Carle Stenmark
San Francisco, California, United States
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Carle Stenmark shared thisWe're thrilled to partner with Afresh, the AI platform for grocery, on their latest round. Our belief in Afresh has grown over the course of our partnership. The team has cracked one of the hardest problems in retail — bringing real-time AI to fresh categories where shelf lives are short, demand is volatile, and data is messy — and that foundation is now scaling across the full grocery enterprise. In a $10 trillion global industry defined by razor-thin margins and perishable inventory, Afresh is reshaping how the most consequential decisions get made: what to grow, what to buy, what to stock, and what reaches the shelf. Few categories of AI have this much leverage over the physical economy. Congratulations to Matt Schwartz and the entire Afresh team on this milestone. We're excited for what's ahead.Carle Stenmark shared thisGrocery is one of the hardest AI problems in the world. It’s also one of the most underserved. Today we're announcing $34M to keep changing that, co-led by Just Climate and HighSage Ventures. Grocery is a $10T industry that runs on thousands of daily decisions about what gets stocked, what gets sold, and what gets thrown away. We started with fresh because it's where the margin for error is smallest — if AI works there, it works anywhere in the store. Where we are now: → 200M+ lbs of food waste prevented → 12,500+ departments across 40 states → 70% YoY growth The grocery industry sits at the center of the global food system. Every decision it makes shapes what's grown, what's eaten, and what's wasted. Afresh is the AI making those decisions better at scale. Next chapter: more decisions, more products, more grocers, less waste. Thank you to all of our investors, our grocery partners, and the team building this.
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Carle Stenmark shared thisMost enterprise supply chain teams are running the same playbook they were a decade ago. Legacy tools, manual exports, models that can't talk to each other. The gap between what's possible and what most teams are actually doing is significant. The Coca-Cola Company is closing that gap, and on March 26 they're walking through exactly how. It's one of the reasons we invested in Lyric. If supply chain modeling or enterprise analytics is in your world, register here: https://hubs.la/Q0464y2J0 #SupplyChainTransformation #NetworkOptimization #EnterpriseAnalyticsFrom Engine Swap to Analytics Platform: How Coca-Cola North America Is Rebuilding Supply Chain Optimization with Lyric - LyricFrom Engine Swap to Analytics Platform: How Coca-Cola North America Is Rebuilding Supply Chain Optimization with Lyric - Lyric
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Carle Stenmark shared thisCongratulations to Weee! on celebrating its 10-year anniversary! At VMG Partners we feel incredibly fortunate to have partnered with Larry Liu and the Weee! team over the past six years, witnessing firsthand the company’s remarkable growth and impact. Back in 2019, Weee! had just crossed $40M in revenue, expanding city by city with a scrappy, determined team. Fast forward to today, and the company is approaching $1B in annual GMV, serving diverse communities across the U.S. with unique and amazing products. Beyond the numbers, what stands out most is Weee!’s ability to stay true to its mission: making hard-to-find, culturally important foods affordable and accessible. The launch of MásGusto for Hispanic communities is just the latest examples of how the company continues to expand authentically and inclusively. Larry’s vision, combined with the team’s relentless execution, has built a category-defining business. From pioneering logistics and tech infrastructure to scaling a multi-ethnic and multi-app ecosystem, Weee! has redefined what grocery innovation looks like in America. We are proud to have been part of this journey so far and can’t wait to see what the next decade holds. Congratulations to the entire Weee! team—here’s to many more milestones ahead! #Weee! #VMG #Partnership #Growth #Innovation #GroceryCarle Stenmark shared thisToday marks Weee!’s 10-year anniversary. What started as a small idea has grown into a nationwide platform serving millions of customers, helping families bring the flavors of home to their tables. We set out to solve a simple but powerful problem: making authentic groceries more accessible to diverse communities across the U.S. Over the past decade, that mission has only grown stronger. Together, we’ve built something unique — a platform that not only delivers groceries but also bridges cultures and connects people through food. Looking ahead, the opportunity is bigger than ever. The communities we serve are vibrant, growing, and full of potential. With the dedication of our incredible team, the support of our partners, and the trust of our customers, I believe the next 10 years will be even more transformative than the last. To our family members, employees, customers, partners, and investors — thank you. This milestone belongs to all of you. Here’s to the next decade of building, serving, and celebrating together.
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Carle Stenmark shared thisAt VMG Partners, we’re always looking for founders who combine deep domain expertise with the ambition to build category-defining platforms—and Lyric and Ganesh Ramakrishna is exactly that.Carle Stenmark shared thisI’m thrilled to share that Lyric has raised $43.5M in Series B funding, led by Insight Partners and joined by a phenomenal group of new and existing investors: Primary Venture Partners, Permanent Capital Ventures, NewBuild Venture Capital, VMG Partners, and PSP Partners. Read the full article here: https://hubs.la/Q03BkBp00 This brings our total funding to $67M but more importantly, it reflects growing conviction around a big idea: the world needs a new kind of software for supply chain decision-making. One that’s math-first, composable, and built for the people on the front lines. And Lyric is emerging as the platform to lead that shift. When we started Lyric, we weren’t just trying to modernize decision-making. We were rethinking it from the ground up: the math, the workflows, and the way real decisions get made every day. From modeling and analysis to planning and execution, our platform helps customers move faster, go deeper, and adapt with more intelligence than ever before. To our customers: thank you for building with us and pushing us to be better. To our team: this milestone is yours. Your talent and tenacity got us here. To anyone out there who wants to help shape the future of supply chain tech: we’re hiring - check us out. Let’s keep building. #SeriesB #SupplyChainAI #ComposableIntelligence #DecisionIntelligence #LyricTech Our earlier rounds were led by Primary Venture Partners and Permanent Capital Ventures, with additional participation from Foster Ventures, StepStone Group, Moguntia Capital, and prominent angels like Michael Watson and Razat Gaurav.Next-generation supply chain intelligence startup Lyric gets $43.5M in funding - SiliconANGLENext-generation supply chain intelligence startup Lyric gets $43.5M in funding - SiliconANGLE
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Carle Stenmark posted thisWe're hiring! Join VMG Partners’ $400M Technology Fund this summer as a full-time Associate! We are seeking a dynamic individual who is passionate about the evolving landscape of consumer commerce and technology. If you have 3–4 years of experience in analytical roles within startup environments, where you have demonstrated a significant impact in customer-facing or product-facing functions, we want to hear from you. As part of our team, you should be hungry, humble, and highly collaborative, with a keen interest in exploring how technology is transforming consumer commerce. Your ability to move swiftly, build trust effortlessly, take initiative, and delve deep into product intricacies while prioritizing customer feedback is key. To express your interest, we require warm introductions within the next few weeks. We believe in thoughtful connections and meaningful interactions, so spamming is not our style. Show us your strategic thinking by providing a brief response to the question: "What is one category and company VMG Technology should be evaluating, and why now?" For more details on this opportunity and our specific requirements, refer to our Substack post (link in comments). #AssociateSearch #CommerceEnablement
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Carle Stenmark reposted thisCarle Stenmark reposted thisOakland Lacrosse is hiring our first ever Development Director to raise Oakland Lacrosse's visibility, impact, and financial resources. We are searching for a driven fundraising leader to join our team. Please share.
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Carle Stenmark shared thisSam Shapiro appreciate all your amazing contributions. Your passion is palpable and VMG is lucky to have you on the team.Carle Stenmark shared thisCompany building - and venture capital’s role within that - is fundamentally about supporting talented people. And it's extra special when we get to celebrate our own: We're thrilled to announce that Sam Shapiro has been promoted to Partner at VMG! Sam brings relentless curiosity (and dad jokes) to understand problems facing modern consumer businesses, and how technology can solve them. He builds deep trust with founders that is core to our ethos of being your first call, for good news or bad news. “Working with Sam has been a game changer,” said Sam Obletz, CEO of Claim. “We’ve been problem solving at all hours, and his ability to be a thought partner at both 30,000 feet and ground level has been invaluable." Maisie Devine Sherman of Anheuser-Busch InBev described Sam as "The front-door to the tech innovation that optimizes our operations and enables us to be more efficient and productive. We are always looking for an edge, and love the constant exchange of ideas we have with Sam and VMG." His impact is evident in every aspect of VMG Tech. "We are an investment firm defined by customer-centricity and domain expertise" said Co-Heads of VMG Technology, Carle Stenmark & Indranil Guha. "Sam's empathy, depth of knowledge, and solution-finding mindset make him a great teammate for commerce infrastructure founders and selfishly, for us." We couldn't be more excited for what lies ahead. Congrats, Sam!
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Carle Stenmark reposted thisCarle Stenmark reposted thisManifest 2024 is right around the corner! VMG's Carle Stenmark will join Maddy Alcala, Shaun Bunch, Raffaello D'Andrea, and Sean McGuigan for a conversation about how supply chain leaders are approaching demand planning, cost reduction, customer satisfaction and inventory management. We hope to see you there! Panel details: Tuesday, February 6th @ 2:55 - 3:25pm Track 3, Rooms 221-223 #Manifest2024 #inventorysolutions
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Carle Stenmark shared thisIt’s January which means that we're all probably thinking about what we should be doing to improve our health and contemplating New Year’s commitments that are often too strict, and hard to stick to, inevitably leaving us with that broke-my-resolutions blah before the month is over. That’s where Daily Harvest comes in. This year, Daily Harvest is encouraging everyone to focus on what we CAN have rather than what we can’t. Their 5-day January Jumpstart box says no for you (no to gluten, dairy, meal planning, tiresome prep, and artificial sugars) so you can SAY YES to delicious, satiating meals that get you back on the fruit-and-veg track without having to think about it. You in?? Sign up today to say YES to you in 2024 https://lnkd.in/gvp4EwNq
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Carle Stenmark liked thisCarle Stenmark liked thisHeading to Gartner Supply Chain in Orlando. Every CSCO I’ve met this year is asking the same thing. Where is AI actually working in planning, and where is it still theater? That’s the conversation I want this week. If it’s on your mind too, find me. See you in MCO.
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Carle Stenmark reacted on thisCarle Stenmark reacted on thisBig news: Sean Zonneveld is joining Lyric as our EVP Sales. Sean has the experience. But honestly, it was the wiring that got us excited. Lyric is fast, intense, and genuinely unconventional. We need someone who won't just survive in that environment - but thrive in it and help us push further. Sean is that person. He believes what we believe: supply chains get dramatically better when organizations have the right decisions in their own hands. He's built GTM engines at scale. He knows this space deeply. And he has the "let's go" energy this next chapter demands. Welcome to Lyric, Sean. It's going to be a hell of a ride.
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Carle Stenmark liked thisCarle Stenmark liked thisBig Congrats to Miles Botkiss on his acceptance to Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons ! The latest member of The Harvard Men's Lacrosse Community to study medicine and Columbia. We are all really proud of you Miles - great things ahead my man! #HLX1881
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Carle Stenmark reacted on thisEvery word of this 💚👏🏽 Find you a leader who owns the mission like Sara Ahmed HolmanCarle Stenmark reacted on thisAt the Modern Retail Marketing Summit, Sara Ahmed Holman went deep on her long-term vision for Bobbie in conversation with special projects editor Melissa Daniels
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Carle Stenmark liked thisCarle Stenmark liked thisAI ASCENT IV 4/20/2026 Our best event yet. This year's theme: AI AT THE FRONTIER. Robots. Data centers in space. New chips. BCI. Hosted by Konstantine Buhler, Pat Grady, Alfred Lin and all of us at Sequoia Capital Featuring fireside chats from * Demis Hassabis on the great AGI race and AI for science * Andrej Karpathy on agents * Greg Brockman OpenAI's next moves * Boris Cherny on Claude Code * DJ Seo on Neuralink and CI * Dylan Field on design in an agentic world * Mati Staniszewski on voice agents "This Is the Future" talks from * Jim Fan on robotics' endgame * Oege de Moor on cybersecurity Armageddon * Benjamin S. Asher Spector on "we are not an airplane" ;) * Philip Johnston on data centers in space * Naveen Rao on new compute * Anna Goldie Azalia Mirhoseini on RL for chip design We are all incredibly incredibly touched and grateful to our community for showing up in full force for the event. So much love <3
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Carle Stenmark reacted on thisThank you to Rachel Brown and Beauty Independent for a great conversation covering SALT & STONE, what we look for when we back a founder, and where we see the consumer landscape heading. Grateful to Nima Jalali and the entire Salt & Stone team, and to Andrew Abraham, Nick Giannuzzi, and my colleagues at Humble Growth for the work behind every part of this. https://lnkd.in/e84qAKaSHumble Growth’s Salt & Stone Strategy: Keep Founders In Their “Zone Of Genius”Humble Growth’s Salt & Stone Strategy: Keep Founders In Their “Zone Of Genius”
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Carle Stenmark liked thisCarle Stenmark liked thisFast Company wrote a great piece on Afresh and our raise yesterday — check it out here! https://lnkd.in/gtzeq73QAn AI fix for America’s $27 billion grocery waste problemAn AI fix for America’s $27 billion grocery waste problem
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Carle Stenmark liked thisCarle Stenmark liked thisThe Boston office had a bright start to the day as a group of TA Managing Directors stepped behind the griddle for our 4th annual MD Pancake & Omelette Breakfast! From pancakes and omelettes to plenty of TA spirit, it was a fun way to bring the team together and celebrate a tradition that reflects the collaboration, community, and energy at the heart of TA.
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Carle Stenmark liked thisThis is where you will experience the thrill of deploying decision products in hours.Carle Stenmark liked thisWhat if workarounds were not a necessary evil - but part of a modeling workflow that actually works the way your decisions do? Static inputs. Models that do not scale. Outputs that still take hours of manual work. If that sounds familiar...this workshop is for you. You will get hands-on in Lyric Studio with a real optimization model. Frank Corrigan will guide you live, but you will be the one in the driver’s seat. Together, we’ll bring a model to life for real enterprise decision-making by adding live run rate predictions, automating raw data prep, and shaping outputs stakeholders can actually use in their day-to-day operations. 👉 Register here, space is limited: https://hubs.la/Q04cZ45R0 #SupplyChainAI #Optimization #ComposableIntelligence #SupplyChainAnalytics
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Volunteer Experience
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Board Member / Advisory Council Member
Oakland Lacrosse Club
- Present 7 years 7 months
Education
Oakland Lacrosse Club is a non-profit that uses lacrosse as a vehicle to advocate for the importance of secondary education, promote health and wellness, and connect young people with positive mentors. The organization supports 100+ public middle school students in Oakland, CA.
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Co-President of Boston Chapter, Mentor
Minds Matter Boston
- 3 years 8 months
Education
Minds Matter Boston empowers highly-motivated high school students from low-income communities to achieve academic excellence and to overcome barriers limiting opportunities for post-secondary education. The program aims to equip underprivileged high school students with the tools to gain acceptance to top-tier academic summer programs and four-year universities, as we believe no student dedicated to earning a college education should be limited by socioeconomic status
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