Consumer
Portfolio spotlight
HomeLight is a marketplace for connecting home sellers with the best real estate agents.
Milestones
- 2012 → Founded
- 2017 → Partnered, Series B
Partner
Chime helps members avoid bank fees, save money automatically, and lead healthier financial lives.
Milestones
- 2012 → Founded
- 2018 → Partnered, Series C
Partner
NASDAQ: POSH; later acquired by NaverPoshmark is a social commerce marketplace where people can buy and sell new or used clothing, shoes, accessories, and home goods.
Milestones
- 2011 → Founded
- 2012 → Partnered, Series B
- 2021 → IPO; NASDAQ: POSH
- 2022 → Acquired by Naver
Partner
NASDAQ: ROKU Roku pioneered streaming TV, connecting users to content they love, enabling content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and providing advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers.
Milestones
- 2002 → Founded
- 2008 → Partnered, Series C
- 2017 → IPO; NASDAQ: ROKU
Partner
NASDAQ: ROVR Rover connects dog and cat parents with loving pet sitters and dog walkers in neighborhoods across the US, Canada, UK, and Europe.
Milestones
- 2011 → Founded
- 2014 → Partnered, Series C
- 2021 → SPAC; NASDAQ: ROVR
Partner
Acquired by Apple Siri was a voice recognition company spun out of the non-profit institute SRI International. It launched its Siri virtual personal assistant app in February 2010, two months before it was acquired by Apple.
Milestones
- 2007 → Founded
- 2008 → Partnered
- 2010 → Acquired
Partner
NYSE: UBERUber innovates at the intersection of mobile technology, transportation, and logistics. Uber provides mobility-as-a-service with ride-sharing, food and package delivery, couriers, and freight transportation.
Milestones
- 2009 → Founded
- 2011 → Partnered, Series B
- 2019 → IPO; NYSE: UBER
Partner
NYSE: WRBYWarby Parker is an online retailer of prescription glasses, contact lenses, and sunglasses, conceived as an alternative to the overpriced and bland eyewear available today.
Milestones
- 2010 → Founded
- 2011 → Partnered, Series B
- 2021 → Direct Listing; NYSE: WRBY
Partner
Our perspective
Amy joins us to expand Menlo’s long-standing consumer practice and lead us into new categories, drawing on her strong gaming expertise and fearless exploration of new consumer experiences.
Riva Health founders Tuhin Sinha and Dag Kittlaus discuss their critical mission to revolutionize cardiovascular healthcare; their long histories with Menlo partners Greg Yap and Shawn Carolan; how they were introduced to each other; and the whirlwind journey to FDA approval.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly active users just two months after launch, setting the new standard for the fastest-growing consumer application in history. The landmark achievement underscored the strength of generative AI’s pull in consumer markets—surpassing even the breakthroughs of the internet and smartphones.
Economic downturns force us to get back to basics: The cost of new capital and low valuation multiples—even for top-performing public companies—force startups to make substantial progress per dollar to get a term sheet, much less an up round.
As we consider the post-COVID economy, we reflect on previous recessions to inform our predictions about how various asset classes and business models might perform.
How to align product with what customers want, differentiate from competitors, and win your market
Today we congratulate Neil Blumenthal, Dave Gilboa, Andy Hunt, Jeff Raider, and the entire Warby Parker team on becoming a publicly-traded company.
Today we congratulate CEO Aaron Easterly and the entire Rover team on becoming a publicly-traded company (NASDAQ: ROVR).
Startups fail when they don’t build a simple solution to a problem many people have. Many startups fall into the trap of building toward a “mission” rather than a minimum viable product (MVP).
Nearly half of U.S. adults—108 million people—have high blood pressure, which is the #1 controllable risk for both heart disease and stroke, the two leading worldwide causes of death.
A very real concern emerging from the pandemic is the impact of remote learning on students who require more hands-on, personalized instruction.
Today we congratulate CEO Manish Chandra, co-founders Tracy Sun, Gautam Golwala, Chetan Pungaliya, CFO Anan Kashyap, and the entire team at Poshmark on going public (NASDAQ: POSH)!
The end of 2020 will be marked by a series of high-profile consumer technology IPOs, including several marketplace businesses.
The pandemic’s pressures compressed trends toward digital and virtual care that might otherwise have taken years into a few months.
