December not only marks the end of 2024, but it also caps off our first year since announcing the formation of 53 Stations. It’s been an incredible year, one where we codified our investment focus, marked investments in an inspiring slate of founders, and expanded our team. We’re grateful to the wide ecosystem of builders and buyers we worked alongside every day, and we look forward to creating new connections and continuing to create value for our portfolio in 2025.

Let’s take a look back at moments from Year One:

A Portfolio Aligned

We crystallized our strategy this year to prioritize Series A and B investments and to closely align thematically with The Pritzker Organization (TPO). Driving this approach are four key focus areas you can expect to see us laser-focused on in the coming year:

Built World
Tapping our strong TPO Platform partnerships with Lithko and STV, 53 Stations offers companies in construction tech, infrastructure & engineering, and property tech a unique level of insight and portfolio support. Because we deeply understand the core challenges facing the construction ecosystem, we’re primed to support founders in this space with asymmetric information and go-to-market advantages.

Wealth Tech
The firm is sourcing opportunities with a variety of start-ups breaking through in this traditionally tech-laggard financial services sector. These include innovators focused on portfolio performance and reporting, sales enablement, data aggregation, and personalized client services. Our relationship with Steward Partners allows us unique value-add capabilities, including customer introductions. 

Restaurant Tech
Via our affiliation with KBP Brands, we are leaning into the opportunities present in the restaurant and hospitality space, including AI & automation, customer analytics, and platforms improving operational efficiency and employee retention.

Healthcare
This year we’ve begun to build a healthcare investment thesis centered on SaaS and AI-enabled solutions that tackle inefficiencies in healthcare systems. Through our connection with Epic Staffing Group we’ve gained valuable perspective on the challenges health systems, providers, researchers, and leadership teams face daily. We’re focused on backing scalable technologies that streamline operations, make better use of data, and improve outcomes for both patients and the professionals who support them. 

Investment Highlights

All told, we partnered with eight new companies in 2024 from Fund I, and we’ll be writing more $5M – $10M checks in our core focus areas in 2025. Here is an overview of some of those who joined the portfolio this year:

April 2024
GoodShip
We invested in GoodShip’s $8M Series A round alongside lead investor Bessemer Venture Partners. Launched in 2023, GoodShip is a procurement platform that provides shippers with transparency into their freight data, as well as insights into the operations of their procurement ecosystems. GoodShip’s ICP includes manufacturers and retailers that move product via full truckload (dry van, reefer, flatbed) and rail.

June 2024
Function Health
This summer we affirmed our commitment to healthcare by investing in Function Health’s Series A round. The company, led by Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine founder Mark Hyman, MD, offers a membership-based platform that gives subscribers access to more than 100 lab tests. We joined a star-studded investor pool – led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health with support from the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund – including Matt Damon, Kevin Hart, NBA player Joel Embiid’s VC fund Embiid Ventures, Jay Shetty, former NBA player Blake Griffin, Zac Efron, former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, and Pedro Pascal.

August 2024
Stealth Restaurant Tech Company
In August, we invested in a Seed-stage restaurant tech company in stealth that’s bringing new levels of automation to drive-thru orders. The company is currently piloting with KBP Foods, and we look forward to sharing more about them in the new year.

September 2024
Wealth.com
We invested in Wealth.com’s $30 million Series A round alongside lead GV, Citi Ventures, Outpost Ventures, and Firebolt Ventures. Wealth.com is on a mission to modernize estate planning with an AI-enabled estate planning platform built for financial institutions, serving clients ranging from mass affluent to ultra-high-net worth individuals.

October 2024
GreenLite
We participated in GreenLite’s $28.5 million Series A round alongside lead Craft Ventures, Trust Ventures, and LiveOak Ventures. GreenLite is a tech-enabled permitting solution that expedites and manages the approval process of building plans. Their tech-enabled private plan review service reviews and approves building and remodeling plans for developers and contractors instead of waiting for city approval.

The close of the year has been busy for us, and we’ll be sharing a few new investments early in 2025. We are eager to start 2025 off strong and will continue to deliver the power of the combined 53 Stations/TPO platform to our founders, whether that’s sourcing strategic new hires, making customer introductions, or facilitating pilot programs.

Our Growing Team

We also expanded our team in 2024, welcoming two new investors, several MBA Fellows, and most recently a new Chief of Staff.

Melissa Kandinata joined the team this year to focus on healthcare and wealth tech, and Benjamin Sack is focusing on construction tech and restaurant tech. Their presence has been immediately felt, and they have enabled us to expand our remit and multiply our impact with founders.

We’ve also expanded our MBA Fellowship Program, with Alyssa Tsenter from Harvard Business School and Austin Cai from Yale School of Management joining us in the summer, and now Sima Shah and Dillon Rich during their fall terms, from Harvard Business School and Michigan Ross, respectively.

We’re also pleased to announce Jamie Fisher as our new Chief of Staff to Jason Pritzker. Jamie brings to 53 Stations a breadth of experience in operations and data analytics. She spent six years at SpaceX, where she supported supply chain and production for Falcon, Dragon, and Starship. Throughout her time there, she played a direct role in helping Falcon production scale to support 100 launches per year, supported production and schedule to allow Dragon to return human space flight to American soil, supported the vehicles that launched the first ever commercial space mission and space walk, and supported critical builds for the first several Starship test flights. In her final role at SpaceX, Jamie served as Manager of Avionics Strategy, Operations, and Planning, leading a team of 16 people responsible for production control, technical writing, and data analytics.

Before and after SpaceX, Jamie worked as a consultant, advising companies across a variety of industries including pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and industrials. She holds a degree in Economics & Strategy and Marketing from Washington University in St. Louis and brings a unique combination of strategic vision and operational expertise to her leadership roles. We’re thrilled to have her aboard as we kick off our vision for 2025.

To everyone who has supported us in our first year, thank you. Wishing you and your loved ones a happy holiday season, and we’ll see you in 2025.