“M13’s Launchpad starts from a blank sheet of paper, looking at market white spaces and forming teams to generate businesses to meet those opportunities” Barber said in a statement. “I look forward to building an inclusive ecosystem and working alongside the M13 team to build great companies.”
As the former founder of Techstars’ Los Angeles incubator program, Barber appears well-suited to her new role. As she did at Techstars, Barber will be tasked with supporting early stage companies as they refine and solidify their offerings and business models. She will also be expected to recruit entrepreneurs to develop new business ideas for later growth and spin-out by M13.
Prior to her time with Techstars, Barber was a corporate lawyer, a management consultant and an ecommerce and edtech executive. She also founded a digital publishing platform based in Bel-Air named Scribble Press Inc., which she sold to digital education and games company Fingerprint Digital Inc. in 2015 for an undisclosed sum.
Barber’s new firm has raised two venture funds since its founding in 2016. Its latest investment vehicle, closed last October with $175 million in committed capital, was backed by Virgin Group Ltd. founder Richard Branson.
