M13, a Los Angeles, CA-based venture engine, has appointed Anna Barber as Partner and Head of Launchpad.
She will be based in LA and responsible for expanding Launchpad, M13’s inhouse venture studio. At M13, Barber will expand the program’s capacity to include additional cohorts of entrepreneurs, product ideas and corporate partners.
Barber brings to M13 an informed background as a founder and operator, an early stage investor and four years as the Managing Director of Techstars LA, where she built a portfolio of locally founded companies with a strong community of support. Consistent with her commitment to early stage founders, she also founded The Fund LA, a pre-seed venture fund that supports the LA ecosystem of entrepreneurs. Her career has included stints as a corporate lawyer, McKinsey consultant, product executive and entrepreneur in ed tech, retail and e-commerce. She is also a certified executive coach.
Barber graduated from Yale University and Yale Law School and is a proud native New Yorker.
M13’s Launchpad began in 2019 to test new product ideas and incubate its first cohort of companies. Launchpad’s first internally developed company is Rae, an inclusive line of affordable women’s wellness products available at Target, Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. Companies developed in partnership with Procter & Gamble Ventures include the premium beauty tech OPTE, Kindra menopause products and Bodewell for sensitive skin care.
Founded in 2016 with offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, M13 invests in early stage consumer tech companies driving change in consumer behavior over the next decade. With more than 80 direct investments and 16 exits, the firm’s portfolio totals over $137B in enterprise value and includes Lyft, Pinterest, Ring, Daily Harvest, FabFitFun, Rothy’s and others.
FinSMEs
16/11/2020