to this CF raise - the terms are the same terms the professional investors have gotten. Current burn rate is ~$100k per month and we have 6 months of runway. AUM is $22.5M in the fund. What percent of employees switch to our fund depends on whether we present to employees in all-hand meetings for 5-10 minutes about the new option that is available to them. When we do so, we have seen 50% of AUM in the plan move to our fund. We plan to replicate this for bigger employers with presentations to employee interest groups and micro-targeted ads to employees of specific companies on LinkedIn. Thank you for your interest and these questions!","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-11-13T00:29:56Z"}]},{"id":295580,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295580","question":"More of a general investing question, but how does investing in publicly traded stocks \"give fossil fuel companies $800 billion dollars\"? Also, what would you say to the argument for staying invested in incumbents with the idea that they will transition to cleaner energy?","author_name":"Sam Stubbs","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-11-02T01:26:23Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-295580","answers":[{"id":295787,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295787","answer":"Here's an article that details the calculation, from the non-profit As You Sow: https://fossilfreefunds.org/blog/2024/02/01/our-retirement-savings-own-one-fifth-us-fossil-fuel-stocks.html As to the argument to stay invested because they will transition: if and when fossil fuel companies do transition to renewable energy, they will no longer be classified as fossil fuel companies, and so we will start investing in them. In the meantime, the fossil fuel industry has failed to transition (they have spent more money advertising their green investments than they have on the green investments themselves), and it has had the worst financial returns of any sector of the economy over the past decade. We have no reason to believe this long-term trend will reverse moving forward (in fact, current signs point to it being likely to accelerate, given that increasing demand for solar, wind, batteries, and sustainable packaging is continuing to displace demand for fossil fuels in transportation, electricity production, and plastics). So from a purely financial perspective, we don't recommend investing in fossil fuel companies when investing with a long-term time horizon. Day traders, of course, can make money timing the market in this volatile sector. People saving for retirement, however, are typically not day traders. We do believe that voting our shares to encourage companies to do better on climate is an important lever for change. We exercise that lever for companies that do not have a fundamental conflict of interest when it comes to the clean energy transition vs. maximizing profits. For example: banks can continue to be banks, without lending money for new fossil fuel development projects. We vote for them to stop that kind of lending, which we believe sets them up for more financial success (along with protecting the planet), because their financial models are overestimating the returns that new fossil fuel development projects can give them in a world where we expect to see declining demand for fossil fuels. So: we invest in banks, even if they fund fossil fuel development projects, because they can still be banks without doing that lending, and we influence them in that decision through our shareholder votes. We don't invest in companies whose core lines of business are not compatible with a climate-safe future.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-11-06T00:15:47Z"}]},{"id":295459,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295459","question":"I love the idea of people being able to invest in their values (without paying abusive fees -- it's a balance in a regulated atmosphere). Your 401k base is largely already investing, and they tend to set and forget their investments. This is a education and activation project, even with a willing and enthusiastic audience. So I appreciate you onboarding a world class art director to convert them, but you don't list an instagram or other social account on either your website or wefunder account. What's your outreach strategy to current 401k holders and new investors? Second note... just want to check on the reserve amount... when i last read it, it was $10 (can't see it now as I've reserved an investment).. it may have been a browser rendering error. what is your minimum amount?","author_name":"Jason S.","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-10-31T01:39:06Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-295459","answers":[{"id":295503,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295503","answer":"Very perceptive question Jason. We've decided to focus our efforts on LinkedIn for now, as the platform that both tends to have more of the audience we're targeting and also the platform that allows us to micro-target employees of specific companies with our advertising. Our strategy to reach current 401(k) holders and new investors once we're available on their employers' retirement plans is twofold: (1) present at all-hands meetings of smaller companies and employee interest group meetings of bigger companies to let them know about the new option that's available to them in their 401(k) - we've seen 50% of the assets in a 401(k) plan move to our fund when we've done these presentations - and (2) LinkedIn advertising directly to employees of the companies where we're available on their retirement plans. While the topic of 401(k)s is boring and people often tune it out, the topic of how to make a tangible difference on climate change is highly motivating to many people. Educating people on the huge impact they can have on climate change through their 401(k)s often not only gets them to move their money, but actually often gets people who've never saved for retirement before to start investing, and gets people who have been saving to increase their contribution amounts. It's an exciting positive feedback loop that can also incentivize more 401(k) advisors to offer climate-friendly options because it can increase their AUM-based revenue. On your last question: you are correct that the minimum investment amount for this community round is $10. We are democratizing access to climate-friendly investing, and we wanted that to be true not only for our products in 401(k)s but also for this community round. We got a special exception from the WeFunder folks to lower the minimum amount to $10, so anyone can own a piece of our success.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-10-31T19:16:39Z"}]},{"id":295169,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295169","question":"Hi, can you please inform as to this round coincide with which series?","author_name":"Aadesh Gindodiya","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-10-26T08:59:37Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-295169","answers":[{"id":295253,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295253","answer":"We raised a $2M priced pre-seed round a few years ago. This SAFE note will convert into a $4M seed round.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-10-28T03:12:19Z"}]},{"id":295036,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295036","question":"Do you plan on offering a parallel ETF to allow the general market to participate from any brokerage not just the set of platforms that are carrying the mutual fund? There are costs associated with the setup/maintenance of the ETF and the increased exposure/access would need to balance the cost.","author_name":"William Stubbs","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-10-25T11:54:50Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/oursphere#question-295036","answers":[{"id":295084,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:295084","answer":"We're considering it, and you've got the pros and cons exactly right. In the meantime, we're working to make the current fund available on as many platforms as possible, not just the 401(k) ones. It's already available on Vanguard and Interactive Brokers, and we expect to have it on Fidelity and Schwab soon.","author_name":"Alex Wright-Gladstein","votes":0,"created_at":"2024-10-25T20:28:41Z"}]}],"faq":[{"question":"Hey there, I run a community round focused venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?","answer":"Hi Tristin, That sounds great. Please email us at hello@oursphere.org. Best, Alex"},{"question":"With a very low 0.07% expense ratio for the available-to-the-public Sphere 500 Climate Fund – assuming that's also comparable for your 401(k) offerings, if that's correct – what size of assets under management do you estimate is required for Sphere to be cashflow positive? (Mo...","answer":"Great question Aron. We aren't allowed to discuss publicly our plans for future products (per SEC rules), but the level of assets under management required to be cashflow positive decreases when we launch additional products. We're estimating it's $300M. Getting on Fidelity in the next couple months will play a big part in getting us there. In the meantime, our assets have grown to over $17 million in just the past month."},{"question":"Was today's Zoom session recorded? I was unable to attend and would appreciate a link to the recording, if possible.","answer":"Hi Allen, It wasn't recorded, but we will host another one soon. We'll email you when it's scheduled."},{"question":"This Fund makes a ton of sense! Long term, if things go well, what would be possible opportunities for investors to see a return on investment and what would be a potential timeline? Thank you!","answer":"We plan to do a public offering in 5-10 years, providing early investors with an opportunity to exit with a good return on investment. Our goal is to at least 100x your investment in that time frame."},{"question":"1) Who are your competitors in this space, and what is your competitive advantage/moat? 2) What's the exit strategy? (E.g., is it going public a la Janus Henderson, selling yourself to another fund family, what?)","answer":"1) Competitors: We think about our competitors in two categories: (1) large asset management firms and (2) climate-friendly asset management firms. Large firms have tried to offer climate-friendly products and failed, destroying their credibility when it comes to climate-friendly investing in the process. Vanguard joined the Net Zero Asset Managers Alliance and then pulled out once there was some political pressure in Texas. BlackRock told its shareholders it would start pressuring companies ..."}]}}}