In 2013, Matt Bachmann walked into a grad school classroom carrying a travel mug of homemade cold brew coffee and met Ben Gordon, who was sitting with a leather-wrapped mason jar filled with his own homebrew. This set the two off on what has now been a four-year journey to create the best-tasting cold brew coffee products packaged uniquely to suit the full range of consumption occasions, whether at home, at work or on the go. Wandering Bear products can be found nationwide at retailers such as Kroger, Target, Safeway and Whole Foods, on Amazon, FreshDirect and Thrive Market, as well as on tap via both bag-in-box and keg formats in thousands of offices across more than 30 states. Matt holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from The University of Michigan and lives in New York City with his wife and son. Visit www.wanderingbearcoffee.com or @wanderingbearco on Instagram to stay in touch.

Mike Repole has always been a big dreamer. His modest upbringing and close family ties fuel his drive as a serial entrepreneur. Surrounding himself with great people and developing great brands has become his proven formula for success. Having achieved success before in the food and beverage industry with the sales of glacéau vitaminwater to The Coca-Cola Company and Pirate’s Booty to B&G Foods, and an early investor and board member at KIND bar, Mike is once again looking to revolutionize a category and build the next megabrand. Mike is the founder and chairman of BODYARMOR, a premium sports drink that provides superior hydration to athletes demanding better-for-you products. Mike saw huge potential in the sports drink category for an innovation like BODYARMOR, and his passion and drive – and the opportunity to disrupt the $10 billion sports drink industry – led him to launch BODYARMOR in 2011. BODYARMOR has grabbed the attention of some of the top professional athletes in the country, including James Harden, Mike Trout and Dustin Johnson, all of whom hold an equity stake in the company. In 2013, Kobe Bryant made a significant investment in BODYARMOR, becoming one of the top shareholders – and in 2018 The CocaCola Company invested in the brand, making them the #2 shareholder behind Repole.

Maya French is a Co-Founder of Koia, the protein packed, 100 percent plant-based beverage that uses natural ingredients to deliver deliciously nutritious flavors. French struggled with food-based allergies, such as being lactose intolerant her whole life, until she discovered the benefits of plant-based proteins when college friend and fellow Koia Co-Founder, Dustin Baker, was testing out recipes in his Chicago kitchen. At this moment, French realized her calling was to create a functional product that would contribute to providing consumers with a healthier lifestyle. With only experience in journalism and fashion retail, French took a leap of faith into unknown territory to follow her dreams and partnered with Baker to launch Koia. Discovering an innovative dairy and soy-free option with a balance of high protein and low sugar made French look and feel better as she committed to a healthy diet change. After years of trials and customer research, she has become a natural foods industry expert and professional. Her focus now is on growing the Koia brand and driving awareness among consumers of how plant based, healthy lifestyle choices can benefit them. “As someone who is lactose-intolerant, there aren’t many protein products that aren’t dairy-based. I make it my personal mission as a co-founder to let everyone know they have Koia as an option,” French says. Besides being dairy-free, French’s favorite thing about Koia is that it is sweet but not high in sugar. “You can still have the taste profile you want without the guilt,” she comments. She is also a fan of how Koia uses only simple ingredients that consumers can actually recognize, making it clear what you're consuming every time you drink a Koia! With the help of French, Koia launched nationally at Whole Foods Market and quickly scaled to become the most productive refrigerated protein brands in the natural channel within 18 months of inception, and is now sold in 5,000 stores across the country.

John is the co-founder of Weller Snacks, a CBD-enriched food and beverage brand. As an entrepreneur with an eye for early trends, John has a passion for creating brands and establishing new innovations that ignite previously unknown categories. In 1995, he founded Third Street Chai and led it through its acquisition in 2013, paving the way for sustainable supply chain standards via Fair Trade and Certified Organic ingredients. With Weller, he is once again focused on developing interesting products that can help CBD’s wellness benefits go mainstream. John himself embraces a life of living well-er as a former professional bicycle racer who lives in Boulder, Colorado.

As co-founder of M3 Ventures, Tracy brings nearly a decade of retail and consumer brand growth experience to the firm. Since the launch of M3, she has executed over 35 investments in leading lifestyle and commerce businesses. Areas of expertise include health and wellness; DTC fashion and apparel; beauty; food, beverage and hospitality; and cannabis and CBD. Prior to M3 Ventures, Tracy was a Vice President at Sandbridge Capital, a middle market private equity firm founded by Tommy Hilfiger. She oversaw the firm’s growth equity activities with investments such as Thom Browne, and the firm’s venture investments, including FarFetch and Tamara Mellon. Before joining Sandbrige Capital, Tracy worked as a business development consultant at TRAUB Associates, a retail-focused advisory firm founded by former Bloomingdale’s CEO Marvin Traub. Her clients included the Related Companies and Dubai’s Al Tayer group. Prior to TRAUB, Tracy worked at Credit Suisse in the Retail & Consumer Investment Banking division in New York City. Tracy graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Urban Studies.

Neel Premkumar created FORTO Coffee to fuel the next generation of coffee lovers, looking for a fast coffee energy boost. Today, FORTO is the #1 Coffee Shot and the best-selling shelf-stable Organic Bottled Coffee in the U.S., sold in over 50,000 retail stores. The company has been on Inc.500’s fastest-growing company list for multiple years, and Neel is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Prior to becoming the Founder and CEO of FORTO, Neel was a marketing executive at Nestle, and beforehand, founded a boutique marketing agency called CreativeHub, with clients that included Unilever, General Mills and Samsung. Neel holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business, a Graduate Marketing degree from The University of Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. He resides with his wife and twin girls near New York City.

David Karr is the Chief Brand Cebador of Guayaki SRP, inc., a company he co-founded with Alex Pryor, his “soul brother” in 1996. As the brand steward, David is responsible for the look, feel and story of Guayaki and is committed to creating sustainable, regenerating enterprises that nourish the planet and humanity. He lives on his community farm on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada with his wife Jennifer Lloyd and two boys Alex and Rio.