Midwest-focused M25 rolls out new venture partners across region, adding high-profile STL founder
March 13, 2025 | Tommy Felts
CHICAGO — An influential venture capital firm with portfolio companies in Kansas City and across the region on Thursday announced a St. Louis serial entrepreneur as the latest venture partner joining its mission to back a new generation of Midwest unicorns.
Victor Gutwein, managing partner, and Mike Asem, founding partner, at M25; photo courtesy of M25
Guy Friedman, co-founder and CEO of SteadyMD, brings an invaluable founder’s perspective — plus a strong track record of launching, scaling and raising capital — to M25, said Victor Gutwein, managing partner at the Chicago-based venture capital firm, which was an early investor in Friedman’s company.
The news comes as M25 launches a strategy to gradually bring on new venture partners from across the Midwest, having previously announced legaltech entrepreneur Brian Powers in Indianapolis.
“St. Louis has been a very strong ecosystem for startups, and we didn’t want to miss anything, so we needed a guy or gal here,” said Gutwein, detailing Friedman’s selection. “Well, we found our Guy — SteadyMD was one of our first big success stories here so his deep network and experience in multiple industries will give us great access and expertise.”
M25 has been an active investor in Missouri, having backed 9 startups in the Greater St. Louis area and 13 total across the state, including Ryvit (acquired by Trimble in 2023), Summersalt and Kansas City’s Super Dispatch and backstitch.
Click here to explore M25’s portfolio.
Guy Friedman, SteadyMD, M25
With Friedman’s leadership and connections in the local startup scene, M25 aims to deepen its Missouri presence and support even more promising founders building in the Show Me State, the firm said.
As venture partner, Friedman will help source and evaluate deals, dive deep into due diligence and mentor founders post-investment — leveraging his firsthand experience of building and scaling high-growth startups.
Before SteadyMD — a category-defining virtual healthcare solution that has already raised $60 million and has seen millions of patients across its diverse set of enterprise clients — Friedman saw the exit of his startup HigherNext (acquired by ProctorU in 2013).
“I’ve been working with Victor Gutwein, Mike Asem and the team at M25 since the early days of SteadyMD — they’ve created a true community with their founders and I know they are a ‘first call’ for many of their portfolio company CEOs,” said Friedman. “I’m excited to work with them to help some of the most innovative companies in the world.”
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
More than a Fountain City vacation: SavR bringing US headquarters to Kansas City
Kansas City’s startup culture and support network helped the City of Fountains land the new U.S. headquarters of Australia-based SavR, said founder Tim O’Shea. “If you’re a company that’s trying to strive for genuine outcome, then you’ll be very well received [in Kansas City],” he said. “I think Midwestern people tend to ferret out the…
App to help flex Disabled But Not Really reach beyond KC gyms, says Wesley Hamilton
A new fitness and wellness app is expected to help Disabled But Not Really go global with its impact, said Wesley Hamilton. “This app is going to benefit those that cannot go through our program but are still determined to learn and change their physical well being,” said Hamilton, founder and executive director of the…
Pepper teams with Switzerland cyber security expert to combat ‘terrifying’ IoT threats
A new, long-term collaboration between KC-based Pepper IoT and an international leader in digital security has an opportunity to aggressively boost consumer confidence in the rapidly expanding — and potentially hostile — Internet of Things, said Scott Ford. “It is terrifying to see millions of vulnerable connected devices being distributed to U.S. consumers who have…
Artist incubator paints scene of blissful collaboration in far-from-lonely West Bottoms space
Vanessa Lacy’s artist incubator eliminates “the lonely artist,” she said, noting her gallery model replaces solitude with creative relationships and a collaborative community. “Artists tend to get very isolated in their studio spaces working on their own; then they have a relationship with a gallery that’s really more of a business relationship,” said Lacy, owner…