Listen Ventures

Yes...it’s the middle of the summer ☀️ AND we are excited to start the search for our Fall Investment intern. If you, or someone you know, is an MBA student looking to sink their teeth into investing and get experience in consumer VC, step right this way! Investment Listeners have the opportunity to be immediately integrated into our investment process. You’ll spend your days sourcing and evaluating deals among other opportunities, gaining expertise and experience in consumer investing and diligence. More details and application at the link below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gZsc5S2n *If recruited for fall, continuation into the winter is preferred. Jeff Cantalupo Rick Desai Brentos Fernandez Ellen Wilcox Alexis Queen Joelle Cosmas Hylton Irons Johnnie Yu Nika Longo Bobby Lehmann Nikita Srivastava Aditi Baghel Samantha Lee #chicago #venturecapital #consumer #fallinternship #investing

💜 Ellen Wilcox, our Head of Listening, sat down with a few of our founders to discuss learnings from Mindsets from the Middle, our latest consumer research deep-dive. Next up, a conversation with Kelly Oriard, Co-Founder of Slumberkins, an emotional learning brand on a mission to empower children to be caring, confident, and resilient. Tap in to hear from Kelly. You can read the Mindsets from the Middle report here: https://bit.ly/listen-mfm \\ Shawn Dennis Jeff Cantalupo Rick Desai Brentos Fernandez Hylton Irons Johnnie Yu Joelle Cosmas Alexis Queen Nika Longo

About last week... curious minds at Listen HQ to talk about the Food as Medicine movement. Ellen facilitated a lively debate of some key tensions that surfaced during Listen’s research of a nutrition-first approach to health. You can download the Food as Medicine consumer research report at the link in the comments. Major shout out to George Khalife and the Toronto Stock Exchange team for bringing this event to life for the Future-of-Food Week by World Business Chicago. #chicago #foodasmedicine #consumerobsessed

No better place to invest in food than in Chicago and the midwest! Great to be a part of the VC panel at the Future-of-Food Week by World Business Chicago. 🙏🏽 Jason Mercer for hosting and so wonderful to meet and listen to Audre, James, and Blair! Listen Ventures S2G Ventures Cleveland Avenue

👂 If the Food as Medicine movement and our evolving relationship to food piques your interest, then mark your calendars for Thursday, May 23. Sponsored by our friends at the Toronto Stock Exchange and as a part of this year’s “Future of Food Week” by World Business Chicago, you’ll hear from our very own Ellen Wilcox on her Food as Medicine research, followed by an interactive exploration of the key tensions surfaced through this work. At Listen, we’ve long been bullish on investing in shifting consumer relationships with food. As we look to what’s next, we move our gaze to the next tipping point in the consumer + food relationship and can’t wait to bring you into the discussion. RSVP + more info in the comments. \\ Jeff Cantalupo Rick Desai Brentos Fernandez Joelle Cosmas Hylton Irons Johnnie Yu Alexis Queen Nika Longo Abin Kuriakose Lauren Backe George Khalife #chicago #foodasmedicine #consumerobsessed #futureoffood

Can't wait for the Listeners to join us this summer! Fill out the form in the comments if you'll have interns that will be in Chicago this summer. #venturecaptial #chicago #summerinterns #vc #startup

In our consumer research report “Food As Medicine," we sought to understand a complicated landscape by analyzing consumer insights and expert perspectives. This analysis guided us to focus on three core elements of business design for brands operating in the Food As Medicine space: taste, efficacy, and convenience. We’ve found that these three critical dimensions often stand in tension with one another, and may show up as trade-offs — though it’s not a zero-sum game. While we expect to see some existence of each of the three levers in every brand, we also expect founding teams to be intentional with their decision on which to anchor and to design their business (e.g., product, business model, operating model) accordingly. Taste: Does it taste good? Or, at least good enough? Efficacy: Does it work? Is progress “feelable”? Convenience: Does it help make the hard decision easy? Or, at least — easier? #brandbuilding #nutrition #foodstartup #consumerobsessed

What does it mean to support the well-being of women through midlife? Most market maps we see on women's health consider the woman in a vacuum, isolating her body and mind from the rest of her life. But that's not how she views it, nor does it acknowledge the many layers she's holding in balance. Being physically healthy is, of course, an important element, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. There’s also mental health and relational well-being. As their stories brought to life, midlife women see their health as inextricably linked to the health and well-being of those in their orbit — their children, partners, parents, and siblings. We see three key ways brands can serve this audience: by targeting her needs, extending her capabilities, and supporting her orbit. Does your brand show up in one of these ways? We'd love to hear from you. \\ #perimenopause #midlifewomen #womenshealth #listenmore

📢 It’s giveaway time 📢 We’re curious about non-alcoholic beer brands at retail. Specifically: groceries, corner stores, supermarkets, bodegas and boutiques. And we need your help. We’re giving away a $25 gift card to a few folks that submit. To be eligible, all you have to do is take a photo of where you see NA beer and then send us the image, city, and store that you took it at. Drop it below as a comment or DM to Nika Longo. #nonalcoholicbeer #nabeer #retailexperience #consumerbehavior #consumerclub \\ Jeff Cantalupo Rick Desai Brentos Fernandez Joelle Cosmas Ellen Wilcox Alexis Queen Hylton Irons Johnnie Yu

📍Welcome to World Business Chicago HQ: my good friend Joelle Cosmas, Head of Platform for #Chicago’s own Listen Ventures! 💡Consumer listening is the cornerstone of Listen Ventures’ investment strategy. They love to study cultural and consumer behavior shifts that fuel the launch and scale of meaningful brands. The firm has become an early backer of brands leading shifts in categories such as: mental health, femtech, the future of food, and more. And they empower brands where there is an opportunity to build with a community of believers, and ensure the consumer voice is at the table. We had an awesome conversation about their priorities in 2024, the World Business Chicago Innovation and venture program year, and our collective work for our city’s #startup ecosystem. Shoutout to Jeff Cantalupo, Rick Desai, Joelle Cosmas, Hylton Irons, and team! ⬇️ Learn more via link in comments. 👏 Thank you for visiting our #proChicago headquarters!