backing transformative consumer businesses for 25 years

In the 1990s, Howard Schultz built Starbucks into one of the world's most iconic consumer businesses. In 1998, after taking Starbucks public, Dan Levitan and Howard founded Maveron. They recognized that digital technologies would integrate into people's lives in unprecedented ways. They equally recognized that great teams attacking consumer-focused problems would require a rigorous understanding of human behavior. This belief has remained Maveron's north star for over 25 years.

partnering with entrepreneurs that change the way we

live
work
learn
play
eat
stay well
Rec Room
Thirty Madison
Pacaso
Lovevery
Cap Hill Brands
Allbirds

Since our founding in 1998, our focus has remained consistent: early, true partnerships with non-normal entrepreneurs building consumer brands. It's great entrepreneurs — with passion, curiosity and rigor, courage and integrity — that create iconic brands.

As a firm, we specialize in what we do best: consumer. We invest under the premise that value creation comes through identifying where consumer behavior is changing, especially before it's obvious – and we are obsessed with observing how people live, work, learn, play, eat, and stay well. Often, we look at how technology and consumer centricity are disrupting archaic industries such as real estate, health care, finance, education, food, and energy.

We seek companies that change culture and the way we live. We call it "creating a cauldron of consumer passion."

do better than just profit

In June 2021, on the 23rd anniversary of our founding, we proudly announced our B Corp certification, joining an ever-growing list (including portfolio companies Allbirds, Lovevery, and Nécessaire). These are for-profit companies that use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. As investors, we partner with founders who obsess over improving the lives of consumers every single day. Additionally, a significant portion of our LP base is comprised of children’s hospitals, foundations, universities, and philanthropic families who also hold this shared mission of making the world a better place. When we do well for them, the world does too.
We’re excited to continue partnering with founders and investors who understand the weight of their power and who aim to shape the future — for good.

redefining
consumer

The makeup of a consumer business has drastically changed since the 90s until now, but the core remains the same: companies that integrate into people’s lives and make the world a better place.
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1992

Starbucks IPO. The public debut of a global consumer brand focused on more than just coffee but one centered around human connection and innovation. Howard notes that he wished there were consumer focused VC's when he raised money.

1994

Netscape launches, a milestone in the beginning of the modern internet.

1998

Maveron is founded. Our first investment was eBay on June 30, 1998. Three months later, eBay went public.

2004

Maveron's first institutional fund. This same year, for the first time, there were more people in the U.S. with access to broadband internet than dial-up.

2007

Maveron leads an investment in Trupanion, now the nation's largest medical insurance business, and the first modern pet economy unicorn. This marked a new beginning of treating pets like human family members.

2008

The great recession. We retrenched – smaller team, smaller fund – and after asking ourselves what we do best, we returned to our roots of early-stage investing in consumer brands.

2008

Amidst the recession, Apple's App Store launches, catalyzing an entirely new category of consumer companies.

2013

Zulily goes public (the company was started in our offices, and we solely funded the seed and Series A). Part of a wave of eCommerce businesses leveraging the ubiquity of the mobile phone. This marks a new change in behavior: consumers impulse purchasing on their phones.

2016

Allbirds (backed at the Series A) pioneers a new form of retail: direct-to-consumer via the internet. TIME magazine deems Allbirds as "the world's most comfortable shoes."

2018

Keeps (part of Thirty Madison, backed by Maveron at the Seed) launches as an entirely digital company, focused on preventing hair loss. They become the #1 online hair loss business in America.

2020

Maveron leads the Series A in Pacaso, the category leader in second home ownership. Some say Pacaso is the fastest U.S. company to become a unicorn – just five months after launch.

2021

Maveron becomes a B Corp, emphasizing our commitment to doing well by doing good and donating a percentage of our profits to causes we believe deeply in.

2021

In a world where funds keep getting bigger, Maveron acts like a maverick and raises a $225M Fund 8, to focus on the next generation of ubiquitous consumer brands.