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Key people at LDR Ventures.
LDR Ventures operates as a specialized venture capital and consulting firm, focusing on early-stage, emerging consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. It invests and provides strategic guidance to companies in healthy, functional food and beverage, Health & Beauty, HealthTech, FoodTech, and Feminine Health sectors. The firm employs a hands-on approach supporting portfolio companies.
Maxine Kozler and Drew Koven, as Co-Managing Directors, lead the firm. Their founding insight addresses distinct needs within the CPG landscape, particularly for businesses led by female and underserved entrepreneurs. This intentional focus drives their investment strategy, fostering innovation and growth across these specific market segments.
LDR Ventures partners with founders developing CPG products, especially those innovating within health-conscious and specialized niches. Its vision is to cultivate a supportive ecosystem for these businesses, leveraging expertise to propel brands toward success. The firm aims to be a key partner in scaling ventures aligning with its impact-driven investment thesis.
LDR Ventures is a female-led, Los Angeles-based venture capital and consulting firm that primarily invests in early-stage startups, focusing on female and underserved entrepreneurs at the Seed and Series A stages. Their mission centers on supporting marketplaces, consumer products, and services that improve people's lives, with a strong emphasis on sectors such as food and beverage, health and beauty, functional foods, CPG (consumer packaged goods), food tech, agtech, and marketplaces. They prioritize meaningful relationships over transactions and aim to help founders develop platforms and business models with clear paths to profitability[1][2][3].
Founded in 2012, LDR Ventures is co-managed by Maxine Kozler and Drew Koven, with Sue Torres as a partner. The firm evolved with a focus on operationally savvy entrepreneurs, especially female founders and those from underserved communities, embracing diversity, inclusion, and impact investing. Their leadership brings extensive experience in consumer products, fast casual restaurants, eCommerce, mobility, legal tech, travel tech, and fashion, which informs their investment and consulting approach[1][3].
LDR Ventures rides the growing trend of impact-driven, diversity-focused venture capital that supports underrepresented founders in consumer lifestyle sectors. The timing aligns with increasing consumer demand for healthier, better-for-you products and sustainable business models. By investing early in female-led and underserved startups, LDR helps shape a more inclusive ecosystem and accelerates innovation in food tech, agtech, and marketplaces, sectors experiencing rapid growth and consumer interest[1][2][4].
Looking ahead, LDR Ventures is poised to deepen its influence by continuing to back operationally savvy entrepreneurs who align with evolving consumer preferences for health, sustainability, and inclusivity. Trends such as functional foods, clean beauty, and tech-enabled marketplaces will likely shape their portfolio. Their commitment to mentorship and relationship-building suggests sustained impact on the startup ecosystem, potentially expanding their footprint beyond California and into broader consumer lifestyle innovation[1][2].
In sum, LDR Ventures exemplifies a mission-driven VC model where meaning and money intersect, fostering diverse founders and consumer brands that aim to make a positive difference in people’s lives.
Key people at LDR Ventures.
