Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

What are some of the trends M13 Investing Partner Anna Barber is keeping a close eye on?

5 May 2023 · 1 min

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In this interview segment, M13 Investing Partner Anna Barber outlines three key commerce trends she is monitoring. First, she highlights the problem of unsold inventory, emphasizing a thesis that retailers and brands need more efficient ways to move manufactured or post‑consumer goods into consumers’ hands, including resale of excess stock. Second, she discusses circular commerce, focusing on enabling products to undergo multiple ownership cycles and find new owners after the initial use. Third, she turns to B2B commerce, noting that while consumer‑facing commerce technology has become highly sophisticated, the B2B space still presents significant growth opportunities. Throughout, Barber frames these trends as strategic investment areas for M13.

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I'm curious to hear more about what some of the trends that you're keeping a close eye on are, or what you're focusing on.
Sure. Let's talk about commerce first. There's a couple areas in the commerce landscape that we're really interested in that I'm particularly interested in. One is the problem of unsold inventory. So really thinking about stuff that's manufactured that never finds its way to a consumer or post-consumer items that need to be resold. So I have a big thesis around unsold inventory, helping retailers and brands be more efficient in getting that unsold inventory into the hands of consumers. And then also thinking about circular commerce and how do we allow things to have multiple cycles through consumers' hands and find new owners when the first owner is done with that item? That's number one. Number 2 is B2B commerce. I think when you look at the evolution of commerce technology, consumers have a wealth of technology that's helping them buy things. It's very sophisticated.