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
Backed by $4M round, Hilary’s Eat Well expanding organic food line, hiring 10-15 workers
Hilary’s Eat Well is growing its plant-based food line, company leaders said. The move to diversify the company’s offerings — as well as to more efficiently produce larger quantities of its free-from (dairy- and gluten-free) products — comes as the Lawrence-based operation moves its storage to an off-site facility, freeing up manufacturing space, said Lydia…
City challenges startup leaders to swap social media for in-person dialogue on regulation
Editor’s note: Rick Usher is a member of the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s policy committee, and Sarah Shipley is a board member for KCSF, the parent organization of Startland News. This piece was independently produced. There’s a void of shared awareness between city government and the startup community, Rick Usher said. That’s why government officials and leaders…
8-year-old Raytown entrepreneur strings together jewelry business
Raelynn Heath’s bling is inspiring, her mother said. The 8-year-old entrepreneur has spent half her life developing a brand built on crafting original jewelry and repairing broken pieces, she said. “We take a little bit of the old and the new and the practical,” said Regina Lastiee-Heath. Young Raelynn markets her jewelry on Facebook and…
Firebrand Ventures inks $17.7M for oversubscribed seed fund
Kansas City-based seed fund Firebrand Ventures has crushed its original goal to create a $7 million seed fund for startups in the Midwest. Led by investor and former Techstars managing director John Fein, the fund raised $17.7 million for tech ventures in the Midwest, exceeding its initial goal by about 250 percent, said Fein. “I’m…