The second annual Chicago Consumer VC Trek is in the books ✅ A jam packed day of conversations and office visits with interns who are interested in the world of consumer investing. Shout out to Haley Kwait Zollo, Nathan Cooper, and our very own Joelle Cosmas for dropping gems during the panel at Listen HQ! Thanks to all the firms who hosted and participated: Bluestein Ventures Impact America Fund Chicago Early Growth Ventures Barrel Ventures mHUB TechNexus Venture Collaborative Corazon Capital InvestBev Bridge Investments Cleveland Avenue NewBound Venture Capital Moderne Ventures Starting Line SNAK Venture Partners 53 Stations Hyde Park Venture Partners
Listen Ventures
Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
Chicago, Illinois 4,539 followers
We back and build the brands of tomorrow 👂 Including Calm, Kiwi Co, Factor, Black Buffalo, Dame, Own Up, & Slumberkins.
About us
Listen invests in consumer-obsessed entrepreneurs building at the tipping point of behavior shifts. Many firms invest in consumer, few actually Listen to consumers.
- Website
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http://www.listen.co
External link for Listen Ventures
- Industry
- Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois
- Type
- Partnership
- Founded
- 2010
- Specialties
- Venture Capital, Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Communication Architecture, and Consumer Research
Locations
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Primary
406 N Sangamon St
Chicago, Illinois, US
Employees at Listen Ventures
Updates
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👂 Fall Investment Listener applications are open for one. more. week! As an Investment Listener you'll 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. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gZsc5S2n \\ #chicago #internships #venturecapital #consumer #investing
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👏 Such a cool moment for the whole Chicago:Blend crew! Shout out to Jessie Casey, a Listener Alumni and force within the Chicago VC scene, who joined them to rep the Blend Fellows program.
🔔 Chicago:Blend RANG THE Nasdaq BELL Y”ALL!! 🌊 Over the past two years the Chicago:Blend Venture Fellowship has been making WAVES with over 80% of our Fellows who were actively seeking VC roles land a role in VC. 🙏 SO many people help make this work possible from our leader Joey Mak, founder Lindsay Knight, and all of our incredible volunteers, mentors, partners, and now alumni. 🏆 It was so special to have this work recognized by Chicago Innovation last fall when we won the Social Innovator award and I'm so grateful they included us on this experience. 💪 To me, this is a win for Chicago and a statement that our ENTIRE tech community is putting in the work here to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the VC ecosystem. 🙌 I’m so happy that our alumni, Jessie Casey was able to join us for this special moment. Jessie was in the Fall 2023 class of Fellows, secured a role with Listen Ventures, and now in the works to start a critical fund here in Chicago and continue putting Chicago on the main stage. We have so many alumni like her and I’m so happy she joined us for this awesome win. 😎 Sounds like the market agreed as the Nasdaq ended up GREEN on our day (https://lnkd.in/d9gq25b5)! 😉 If you’re feeling inspired and want to donate a percentage of your recent market earnings, you can donate to Chicago:Blend here 👉 https://lnkd.in/d8bwWiuY This was all honestly such a cool experience. 👀 Stay tuned for more updates and wins as we have a new class of Fellows starting in September and BIG alumni news coming. The work continues. ✌️
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👫 Join The Consumer Club... Listen is building a community for the modern consumer. A place to share honest opinions and feedback about brands and experiences. As brand enthusiasts, we are naturally curious about how companies meet their customers where they are and uncover when there is an opportunity to meet expectations better. Part research group, part sounding board, your thoughtful contributions will guide Listen in our mission to back and build the brands of tomorrow. Members will earn rewards for their contributions and become our go-to group for consumer opinion. Join our inner circle of consumers at the link in the comments ↓ \\ Jeff Cantalupo Rick Desai Brentos Fernandez Ellen Wilcox Hylton Irons Johnnie Yu Alexis Queen Joelle Cosmas Nika Longo #theconsumerclub #consumerobsessed #community
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📣 It's TechChicago Week and we're be kicking off Thursday with a breakfast for all consumer lovers, founders, operators, and investors. Snag your spot at the link in the comments. Special thanks for this group of people for making it happen: Supply Change Capital, Starting Line, Tonic Ventures, SavorWe, FARE , Pie, Further Faster Ventures.
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🔎 We’re taking you BTS of our consumer research. Ellen gives voice to our process of turning observations into actionable insights for making investments and brand building. First up, hear about the backdrop to our “Mindsets from the Middle” report. Spoiler alert: as a whole, woman have long been undervalued, under studied, and under-invested in. Although women drive 85% of household purchasing decisions, they are often overlooked as an important audience for brands to focus on. #midlifewomen #consumerresearch #womenshealth #consumerobsessed
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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
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💜 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