Our story

Built by people who
lived the problem

Two operators. One shared frustration. A platform built from the inside out.

Why we built this

Mentorship changes lives.
Admin work shouldn't get in the way.

Persto exists because mentorship programs that change people's trajectories were being run on spreadsheets, manual scheduling, and gut-feel reporting. The mission was strong. The infrastructure wasn't.

We built Persto to take that administrative burden off the table entirely. Scheduling, reporting, automations, tracking — handled. So program directors can put their energy where it belongs: building the relationships that move people forward.

We started with Venture Mentoring Service communities because that's where our roots are. And as we've grown, we've seen that the same problem exists across every structured mentorship program. We're here to solve it for all of them.

Ana-Clara and Andrew Ashur at the Charlotte Business Journal awards
Ana-Clara and Andrew at the Charlotte Business Journal awards
The founders

The people
behind Persto

Andrew Ashur
Andrew Ashur
Co-Founder

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur who started his first company, Lucid Bots, during his junior year at Davidson College. Lucid Bots builds robots for labor-intensive tasks.

He attributes much of his early success to the mentors he found through LaunchCLT, a Venture Mentoring community in Charlotte. That experience stayed with him — he went on to spend two years as a mentor himself, guiding early-stage founders through the same journey.

When Andrew recognized that no software existed to properly run programs like the one that had changed his trajectory, he built Persto alongside his co-founder and wife, Ana-Clara.

Entrepreneur & Mentor
Ana-Clara Ashur
Ana-Clara Ashur
Co-Founder

Ana-Clara has spent her career at the intersection of community and impact, working with nonprofits since her days at Duke University. Her work has always been grounded in the belief that mentorship is one of the most powerful forces for individual growth.

Most recently, Ana served as a program administrator for a Venture Mentoring community. She was struck by how much of the program ran on manual processes and spreadsheets — work that could and should be automated. She knew there was a better way.

That hands-on experience running a mentorship program gave Ana an intimate understanding of what program directors actually need. Every feature in Persto is built on those lessons.

Program Operator & Community Builder
What we believe

The principles that guide
how we build

01
Operators first
We build for the people actually running programs. Every feature has to make a program director's day meaningfully easier — not just look good in a demo.
02
Specificity over breadth
We'd rather be the best tool for structured mentorship programs than a mediocre tool for everyone. Deep expertise beats shallow coverage every time.
03
Partnership, not handoff
We don't hand you software and disappear. We onboard alongside you, configure the platform to your program, and stay close as you grow.

See Persto in
action

Book a demo and we'll walk you through exactly how Persto can work for your program.

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