Valentine’s Day is a moment to celebrate the relationships and connections in our lives—and at M13, we know that our work is all about the people. Our Propulsion model emphasizes providing founders with meaningful relationships with a team of operators whose expertise and experience they can truly trust and rely on. We’re grateful to cultivate meaningful long-term partnerships with our founders and their teams to help them succeed as they build the future of work, health, commerce, and money.
In the spirit of spreading the love, we wanted to highlight what makes us excited about some of our portfolio companies—and how we’ve committed to showing up in those partnerships.
Future of Work
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WeeCare Co-founder & CEO Jessica Chang speaks at M13’s Annual LP Day 2022
M13 Partner Anna Barber (right) and WeeCare Co-founder & CEO Jessica Chang
Leveraging the largest network of in-home childcare providers in the US, WeeCare connects employers who are looking to provide childcare benefits for employees with nannies and babysitters.
What M13 loves about WeeCare:
“I love this team, first, for their shared passion for the mission of helping families find excellent, affordable childcare; second, for their creativity and grit as they have navigated a challenging economy and found a successful business model; and third, for how they support each other as they grow and learn. I appreciate how receptive they are to our ideas and support and am inspired by their vision for a future where every family has the childcare they need.”
—Anna Barber, M13 Partner
What WeeCare loves about M13:
“Anna is very dedicated to getting to know all of us and spends time diving in deep on issues we have, regardless of the problem. I know I can call, text, or email her anytime and that she will look out for our best interests. We also love that we can tap into M13's wider network, whether that is a recruitment need, product need, or marketing assistance.”
—Jessica Chang, WeeCare Co-founder & CEO
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M13 Partners Christine Choi and Karl Alomar meet with the Prepared team at M13’s New York office
M13 Partner Christine Choi (right) with Prepared’s VP of Operations Miranda Lee
Prepared is an emergency dispatch technology provider that disrupts the outdated landline system with mobile data. Prepared’s service enables the exchange of live-streamed video and text from mobile callers to dispatchers—unlocking the power of everyday technology, like smartphones, to enhance first-responder situational awareness and save lives.
What M13 loves about Prepared:
“It is not often that we get to invest in a company not only with a great opportunity for growth, but also with a mission that you can only stand back and admire. Prepared was established with a deep commitment to improving society for the better that truly germinates from the hearts of its founders. Amazing company with an incredible mission.”
—Karl Alomar, M13 Partner
What Prepared loves about M13:
"Since our earliest days, M13 has been a crucial extension of the Prepared team. For a first-time founder, rapid learning is a critical skill. Karl and the rest of M13 offer our team insights daily that help us see the world from the perspective of a lifelong operator. M13's guidance, introductions, and experience have leveled up our decision making in a time of hyper-growth. We are incredibly grateful to have M13 on our team."
—Michael Chime, Prepared Co-founder & CEO
Future of Health
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M13 EIR Adam Domian (left) with Lifeforce Co-founders Dugal Bain and Joel Jackson
Lifeforce Co-founder Dugal Bain speaks at M13’s Annual LP Day 2022
Wellness brand Lifeforce is a health optimization platform built for people in mid-life. It integrates at-home diagnostics, experienced functional medicine doctors, bioidentical hormones, peptides, custom-built nutraceuticals, and performance coaches to guide members through personalized plans customized to each member's biology, lifestyle, and goals.
What M13 loves about Lifeforce:
“M13 loves the attitude of the Lifeforce founding team, Dugal and Joel. They are so collaborative, always take ideas in stride, and work incredibly hard. It’s great to roll up our sleeves and be in the trenches with them building Lifeforce while serving the greater need to improve the health of humanity.”
—Courtney Reum, M13 Co-founder and Partner
What Lifeforce loves about M13:
“‘We've got your back’ has become a tired VC cliche—but not with M13. When they invest it isn't just with money: it's with energy, resources, commitment, and genuine care for the companies and the people they back. They get into the boat with you, and that means a lot."
—Dugal Bain, Lifeforce Co-founder
Future of Commerce
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M13 Partner Christine Choi (right) connects Shef Co-founder Joey Grassia (center) and Rho Co-founder Everett Cook (left)
M13 Partner Christine Choi and Shef Co-founder Joey Grassia speak at M13’s Annual LP Day 2021
Shef is an online marketplace for home cooks to sell meals to consumers in their local communities.
What M13 loves about Shef:
“The dream is to invest in a company that creates value and purpose for everyone, and for me that company is Shef. The founders named their homemade food delivery platform in honor of their mothers, and to this day more than 80% of their “shefs” are women, many of whom are caregivers or work from home and aspire to reach more people with their delicious dishes. Shef has catalyzed meaningful income streams and careers—including a shef who recently opened her first restaurant in New York City! From day one with M13, Shef has been open to forging a true collaborative partnership, turning to us as a sounding board for both the good and difficult, and I am grateful for their trust in us.”
—Christine Choi, M13 Partner
What Shef loves about M13:
“There is nothing more important than the people you embark on your startup journey with. That starts with hiring the best people in the world, but still, every startup will have gaps and blind spots that need to be filled with the right partner—someone who you trust and who cares deeply about your success. For us, that's M13. M13 has consistently been able to provide value and insight because they have been through macroeconomic cycles and know what gaps startups need to fill at each stage of growth. We love working with the folks at M13 because they genuinely care about us as humans and are passionate about what we're building for our community.”
—Joey Grassia, Shef Co-founder
Future of Money
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M13 Partner Rob Olson (left) with Banyan Founder & CEO Jehan Luth
Banyan Founder & CEO Jehan Luth speaks at M13’s “Raising Your Next Round” panel discussion
Global data platform Banyan is democratizing access to item-level receipt data. Its infrastructure links merchants, banks, and fintechs so consumers and businesses can access richer transaction-linked experiences in any application.
What M13 loves about Banyan:
“We at M13 believe that the future of money lies in democratizing financial services, and a critical component to powering this future is item-level data infrastructure. Banyan’s incredibly granular data source, never before assembled at scale, can power new offerings and intelligence in virtually every business that involves humans spending money. We strongly believe that Banyan infrastructure is one of this generation’s biggest advancements in spending intelligence and innovation!”
—Rob Olson, M13 Partner
What Banyan loves about M13:
"Leveraging their vast experience in advising high-growth startups, M13 is our trusted partner on an array of key topics, including capital solutions. M13 has also provided deep expertise across our critical functions, including product, marketing, and people operations."
—Jehan Luth, Banyan Founder & CEO
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M13 Partner Latif Peracha (left) with Rho Co-founder & CEO Everett Cook at M13’s Future Perfect event
M13 Partner Karl Alomar (left) and Rho Co-founder & CEO Everett Cook speak at M13’s Annual LP Day 2021
Rho is building the future of frictionless finance. The company enables high-growth businesses to manage their cash and spend through its automated platform.
What M13 loves about Rho:
“We were introduced to Rho by one of our portfolio companies that was using it for their banking needs. We then discovered during diligence that another M13 portfolio company was also independently using Rho—giving us the most natural proof of product-market fit. The best companies delight their customers with service levels previously unavailable, and Rho is doing so by leading with its own proprietary software to make sure it can fully maintain the customer journey and experience.”
—Latif Peracha, M13 Partner
What Rho loves about M13:
“We love the close relationship we have with the entire M13 team, and how passionate they all are about entrepreneurship and building world class companies with incredible brands and cultures.”
—Everett Cook, Rho Co-founder & CEO
Brighter together
When we asked our partners what we’re most proud of, it was resoundingly this: the people who have joined our journey.
Growth and learning are intentional parts of our culture, and collaboration comes in many flavors. Our founding teams have benefited from customer introductions by our investors and candid group sessions with some of the world’s most respected executive coaches; more than ever, we see the importance of supporting your physical and mental well-being. Other partners help us nurture talent and foster an inclusive culture; in particular, LifeLabs Learning partners with us on our annual DEI workshops and our Human Capital content series.
Money gets us started, but people make enduring, meaningful companies. The entire M13 community is passionate about working with you and your team, and we’ll continue to expand our organization to support our growing portfolio. It’s our founders, talent, investors, and community that ensure that we’re not building alone but together and meaningfully. We truly believe in the engine of business to create dignified work and purpose that ensures a future beyond us.
If our purpose and values resonate with yours, please reach out. We can’t wait to build with you.
Valentine’s Day is a moment to celebrate the relationships and connections in our lives—and at M13, we know that our work is all about the people. Our Propulsion model emphasizes providing founders with meaningful relationships with a team of operators whose expertise and experience they can truly trust and rely on. We’re grateful to cultivate meaningful long-term partnerships with our founders and their teams to help them succeed as they build the future of work, health, commerce, and money.
In the spirit of spreading the love, we wanted to highlight what makes us excited about some of our portfolio companies—and how we’ve committed to showing up in those partnerships.
Future of Work
WeeCare Co-founder & CEO Jessica Chang speaks at M13’s Annual LP Day 2022
M13 Partner Anna Barber (right) and WeeCare Co-founder & CEO Jessica Chang
Leveraging the largest network of in-home childcare providers in the US, WeeCare connects employers who are looking to provide childcare benefits for employees with nannies and babysitters.
What M13 loves about WeeCare:
“I love this team, first, for their shared passion for the mission of helping families find excellent, affordable childcare; second, for their creativity and grit as they have navigated a challenging economy and found a successful business model; and third, for how they support each other as they grow and learn. I appreciate how receptive they are to our ideas and support and am inspired by their vision for a future where every family has the childcare they need.”
—Anna Barber, M13 Partner
What WeeCare loves about M13:
“Anna is very dedicated to getting to know all of us and spends time diving in deep on issues we have, regardless of the problem. I know I can call, text, or email her anytime and that she will look out for our best interests. We also love that we can tap into M13's wider network, whether that is a recruitment need, product need, or marketing assistance.”
—Jessica Chang, WeeCare Co-founder & CEO
M13 Partners Christine Choi and Karl Alomar meet with the Prepared team at M13’s New York office
M13 Partner Christine Choi (right) with Prepared’s VP of Operations Miranda Lee
Prepared is an emergency dispatch technology provider that disrupts the outdated landline system with mobile data. Prepared’s service enables the exchange of live-streamed video and text from mobile callers to dispatchers—unlocking the power of everyday technology, like smartphones, to enhance first-responder situational awareness and save lives.
What M13 loves about Prepared:
“It is not often that we get to invest in a company not only with a great opportunity for growth, but also with a mission that you can only stand back and admire. Prepared was established with a deep commitment to improving society for the better that truly germinates from the hearts of its founders. Amazing company with an incredible mission.”
—Karl Alomar, M13 Partner
What Prepared loves about M13:
"Since our earliest days, M13 has been a crucial extension of the Prepared team. For a first-time founder, rapid learning is a critical skill. Karl and the rest of M13 offer our team insights daily that help us see the world from the perspective of a lifelong operator. M13's guidance, introductions, and experience have leveled up our decision making in a time of hyper-growth. We are incredibly grateful to have M13 on our team."
—Michael Chime, Prepared Co-founder & CEO
Future of Health
M13 EIR Adam Domian (left) with Lifeforce Co-founders Dugal Bain and Joel Jackson
Lifeforce Co-founder Dugal Bain speaks at M13’s Annual LP Day 2022
Wellness brand Lifeforce is a health optimization platform built for people in mid-life. It integrates at-home diagnostics, experienced functional medicine doctors, bioidentical hormones, peptides, custom-built nutraceuticals, and performance coaches to guide members through personalized plans customized to each member's biology, lifestyle, and goals.
What M13 loves about Lifeforce:
“M13 loves the attitude of the Lifeforce founding team, Dugal and Joel. They are so collaborative, always take ideas in stride, and work incredibly hard. It’s great to roll up our sleeves and be in the trenches with them building Lifeforce while serving the greater need to improve the health of humanity.”
—Courtney Reum, M13 Co-founder and Partner
What Lifeforce loves about M13:
“‘We've got your back’ has become a tired VC cliche—but not with M13. When they invest it isn't just with money: it's with energy, resources, commitment, and genuine care for the companies and the people they back. They get into the boat with you, and that means a lot."
—Dugal Bain, Lifeforce Co-founder
Future of Commerce
M13 Partner Christine Choi (right) connects Shef Co-founder Joey Grassia (center) and Rho Co-founder Everett Cook (left)
M13 Partner Christine Choi and Shef Co-founder Joey Grassia speak at M13’s Annual LP Day 2021
Shef is an online marketplace for home cooks to sell meals to consumers in their local communities.
What M13 loves about Shef:
“The dream is to invest in a company that creates value and purpose for everyone, and for me that company is Shef. The founders named their homemade food delivery platform in honor of their mothers, and to this day more than 80% of their “shefs” are women, many of whom are caregivers or work from home and aspire to reach more people with their delicious dishes. Shef has catalyzed meaningful income streams and careers—including a shef who recently opened her first restaurant in New York City! From day one with M13, Shef has been open to forging a true collaborative partnership, turning to us as a sounding board for both the good and difficult, and I am grateful for their trust in us.”
—Christine Choi, M13 Partner
What Shef loves about M13:
“There is nothing more important than the people you embark on your startup journey with. That starts with hiring the best people in the world, but still, every startup will have gaps and blind spots that need to be filled with the right partner—someone who you trust and who cares deeply about your success. For us, that's M13. M13 has consistently been able to provide value and insight because they have been through macroeconomic cycles and know what gaps startups need to fill at each stage of growth. We love working with the folks at M13 because they genuinely care about us as humans and are passionate about what we're building for our community.”
—Joey Grassia, Shef Co-founder
Future of Money
M13 Partner Rob Olson (left) with Banyan Founder & CEO Jehan Luth
Banyan Founder & CEO Jehan Luth speaks at M13’s “Raising Your Next Round” panel discussion
Global data platform Banyan is democratizing access to item-level receipt data. Its infrastructure links merchants, banks, and fintechs so consumers and businesses can access richer transaction-linked experiences in any application.
What M13 loves about Banyan:
“We at M13 believe that the future of money lies in democratizing financial services, and a critical component to powering this future is item-level data infrastructure. Banyan’s incredibly granular data source, never before assembled at scale, can power new offerings and intelligence in virtually every business that involves humans spending money. We strongly believe that Banyan infrastructure is one of this generation’s biggest advancements in spending intelligence and innovation!”
—Rob Olson, M13 Partner
What Banyan loves about M13:
"Leveraging their vast experience in advising high-growth startups, M13 is our trusted partner on an array of key topics, including capital solutions. M13 has also provided deep expertise across our critical functions, including product, marketing, and people operations."
—Jehan Luth, Banyan Founder & CEO
M13 Partner Latif Peracha (left) with Rho Co-founder & CEO Everett Cook at M13’s Future Perfect event
M13 Partner Karl Alomar (left) and Rho Co-founder & CEO Everett Cook speak at M13’s Annual LP Day 2021
Rho is building the future of frictionless finance. The company enables high-growth businesses to manage their cash and spend through its automated platform.
What M13 loves about Rho:
“We were introduced to Rho by one of our portfolio companies that was using it for their banking needs. We then discovered during diligence that another M13 portfolio company was also independently using Rho—giving us the most natural proof of product-market fit. The best companies delight their customers with service levels previously unavailable, and Rho is doing so by leading with its own proprietary software to make sure it can fully maintain the customer journey and experience.”
—Latif Peracha, M13 Partner
What Rho loves about M13:
“We love the close relationship we have with the entire M13 team, and how passionate they all are about entrepreneurship and building world class companies with incredible brands and cultures.”
—Everett Cook, Rho Co-founder & CEO
Brighter together
When we asked our partners what we’re most proud of, it was resoundingly this: the people who have joined our journey.
Growth and learning are intentional parts of our culture, and collaboration comes in many flavors. Our founding teams have benefited from customer introductions by our investors and candid group sessions with some of the world’s most respected executive coaches; more than ever, we see the importance of supporting your physical and mental well-being. Other partners help us nurture talent and foster an inclusive culture; in particular, LifeLabs Learning partners with us on our annual DEI workshops and our Human Capital content series.
Money gets us started, but people make enduring, meaningful companies. The entire M13 community is passionate about working with you and your team, and we’ll continue to expand our organization to support our growing portfolio. It’s our founders, talent, investors, and community that ensure that we’re not building alone but together and meaningfully. We truly believe in the engine of business to create dignified work and purpose that ensures a future beyond us.
If our purpose and values resonate with yours, please reach out. We can’t wait to build with you.
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The views expressed here are those of the individual M13 personnel quoted and are not the views of M13 Holdings Company, LLC (“M13”) or its affiliates. This content is for general informational purposes only and does not and is not intended to constitute legal, business, investment, tax or other advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters and should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of this content. This content is not directed to any investors or potential investors, is not an offer or solicitation and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or solicitation with respect to any current or future M13 investment partnership. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Unless otherwise noted, this content is intended to be current only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in funds managed by M13, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by M13 is available at m13.co/portfolio.