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Brent Murri is a Partner at M13 where he leads early-stage investments in consumer technology companies. Brent joined M13 from Battery Ventures where he focused on growth-stage enterprise software investments. Prior to Battery, he worked in strategy & business development for Samsung NEXT, where he developed and executed strategies around Samsung’s consumer software and services initiatives.

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Online flower retailer The Bouqs Company delivers flowers and plants fresh from eco-friendly, sustainable farms to doorsteps nationwide.

The Bouqs Company

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Juan Pablo Montúfar

John Tabis

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John is Partner and Head of Launchpad, the M13 Venture Studio helping founders build companies that define the future of business. Prior to M13, John founded and scaled The Bouqs Company and worked in strategy for The Walt Disney Company and Bain & Co.   John continues to serve Bouqs as Chairman of the Board and also teaches entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson.

Partner

John is Partner and Head of Launchpad, the M13 Venture Studio helping founders build companies that define the future of business.

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John Tabis | M13

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Wesley is an Investment Analyst. Prior he spent 2 years in investment banking at Oppenheimer focused on technology.

Wesley Lau

Investor

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Wesley Lau | M13

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As a director on the Propulsion team, Melissa spends her time supporting M13 portfolio companies in their growth. Melissa was previously a senior associate and head of platform for early stage fintech fund Clocktower Ventures, and go-to-market lead for the Deloitte Ventures incubator.

Melissa Montan

Operator

As a director on the Propulsion team, Melissa spends her time supporting M13 portfolio companies in their growth. Melissa was previously a senior associate and head of platform...

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Melissa Montan | M13

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Sarah was previously the VP of marketing and investor relations at Arlon Group and has served in IR roles at StepStone Group and Citi Private Equity. She is a public company board member, co-founded the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council, and has served on numerous non-profit boards.

Sarah Tomolonius

Sarah was previously the VP of marketing and investor relations at Arlon Group and has served in IR roles at StepStone Group and Citi Private Equity. She is a public company...

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Sarah Tomolonius | M13

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As a product specialist, Rob helps startups strategically build, deploy, fundraise, and go to market. Prior to M13, Rob has been a serial founder as the CEO of BlackSmith Studios and Pecabu, as well as acting in an interim-CMO/CPO capacity at a number of later-stage Bay Area VC-backed companies, including Cala Health, Apnicure, Neodyne & others. He is a recipient of UK Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.

Rob Smith

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Rob Smith | M13

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A partner and head of legal, Win has served in senior leadership roles at numerous consumer technology companies, including as General Counsel of MasterClass and early-stage startup Vessel (acquired by Verizon), as well as senior legal and business affairs roles at Hulu. A former electrical engineer, he started his legal career as a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins

Win Chevapravatdumrong

Win leads all legal and risk matters relating to our investment activity and fund operations and provides operational and strategic support to our portfolio companies.

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Win Chevapravatdumrong | M13

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Mariah brings deep expertise in executive search from True Search & Daversa Partners, where she’s helped build executive and founding teams for early-stage venture-backed companies. She's passionate about building diverse, high-impact teams for mission-driven companies changing our everyday lives. 

Mariah Lang

Mariah brings deep expertise in executive search.

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Mariah Lang | M13

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As Director of Product, Mary brings her experience as a former co-founder to help portfolio companies strategically design, develop, and optimize the user journey. Mary takes pride in building meaningful relationships with founders and sharing her passion for product design, innovation, and creativity. She’s always excited to collaborate with startups and help them achieve their goals.

Mary Lara

As Director of Product, Mary brings her experience as a former co-founder to help portfolio companies strategically design, develop, and optimize the user journey.

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Mary Lara | M13

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As portfolio operations analyst, Amelia supports M13 portfolio companies in their growth and expansion. Prior to M13, Amelia was corporate partnerships and marketing manager at Stampede Ventures, where she built and led marketing launches for new companies developed from joint ventures. Amelia also worked for CAA, HBO, and NBCUniversal. 

Amelia Zack

As portfolio operations analyst, Amelia supports M13 portfolio companies in their growth and expansion.

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Amelia Zack | M13

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As an Investor Relations Analyst, Jennifer provides support, insight and analysis to M13. Prior to M13, Jennifer spent four years in investor relations in real estate private equity, most recently at Waterloo Associates and prior to that at Thrive FP.

Jennifer Fetterman

As an Investor Relations Analyst, Jennifer provides support, insight and analysis to M13.

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Jennifer Fetterman | M13

__I joined M13 in the very early days.__ The team had this ambition to build a different type of platform one that better matched the partnership style that entrepreneurs needed in today’s fast-changing startup environment but what was even more inspiring to me was the team’s diversity of experience and drive to make it happen.

 __We all came from backgrounds where we had to prove ourselves.__ And now, we had the chance to use these experiences to dig into all sides of an issue with a first-hand perspective.

 __And dig in, we did.__ We set out to make each part of the venture experience better. Finding entrepreneurs. Proactive involvement after investing. Communicating with our LPs. Everything.

 __Then, instead of retrofitting an existing practice__ to match today’s new investing environment, we built one from the ground up. Now, I’m excited to help execute on that vision (also known as “the fun part”).

 __M13 was built around the goal of being a trusted partner.__ Not just someone you call on once a quarter for a board meeting, or someone who simply makes one introduction to a supplier, but rather a real partner who teams up with you your successes are our successes, and your failures are our failures.

 __We’ll know we’ve done our jobs__ when our founding partners not only have successful exits, but choose us for their second venture. Their third. It’s way bigger than the “right now” for us.

 __I truly love working with entrepreneurs.__ It takes way more guts than I have to leave your stable job to build something you love, and it’s a privilege to be able to play even a small part in helping them reach their full potential.

 __I’m very fortunate to have assembled a diverse background__ in corporate M&A and venture. My previous roles have helped me develop the financial acumen and training needed to execute large and complicated transactions, but they’ve also given me the opportunity to work with hundreds of entrepreneurs and get to know their unique perspectives. 

 __When you take some time to focus on others,__ it adds invaluable perspective. Making service a priority can make a massive difference for the way you view others, your work, and yourself.

 __My best advice?__ No job title or company name on a resume can beat being happy with what you do.

Brent Murri

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Morgan spent five years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. She worked on a presidential campaign, at Bloomberg Philanthropies and consulted for start-ups in the political media space.

Morgan Blumberg

Morgan spent five years in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. She worked on a presidential campaign, at Bloomberg Philanthropies and consulted for start-ups in the political...

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Morgan Blumberg | M13

As a principal at M13, Brent leads investments across the firm's consumer investment themes. Prior to joining M13, Brent was an investment Associate at Battery Ventures...

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Brent Murri | M13

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Carter co-founded M13 in 2016 with his brother Courtney. The duo co-founded and sold VEEV, the spirits brand, and co-authored the bestseller “Shortcut Your Startup.” A former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Carter is a LACMA board member.

Carter Reum

Co-founder & Partner

Carter co-founded M13 in 2016 with his brother Courtney. The duo co-founded and sold VEEV, the spirits brand, and co-authored the bestseller “Shortcut Your Startup.” A former...

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Carter Reum | M13

2021 was an explosive year for the creator economy. Hundreds of new startups entered the market, and VC funding into the category reached a new peak of nearly [$5B](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/the-creator-economys-next-chapter-living-with-less?rc=aheayo). And one of the most intriguing startups to raise that year was an enablement software platform called [Pietra](https://www.pietrastudio.com/). 
The business’s [funding announcement](https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/30/pietra-raises-15m-from-founders-fund-to-help-creators-launch-their-own-product-lines/) caught the attention of the M13 investing team—particularly for M13 Co-founder and Partner Carter Reum, who has seen firsthand the inefficiencies that creators face through his wife Paris’ consumer products businesses. 
At M13, [we understand](https://m13.co/article/investing-in-clash-productizing-individuality) that these new software tools and platforms can allow individuals and solopreneurs to create value for themselves in a way that was never possible before. With this in mind, we started to keep an eye on Pietra. 
As we tracked the company’s progress over the next couple of years, we began to see a gradual expansion of its target customer. While originally Pietra sold almost exclusively to creator-led brands—like Crissy Teigan ([Cravings](https://cravingsbychrissyteigen.com/)) and Seth Rogan ([Houseplant](https://www.houseplant.com/))—it was now beginning to attract non-creator DTC brands to its platform. Today, one-fourth of all Pietra customers are SMBs that don’t identify as creators or influencers—brands like [Arrae](https://www.arrae.com/), [Curie](https://curiebod.com/) and [Finn](https://www.petfinn.com/). These DTC operators now use Pietra as the critical infrastructure and software to run their e-commerce businesses without excess overhead. It’s become the destination of choice to start and scale a modern e-commerce brand. 
This new vision—building the critical infrastructure for starting and scaling an e-commerce business for _all_ DTC operators—is what led M13 to preempt and lead a new $16M round of funding for the business. We believe this is the right team and timing to take on the expanding TAM across e-commerce sourcing, logistics, and distribution. 
Pietra was founded in 2019 by Uber alum [Ronak Trivedi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronaktrivedi/) and [Pan Pan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/panpandas/). The co-founders have worked together since 2015 and were part of the Uber leadership team that launched the UberPool product. One of the several novel features they built at Uber was the dynamic pricing strategy that adapted to supply and demand changes to offer optimal pricing for both drivers and riders—a feature that has also been embedded into the Pietra platform. But what stood out to us most about the founding team is their obsession with building “bits and atoms” businesses, taking inspiration from the Uber philosophy of using technology platforms to fix real-world problems. 
<ImageSingle src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/3RgkL9JFK2YtJmMSl3QSUv/c8d624b8019308577793562356a6051e/Pietra-M13-team_horizontal.jpg" alt="Pietra team at M13 office" caption="The Pietra team visits M13. From left to right: Morgan Blumberg (M13), Ronak Trivedi (Pietra), Lauren Schiller (Pietra), Carter Reum (M13), Pan Pan (Pietra), Brent Murri (M13)" /> 
For DTC operators, it doesn’t get more real-world than building, shipping, and distributing physical consumer products. That’s where Pietra steps in. The software platform provides three key offerings to customers: 
<DotBullet highlight="Sourcing:" text=" Pietra offers a network of manufacturers, factories, designers, and photographers to make and customize an array of consumer products, from apparel and jewelry to home goods and more."/>
<DotBullet highlight="Logistics:" text=" Pietra offers a network of first- and last-mile shipping providers, fulfillment centers, and pick-and-pack services to efficiently deliver consumer products to customers."/>
<DotBullet highlight="Distribution:" text=" Pietra offers a network of sales channels (e.g., Pietra marketplace, Instagram Shopping, Faire) to expand the reach of a brand’s products."/>
By bundling these three offerings together, using dynamic pricing on the platform, and reducing costs at scale, Pietra aims to provide a seamless end-to-end experience at the lowest competitive price—making outsourcing these functions for even large brands an attractive and easy solution. 
Part of Pietra’s new funding round will be used to re-launch and improve its fourth key offering for brands, the revamped Pietra Membership Program, which offers a comprehensive monthly subscription that includes all the essential infrastructure and software for anyone looking to start or run a DTC business. Pietra members will have access to thousands of dollars worth of software for free, including returns software, email automation, influencer marketing tools, and more. 
<ImageSingle src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/1niu6FSoZpy4H669EHlraS/84b5a338b339d2d126d903fda7239c52/Pietra_Overview_edited.png" alt="Pietra overview" caption="Pietra supports brands from ideation and sourcing to fulfillment and marketing" />
<ImageSingle src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/6hsnud76UBgjCdVfdq3mzv/4bd3bcebf8c2dda942c1d41b0349129e/Pietra_Member_Apps_edited.png" alt="Pietra member apps" caption="The Pietra Membership Program offers additional perks for e-commerce brands" /> 
The funding round will also be used to meet the increasing demand from e-commerce operators wanting to use the platform. Over the past year, Pietra has experienced tremendous growth, with 100,000+ entrepreneurs and brands asking to join the platform. The company’s membership program now has over 9,000 members and is still growing fast. 
At M13, we’re uniquely positioned to fund this next phase of growth for the business. With the help of the M13 Propulsion Platform, our team of experienced operators, we aim to assist the Pietra management team in executing their vision of building the ecosystem that will power the next generation of e-commerce brands. 
We’re thrilled to lead this new round of funding alongside a remarkable group of investors, including Founders Fund, a16z, TQ Ventures, Abstract Ventures, and UTA Ventures. 
Are you a DTC operator? Reach out to find out more about how Pietra’s product offerings can help you save valuable time and money as you scale your business. 
<a href="mailto:investing@m13.co"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/65QqAEFi44OqihMR5FBiO1/19fcb41b757db06a83bbfcfdbe35e836/blog_buttons.png" alt="mailto:investing@m13.co" style="width:25%"></a>

Pietra offers the critical infrastructure to start and scale modern e-commerce businesses.

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Investing in Pietra: The One-Stop Shop Helping E-Commerce Brands Grow

M13 leads the $16M round to Pietra—a software solution that helps e-commerce brands with sourcing, logistics, and distribution—investing alongside Founders Fund, a16z, and others. 

M13 Leads Round to E-Commerce Enablement Solution Pietra

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Jack helped launch and build consumer brands as a strategy & operations manager at Innovation Department. Prior to that, he was an investment banker at Jefferies.

Jack Gorab

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Jack Gorab | M13

Perhaps one of Amazon’s most underrated products is its personalized recommendations. While it flies under the radar, this product is _everywhere._ On users’ Amazon home pages, on individual product pages, when users add items to their carts, on order confirmation pages, and so on. It appears as “Products related to items in your cart,” “Customers who bought this item also bought,” and “Frequently bought together,” as a seamlessly integrated part of the shopping experience. 
Tremendous value is driven by this one product: about [35% of marketplace sales](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/how-retailers-can-keep-up-with-consumers), or a whopping $150B in incremental revenue on the Amazon platform, based on 2022 revenue (excluding the AWS segment). 
Enter a pair of brother co-founders who spotted this trend sooner than most—and built a product to help e-commerce brands achieve the same incremental sales uplift on their own site. 
In 2010, John and James Erck co-founded a design and development agency for Shopify brands called After Market. Leveraging their backgrounds in software engineering, they began to design Shopify sites and build custom apps for their clients. One request continued to rise to the top of their customers’ wishlists: creating personalized recommendations based on the consumer’s individual buying habits. Understanding the value creation from industry giants like Amazon, the Ercks co-founded [Rebuy](https://www.rebuyengine.com/) to deliver personalized recommendations to the Shopify ecosystem. 
Rebuy’s software helps brands generate additional e-commerce revenue via online storefront experiences tailored to the individual shopper. Rebuy collects and analyzes customer data across commerce platforms, including data on past customer behavior. This feeds its AI engine, which intelligently predicts customer intent and personalizes the digital storefront with relevant upsells, cross-sells, and automated ordering. 
In just a few years, Rebuy has established itself as the category leader for personalization and product recommendations on Shopify, building out a diverse customer base of 3,000+ merchants. Rebuy has developed a robust roster of customers (including Magic Spoon, Liquid Death, Feastables, and Patagonia) and integration partners (such as Klaviyo, Recharge and Attentive) to support merchants’ growth. 
The strength of Rebuy’s ecosystem became clear as we spoke with brands and partners during our investment process. We were struck by the brand affinity Rebuy has created and the quality of experience cited by merchants. That’s not to mention the immediate ROI brands see when they add the Rebuy app to their storefront. 
<center><img src="//downloads.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/7XNNMaUOkr8uj8zAj4Xek/9571bc110717346c136d50f1860fd3c3/Magic_Spoon.gif" style="width:35%; padding-bottom:15px;"></center>
<center>Rebuy’s Smart Cart provides a personalized experience, prompting a Magic Spoon customer with upsell products, discounts, subscriptions, and other perks in a dynamic checkout.</center> 
Recent privacy changes (like Apple’s IDFA changes and Google’s deprecation of the cookie tracking system) have made it more difficult for e-commerce merchants to accurately track customer behavior across digital formats. Customer acquisition has become more costly, and brands have become increasingly focused on maximizing every customer encounter on site, in order to improve conversion and customer value. 
That’s where Rebuy comes in: increasing average order value and conversion rates to help merchants drive positive unit economics. 
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 <div class="col-sm-6"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/4R0GplxQpiBQe69YPTJm7F/133636d0fba0cb0cd362702c2fe5917b/www.trysnow.com_products_teeth-whitening-toothpaste.png" alt="Snow" style="padding-bottom:15px;"></div>
 <div class="col-sm-6"><img src="//images.ctfassets.net/vcjxvx0h1a5n/4MXRa3JPDRFljJ24c1FmNV/bc68c9ff92b7edf36b2e908733b150de/www.trysnow.com_12558263_checkouts_7e28b4620d7addfcc87be5123a20a69b.png" alt="Snow" style="padding-bottom:15px;"></div>
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<center>Rebuy client Snow Teeth Whitening pairs a fully loaded Smart Cart with merchandising throughout the customer journey, from pop-up upsells in shoppers' carts to cross-sells at checkout.</center> 
M13 is excited to lead Rebuy’s $17M Series A round, with an incredible investor syndicate joining us—including Peterson Ventures, Sidekick Partners, R Squared Ventures (Roy Rubin, former CEO of Magento), Dynamism Capital, and strategic angels like Ben Jabbawy (former Founder of Privy) and Nik Sharma. 
AI-driven personalized recommendations have the power to skyrocket sales, and we look forward to partnering with the Rebuy team to make this a reality for all e-commerce and retail brands. 
<center><h3>Welcome to the M13 family!</h3></center>

M13 is leading the $17M Series A for Rebuy, a data-driven personalization platform helping e-commerce brands maximize cart values.

rebuy announcement Header

Investing in Rebuy: Supercharging E-Commerce Sales with AI-Powered Recommendations

M13 leads the $17M Series A for Rebuy, whose data-driven personalization platform is helping e-commerce brands maximize value via tailored online storefront experiences.

M13 Leads Round to AI-Powered E-Commerce Recommendation Engine Rebuy

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Gaelen Hendrickson

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A partner at M13, Anna was the managing director of Techstars LA and also a partner in The Fund LA. A certified executive coach, Anna has worked as a corporate lawyer, McKinsey consultant, product exec, and entrepreneur. She serves on the Advisory Board of PledgeLA and is a member of AllRaise.

Anna Barber

A partner at M13, Anna was the managing director of Techstars LA and also a partner in The Fund LA. A certified executive coach, Anna has worked as a corporate lawyer...

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Anna Barber | M13

M13 shares insights on web3 and commerce, and why brands should consider a web3 strategy. 

Header Investing in the Future of E-commerce

From web2 to web3: What e-commerce founders need to know

E-commerce founders are curious about web3. M13, an early-stage consumer tech VC firm, shares insights on how web3 will shape the future of commerce.

Brent Murri

Recently Published

Investing in Pietra: The One-Stop Shop Helping E-Commerce Brands Grow

Investing in Rebuy: Supercharging E-Commerce Sales with AI-Powered Recommendations

From web2 to web3: What e-commerce founders need to know

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