GT Dave is the category creator of the Kombucha industry with his line of #1 selling products known as GT's Kombucha & Synergy. Over 20 years ago while he was barely a teenager, GT started brewing and bottling his authentic organic raw Kombucha in his parent's kitchen in Los Angeles.  Since then, he has expanded his company's portfolio beyond Kombucha and has once again become a pioneer of cutting-edge wellness offerings including non-dairy kefirs, non-dairy raw coconut yogurts, probiotic shots, adaptogenic teas, and much more.   GT continues to be the creative and visionary force behind all of GT's Living Foods while allowing the company to remain family-owned and operated. 

Kara co-founded VMG Partners in 2005 and focuses on all aspects of the Fund’s investment strategy, sourcing, execution, portfolio company oversight and exit management. Since its inception, VMG has partnered with entrepreneurs and management teams to provide a breadth of value-add resources in the areas of sales, marketing, branding, finance, operations and legal support which enable its partner companies to rapidly increase brand awareness, accelerate growth and build equity value. Kara serves, or has served, on the boards of babyganics, Bare Snacks, Drunk Elephant, Health Warrior, Humm Kombucha, KIND Snacks, Pirate Brands, Pretzel Crisps, Quest Nutrition, Solid Gold Pet, Sun Bum, Waggin’ Train and Vermont Smoke & Cure, among others. Kara has been an investor in emerging, lower-middle-market branded consumer companies for the last 18 years. Prior to her private equity career, Kara was an Analyst at the investment bank of Schroders plc and received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German from Colgate University.

As VP Emerging Brands Incubation for Venturing & Emerging Brands, Matt Hughes leads emerging brand commercial strategies across channels and routes to market, and drives emerging brand sales in the Natural channel. He's been in the industry for over 30 years, and launched three entrepreneurial beverage brands prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company. He has served as COO of a mid-sized beverage company and led a regional bottling company as Division President. With a keen knowledge and awareness of business opportunity, Matt is able to identify niche markets, develop relevant strategy and implement to success. Matt's entrepreneurial background makes him a keen observer who's on the leading edge of trends.

Daina Trout co-founded Health-Ade Kombucha in 2012 alongside her husband, Justin Trout, and best friend, Vanessa Dew, in Los Angeles. Daina, who has Masters’ degrees in Nutrition and in Public Health from Tufts University, was working in corporate America when she decided to pursue her passion for “real” food and develop the best-tasting, highest quality kombucha on the market. Under her fearless leadership, Health-Ade has grown from a small production, artisanal item made in Daina’s tiny apartment and sold at local farmer’s markets into the fastest growing brand in the category that is now available in more than 12,000 stores and restaurants nationwide.

In 2017, Sheryl O'Loughlin introduced her book, Killing It: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart. She is currently the CEO of REBBL, the first super herb adaptogen beverage company. REBBL partners with Not for Sale, a non-profit dedicated to eliminating human trafficking. Sheryl was the CEO of Clif Bar and Company and co-founded and served as CEO for Plum, Inc. She has held positions in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Sonoma State University, and she currently serves the boards of Once Upon a Farm, the Harvest Summit, and Conscious Capitalism. She is a member of the Forbes San Francisco Business Council and One Step Closer to a Sustainable Community (OSC2). Sheryl earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She lives in California with her husband, Patrick, and their two sons.

Andrew joined SPINS in 2015 to help the most innovative health & wellness brands in the industry grow even faster. The Brand Growth Solutions team now advises a broad portfolio of high-performing brands and investors on marketing, sales, innovation, and M&A. The team leverages SPINS’ industry- leading market data in combination with robust consumer information, analytics, and strategic analyses to generate powerful insights and develop profitable growth solutions for our clients. Andrew brings a passion for the Natural and Specialty Products Industry, plus over twenty years of consumer brand experience in strategy, marketing, and innovation leadership roles at McKinsey, Kraft, and PepsiCo.

Ryan Caldbeck is the CEO and cofounder of CircleUp, the platform providing capital and resources to innovative, early-stage consumer brands, and opportunities for sophisticated investors. Ryan founded CircleUp after nearly seven years of investing experience in consumer product and retail-focused private equity at TSG Consumer Partners and Encore Consumer Capital. The experience exposed him to many great consumer and retail businesses too small to obtain funding through the customary private equity channels. Inspired by these often-overlooked opportunities, he founded CircleUp to make funding available to promising companies. Ryan has been recognized as a “Titan of Retail” by Bloomberg and “40 Under 40” by both M&A Advisors and the San Francisco Business Times.