Jeff Cantalupo

Founder & Managing Partner at Listen

📍 Greater Chicago Area, United States🔄 Updated September 2026💼 12 investments📅 14 years investing🗓 Last invested Nov 2024𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
Operator-angel🌍 United States
12
Total investments
7
Early stage
2
Mid stage
1
Late stage
14y
Years active

Portfolio

12 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Member
Nov 2024
Mission: To make the best NA beer on the planet and do marketing things that beer has never done before.
early stageBreweries
Board Member
Apr 2024
Rugiet helps men take back their health, with clinically-backed treatments for ED, hair loss, weight management, and more, delivered through a seamless digital experience. No stigma. No waiting rooms. No slow slide into decline. Just real results, fast access, and a smarter way to redefine what healthy means at any age. Take back your health at rugiet.com
Board Member
Jun 2022
Black Buffalo is the impossible dream made manifest. We are responsibly transforming the landscape for adult consumers of nicotine and tobacco. Using time-honored techniques, our Long Cut and Pouches are made to be enjoyed without compromise. We are an American brand to be proud of. 🐃 🇺🇸 Black Buffalo products are intended for adults aged 21 and older who are consumers of nicotine or tobacco.
Board Member
Jun 2022
Fable is a lifestyle brand offering sustainably crafted artisan homeware that transforms how you live at home—from the dining table to the living room, and beyond. Only partnering with makers who put the earth first, we focus on high quality materials and ethical production practices to deliver premium, long-lasting collections designed to help you feel right at home. Certified B Corporation.
mid stageManufacturing
Board Member
Nov 2021
At Felt (formerly Mined), we believe emotional well-being begins with building better relationships with yourself and those around you. We are the first interactive feelings school to help you improve your relationships and navigate lifes hardest moments. Through immersive Felt Courses, live coaching and on-demand content, the top therapists, coaches and experts, well teach you the relationship skills you never learned in school. ABOUT US We have grown really fast, totally organically (we acquired over 100k users with over one million videos watched in the last 6 months alone!) We also raised a $3.5MM seed round from some amazing investors including Listen Ventures (early VC behind Calm), Jefferey Katzenbergs fund WNDRCO (President of Dreamworks), Able Partners (VC behind Goop, Bumble, Oura Ring, Bulletproof, Daily Harvest), Ed Baker (former VP of Growth at Facebook and Uber), Jillionaire from Major Lazer, and more. ABOUT OUR TEAM Our team cares deeply about celebrating emotional wellness and breaking the rules while doing it to drive more access. We are constantly working to push the norm and reinvent how folks think about and interact with emotional health support. We lead with compassion and curiosity, work hard but celebrate in the process, and love strong opinions balanced with strong collaboration. We have a diverse, world-class team. Some of us come from reputable enterprises in tech and media while others are self-made personal growth experts. We create deep and meaningful connections and relationships with everyone in the company as we are all building Mined together. Mined is a meritocracy founded in collaboration and innovative minds. Come join us in our mission is to celebrate emotional and relational wellness.
Board Observer
Jul 2021
The Company Rise Gardens builds elegant home hydroponic gardening systems that make a complicated process easy, productive and fun. The movements toward sustainable and hyper-local food have created hundreds of millions of potential consumers globally who care passionately about the provenance and nutritional value of their food. We intend to serve them with an excellent product and unparalleled service. Our system is the most advanced consumer product on the market. It adapts commercial-grade hydroponic technology for consumer use. The Rise Garden ecosystem includes a manufactured appliance, an application that interfaces with the appliance, and a service that supplies customers with all the supplies to keep their system continuously productive. The system allows for modularity to grow a little or a lot of food at home in a beautiful package at an affordable price. We are launching in the summer of 2019. We are a growth-stage company with an experienced technology entrepreneur and deep financial backing. The CEO, Hank Adams, built his career in technology with three previous successful tech businesses under his belt. Rise Gardens'​ mission is to connect people to the food they eat, to help them to grow more of their own food and to inspire them to be conscientious food consumers. We are looking for exceptional personnel as we prepare to revolutionize the concept of farm-to-table food.
Board Member
Jul 2019
Miss Grass is Weed for the Times. If you listen real hard, your inner voice is telling you what you need. Time for inspiration or restoration. Time for introspection or play. Time for connection or release. Whatever you need, Miss Grass enhances the Time of your life. Fast Times, Quiet Times, All Times—and every moment in between. Through education, curation, and a spirit of conscious consumption, Miss Grass exists to help the world get good at weed.
Board Member
Oct 2016
At The Fresh Factory, we’ve built a vertically integrated platform from the farm to the shelf. Our focus is on the future of food and beverage, which we believe to be fresh ingredients, clean labels, and plant-based products. We work with dozens of leading brands (and own a few of our own), helping them formulate, manufacture, and distribute their products. We’ve built this vertically integrated platform with the goal of providing honest food for all.
Investor
Oct 2015
Interior Define is revolutionizing the way people shop for the most important pieces of furniture for their home. Our approach reduces the cost and complexity associated with conventional custom furniture – enabling I/D to serve customers highly customizable and well-crafted sofas, beds, chairs, and dining sets at an exceptional value. Interior Define has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Business Insider, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Architectural Digest, Apartment Therapy, among other publications.
Investor and Founding Board Member
Sep 2014
Real nutrition, made simple_ We deliver no nonsense good food, free from fluff, for people on the go. Our fresh, chef-prepared meals take the guesswork out of eating healthy. Ingredients with Integrity Every meal uses thoughtfully-sourced ingredients with no hormones, antibiotics, GMOs or additives. Restaurant-Quality Cuisine Our chefs craft restaurant-quality recipes to keep our menu fresh with new delicious options! Expert-Approved Nutrition Our in-house dietitians optimize the calories, nutrients and minerals in every meal on our menu!
Board Member
Jan 2013
MISSION Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana exists so families can get better together. VISION We envision a world where all families heal together. VALUES • We put the needs of children and families first • We welcome and respect the diversity of our staff, volunteers, and communities we serve • We collaborate with community partners • We operate with inclusivity, accountability, and transparency • We invest in the growth of our people • We build upon our heritage and the legacy of our founders Each night, we keep 181 families close to the care and resources they need through six area Ronald McDonald Houses and four Ronald McDonald Family Rooms. Enabling families to stay close to their hospitalized child supports the health and well-being of the child and saves families approximately $9 million in hotel and food costs each year. We are located near Advocate Children's Hospital, Loyola University Medical Center, UChicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women's Hospital, Edward Hospital in Naperville and Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. We also operate the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program, providing medical care to children in underserved areas. For more information visit ronaldhousechicago.org.
Investor
Oct 2012
Calm is a leading mental health company on a mission to support everyone on every step of their mental health journey. Our flagship consumer app—ranked #1 in its category with over 180 million downloads and available in seven languages across nearly 190 countries—helps people sleep better, stress less, and live more mindfully through content and tools from experts and beloved celebrity voices. Since our launch, we’ve expanded our offerings with Calm Sleep, an app providing deeper, personalized sleep support, and Calm Health, an evidence-based digital solution offered through employers, health plans, and providers to expand access, boost benefits engagement, and drive positive health outcomes. Today, Calm supports more than 3,500 organizations and reaches over 26 million covered lives through Calm Health. Recognized as a TIME100 Most Influential Company and one of Fast Company’s Brands That Matter, Calm was co-founded by Alex Tew (Million Dollar Homepage) and Michael Acton Smith (Mind Candy, Moshi Monsters, Firebox).
Experience · 13 entries
All (13)
Investments (12)
Founder (1)
Board (10)
2024
Board Member
Nov 2024
Mission: To make the best NA beer on the planet and do marketing things that beer has never done before.
early stageBreweries
Board Member
Apr 2024
Rugiet helps men take back their health, with clinically-backed treatments for ED, hair loss, weight management, and more, delivered through a seamless digital experience. No stigma. No waiting rooms. No slow slide into decline. Just real results, fast access, and a smarter way to redefine what healthy means at any age. Take back your health at rugiet.com
2022
Board Member
Jun 2022
Black Buffalo is the impossible dream made manifest. We are responsibly transforming the landscape for adult consumers of nicotine and tobacco. Using time-honored techniques, our Long Cut and Pouches are made to be enjoyed without compromise. We are an American brand to be proud of. 🐃 🇺🇸 Black Buffalo products are intended for adults aged 21 and older who are consumers of nicotine or tobacco.
Board Member
Jun 2022
Fable is a lifestyle brand offering sustainably crafted artisan homeware that transforms how you live at home—from the dining table to the living room, and beyond. Only partnering with makers who put the earth first, we focus on high quality materials and ethical production practices to deliver premium, long-lasting collections designed to help you feel right at home. Certified B Corporation.
mid stageManufacturing
2021
Board Member
Nov 2021
At Felt (formerly Mined), we believe emotional well-being begins with building better relationships with yourself and those around you. We are the first interactive feelings school to help you improve your relationships and navigate lifes hardest moments. Through immersive Felt Courses, live coaching and on-demand content, the top therapists, coaches and experts, well teach you the relationship skills you never learned in school. ABOUT US We have grown really fast, totally organically (we acquired over 100k users with over one million videos watched in the last 6 months alone!) We also raised a $3.5MM seed round from some amazing investors including Listen Ventures (early VC behind Calm), Jefferey Katzenbergs fund WNDRCO (President of Dreamworks), Able Partners (VC behind Goop, Bumble, Oura Ring, Bulletproof, Daily Harvest), Ed Baker (former VP of Growth at Facebook and Uber), Jillionaire from Major Lazer, and more. ABOUT OUR TEAM Our team cares deeply about celebrating emotional wellness and breaking the rules while doing it to drive more access. We are constantly working to push the norm and reinvent how folks think about and interact with emotional health support. We lead with compassion and curiosity, work hard but celebrate in the process, and love strong opinions balanced with strong collaboration. We have a diverse, world-class team. Some of us come from reputable enterprises in tech and media while others are self-made personal growth experts. We create deep and meaningful connections and relationships with everyone in the company as we are all building Mined together. Mined is a meritocracy founded in collaboration and innovative minds. Come join us in our mission is to celebrate emotional and relational wellness.
Show all 13 entries ↓
Investment activity
2012–2024 · 12 investments
201212013120141201512016120191202122022220242
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