Able Partners Research
Investment Thesis & Philosophy
Able Partners is an early-stage consumer investment fund headquartered in New York, founded in 2016 and focused exclusively on health and wellness. The fund systematically backs clinically rigorous, behaviorally grounded wellbeing startups tackling stigmatized areas—alcohol use disorder, menopause, mental health—using stigma as an investing edge and insisting on consumer-grade UX.
The firm's core thesis centers on "The Wellness Gap": the quantifiable delta that has grown dramatically over the past two decades as economic indicators such as GDP per capita have increased while measures of overall wellbeing, including physical and mental health, have stagnated or decreased. Able Partners invests in passionate entrepreneurs building visionary brands in positive living that address this gap and make daily lives of consumers healthier, happier, and more meaningful.
Fund Structure & Stage Focus
Able Partners operates as an evergreen fund with significant flexibility in deployment. The firm primarily focuses on early-stage investments:
Stage Focus:
- Primary: Seed and Series A
- Secondary: Late-stage follow-ons for existing portfolio companies
- Stage range: Seed and Series A are the primary focus, with selective pre-seed investments
The firm conducts investments via SAFE agreements and equity, maintaining flexibility for both founders and the fund's deployment strategy.
Check Size & Investment Tickets
Based on portfolio analysis and public information:
Typical Check Size Range:
- Minimum: $500K
- Maximum: $3M
- Sweet spot: $1.5M
- Range: $100K-$5M
The fund's flexible check size allows participation in various round structures from pre-seed through Series A rounds.
Lead Tendency & Decision Process
Lead Tendency: Both leads and participates
Able Partners demonstrates a balanced approach, both leading rounds where they have strong conviction and participating in co-led rounds with other quality investors. Their portfolio shows evidence of lead positions (e.g., Function Health, DUOS, Oura) and participation in Series A rounds.
Decision Process: Partnership model
With three active partners (Amanda Eilian, Lisa Blau, Alison Ryu) plus senior operating team, the fund uses a partnership-driven approach. Amanda Eilian brings 10+ years of institutional investing and entrepreneurship experience (co-founder of Videolicious acquired by Squarespace, SPAC founder). Lisa Blau brings a decade of early-stage consumer investing and her own entrepreneurial background. Alison Ryu brings 10+ years of consumer brand investing experience from CircleUp and TSG Consumer.
Decision Timeline: 1-2 weeks (estimated based on fund size and activity level)
Recent Activity & Fund Status
Fund Status: Actively deploying
The firm demonstrates strong recent activity with 81 total investments as of November 2025:
Recent Investments (2025):
- November 30, 2025: Bevimi (Seed)
- November 19, 2025: Function Health Series B ($298M raise, $2.5B valuation) - portfolio follow-on
- October 9, 2025: DUOS ($130M Series B for AI benefits platform for seniors) - portfolio participation
- September 23, 2025: Oura Ring ($875M Series E, company valued at $11B) - portfolio follow-on
- May 6, 2025: Grüns ($500M valuation milestone) - portfolio company
- May 5, 2025: Function Health acquires Ezra - strategic acquisition combining lab testing and AI-powered medical imaging
- April 22, 2025: Biolinq ($100M Series C for glucose sensor patch)
Portfolio Highlights & Notable Companies
Able Partners has built an impressive portfolio of 50+ companies across health, wellness, nature, and connection categories:
Notable Portfolio Companies (50+ companies):
- Bumble (dating/social) - NASDAQ: BMBL
- Goop (wellness brand) - leading luxury wellness company
- Daily Harvest (food/nutrition) - D2C frozen meals
- Function Health (preventive health) - $2.5B valuation, $298M Series B 2025
- DUOS (senior benefits AI) - $130M Series B 2025
- Spring Health (mental health) - leading employee mental health platform
- Maven Clinic (telehealth) - women's healthcare
- Oura Ring - $11B valuation, wearable health tracking
- Compass Pathways (NASDAQ: CMPS) - psychedelic-assisted therapy
- ATAI Life Sciences - psychedelic research and development
- Moon Juice (functional beverages)
- Four Sigmatic (mushroom-based wellness)
- Alma (mental health marketplace)
- Chief (professional community for women)
- Blueland (sustainable cleaning products)
- Kosas (clean cosmetics)
- Necessaire (skincare)
- Mud WTR (coffee alternative)
- This Is Needed (diverse wellness)
- Sanctuary World (wellness community)
- Wait What (sustainable snacks)
- Bluestone Lane (specialty coffee)
- Clean Market (clean beauty marketplace)
- Starface (acne products)
- Forward Space (wellness membership)
- Pointer Health (medical devices)
- KilgourMD (medical aesthetics)
- Bevimi (personalized supplements)
- Grüns (nutritional supplements, $500M valuation)
- Biolinq (glucose monitoring sensors)
- Ellipsis Health (mental health monitoring)
- Little Otter Health (pediatric telehealth)
- Cortica Care (clinical decision support)
- Be Brave Health (LGBTQ+ health)
- Kinside (pediatric mental health)
- Alton Neuroscience (neuroscience)
- Regrocery (sustainable food)
- Season Health (elder care)
- Grow Maple (personalized nutrition)
- Twin Health (metabolic health platform)
- Jana Care (chronic disease management)
- Found (weight management telehealth)
- SelfMade (women's health)
- Givers (caregiving platform)
- Zocalo Health (health equity)
- Cartwheel Care (pediatric care)
- Midi (menstrual health)
- On Guaranteed (health insurance)
- Journey Clinical (ketamine-assisted therapy)
- California Naturals (natural wellness)
- ZBiotics (synthetic biology)
- CA Cultured (cultured meat)
- Holobiome (microbiome health)
- OneSkin (skin longevity)
- Supp Co (supplements)
- Respin Health (respiratory health)
Investment Team & Leadership
Amanda Eilian, Founding Partner
- Co-founder of Videolicious, an enterprise video creation platform acquired by Squarespace (NYSE:SQSP)
- Led Videolicious to 5M+ users across 103 countries, including Fortune 500 clients (IBM, Walmart, SAP, Verizon, GE)
- Founding partner of Capitol Acquisition Corporation (SPAC), completed $265M IPO as Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO), grew to $5B+ market cap
- Early-stage institutional investor with 10+ years experience
- Career in private equity and M&A
- Truman Scholar
- MBA from Harvard Business School (Baker Scholar)
- BA from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (Magna Cum Laude, Honors in Economics)
- Board member: Melanoma Research Alliance
- Member: Tech:NYC Leadership Council
Lisa Blau, Founding Partner
- 10+ years actively investing in early-stage consumer companies focused on health and wellness
- Entrepreneur in the health and wellness category
- Chair of Investor Group, Leadership Now Project
- Board member: New Yorkers for a Better Future, KIPP NYC charter schools, The Mount Sinai Parenting Center
- BA from Duke University
- MBA from Harvard Business School
- Based in New York City
Alison Ryu, Partner
- 10+ years investing in consumer brands
- General Partner & Managing Director at CircleUp Growth Partners (led early-stage consumer brand investments)
- Vice President at TSG Consumer (invested in consumer and retail brands, worked with e-commerce portfolio)
- Operating experience: executive team at Backcountry (TSG portfolio company)
- Investment banking at J.P. Morgan, Consumer & Retail Group
- Board service: Kosas Cosmetics, Nutpods
- BA in Economics from Harvard University
- Based in San Francisco
Geographic Focus
Primary: United States
- Headquarters: New York, New York
- National coverage with focus on major consumer hubs (NYC, SF, LA)
International: Selective presence
- Demonstrated willingness to invest in international founders for exceptional opportunities
Sector & Model Focus
Able Partners invests across wellness-related sectors with strong emphasis on:
Core Focus Areas ("The Four Pillars"):
- Health - Clinical and preventive health, mental health, reproductive health, telehealth
- Wellness - Nutrition, supplements, fitness, sleep, stress management
- Nature - Sustainable and natural products, clean beauty, organic food
- Connection - Community, social, LGBTQ+ health, caregiving
Industries:
- Preventive and digital health
- Mental health and psychedelic-assisted therapy
- Women's health and menopause solutions
- Addiction treatment (alcohol use disorder)
- Consumer wellness brands and D2C
- Biotech and medical devices
- Clean beauty and cosmetics
- Functional food and beverages
- Elder care and longevity
- Inclusive health platforms
Model Preferences:
- Direct-to-consumer (D2C) wellness brands with strong unit economics
- Telehealth and healthcare marketplaces
- Biotech companies with clinical validation
- Digital health platforms
- Medical devices and wearables
- Software-enabled healthcare services
Anti-Thesis: The firm explicitly avoids:
- Companies not addressing the Wellness Gap
- Products without clinical rigor or behavioral grounding
- Companies perpetuating stigma rather than breaking it
- Mainstream wellness without differentiation
- Companies lacking consumer-grade user experience
Founder Preferences & Sourcing
Able Partners seeks founders with:
- Passion for positive living - genuine commitment to improving wellbeing
- Clinical rigor - evidence-based approaches to health problems
- Behavioral grounding - understanding of human behavior and psychology
- Stigma awareness - ability to tackle difficult, stigmatized health topics
- Consumer focus - insistence on beautiful, usable products
- Founder experience - preferably with previous startup or operational experience
- Diverse perspectives - women founders, LGBTQ+ founders, underrepresented communities
Notable Sourcing Patterns:
- Founder networks and referrals
- Accelerator programs (Y Combinator relationships)
- Industry connections through partner expertise
- Organic community discovery
- Partner networks in health and wellness
Engagement & Support Model
Typical Involvement: Advisor + operational support
Able Partners positions itself as an engaged investor:
- Operational support and strategic guidance
- Recruiting and hiring help
- Go-to-market strategy assistance
- Fundraising support for Series A and beyond
- Network access to other entrepreneurs and industry experts
- Thought partnership on product and positioning
Fund Economics & Recent Initiatives
Fund Type: Evergreen fund (ongoing deployment, not a traditional 10-year fund) Investor Base: Women-led with diverse limited partners Current Status: Actively deploying with strong momentum
Decision Process & Engagement Timeline
How They Work:
- Application or warm introduction via [email protected]
- Partnership evaluation and diligence (1-2 weeks estimated)
- SAFE or priced equity negotiation
- Post-investment: ongoing operational support and network access
- Series A support: strategic guidance and investor introductions
Typical Timeline: 1-2 weeks from application to decision
Warm Introduction: Not required
Competitive Positioning
Able Partners differentiates through:
- Stigma-focused thesis - investing in taboo health topics (menopause, alcohol use disorder, psychedelics)
- Clinical rigor - focus on evidence-based, behaviorally grounded solutions
- Women-led - founded and led by female partners with extensive investor and operating experience
- Consumer experience - insisting on beautiful, accessible products alongside clinical validation
- Diverse portfolio - 50+ companies across health, wellness, nature, and connection
- Founder network - strong relationships with exceptional consumer-focused builders
- Thought leadership - active Medium publication discussing sector trends and opportunities
- Track record - proven unicorns and high-growth companies (Bumble, Function Health, Oura, Compass Pathways, ATAI)
Unique Positioning
Able Partners operates at the intersection of:
- Purpose-driven investing - solving real Wellness Gap problems
- Evidence-based selection - clinical rigor and behavioral grounding
- Consumer excellence - beautiful products alongside clinical validation
- Diverse leadership - women-led team with deep operating experience
- Stigma deconstruction - positioning underserved health topics as investment opportunities
- Proven returns - multiple unicorns and high-valuation exits in portfolio
The firm represents a modern take on health/wellness investing: focused on solving real problems in underserved categories, led by experienced female entrepreneurs, and committed to backing founders building beautiful, clinically rigorous solutions in positive living.