Why Attend
With 68% of USA households owning at least one pet, according to the American Pet Products Association, the pampering and humanization of pets has become a lucrative consumer trend, with the global pet market estimated to be worth $109 billion.
From momentous transactions such as General Mills’ acquisition of Blue Buffalo and J.M. Smucker’s acquisition of Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, to a flurry of minority investments such as Softbanks’ investment in Wag and Main Post Partners’ investment in Nulo, it is clear that strategic buyers, venture capital and private equity alike continue to have a strong and growing appetite for the pet industry.
The Pets & Money Summit is an exclusive one-day event, connecting industry executives from strategic buyers, financial buyers and pet brands.
The event will showcase the latest innovations disrupting the industry, explore key trends and consumer priorities, and identify actionable strategies you can use to grow your business or secure your next acquisition target.
This is your chance to -
- Understand how changing trends in the pet industry such as the rise of ecommerce and direct-to-consumer selling should shape your M&A decisions and business’ growth strategy.
- Determine what strategic buyers and financial buyers are looking for, to ensure you have the competitive edge over other pet brands looking for investment or acquisition.
- Discover and personally connect with the hottest pet brands, ripe for investment and acquisition to enhance your M&A pipeline.
- Establish an optimal strategy for growth, reoccurring revenue and omnichannel distribution, from the lessons of industry leaders and the perspective of established pet retailers.
- Meet with your pet industry networking wish list, through our private meeting scheduler application, to find your next business opportunity.
Who Will Be There
Brands
Expect exciting and innovative brands from accross all pet categories:
- Food
- Treats
- Supplements
- Accessories
- Hard Products
- Insurance
- Retail
- Services
- Technology
- Everything else!
Industry Supporting Companies
- Executives from Retailers & Global Distributors
- Leadership Executives from Strategic Buyers
- Business Development Teams from Strategic Buyers
- Private Equity, Venture Capital and Angel Investors
- Investment Bankers
- Lawyers and M&A Advisors
- Market Intelligence and Consultancy Providers
Best In Show
12 pet brands, hand-picked by the prestigious Selection Committee, introduce themselves and their products/services on the main stage, in a quick-fire round of presentations.
Submissions will be accepted from both Mass and Prestige brands in Food, Treats, Supplements, Accessories and Hard Products, Insurance, Retail, Services and Technology. They should be early to mid-stage brands that are actively seeking financial investment, acquisition, distribution, and/or marketing.
The more detailed the application form, the more information the selection committee can use to make their decision. However, if you do not wish to fill in a question, please feel free to leave it blank.
Applications have now closed.
Selection Committee
Author:
Dan Reus
Dan Reus has over 20 years’ experience helping Fortune 100 firms and start-ups practice open innovation to connect with new and existing customers, partners, opportunities, technology and ways to operate.
Dan has worked with dozens of emerging pet care companies since he helped launch the Pet Care Innovation Prize in 2016. He also works with clients from technology, healthcare, professional services, consumer goods, biotech, entertainment, and manufacturing industries.
Author:
Jason Fiedler
Jason graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and
received the Frederick H. Gloeckner Award in
Entrepreneurial Studies from The Wharton School. He
finished as the top undergraduate in the 2011 Wharton
Business Plan Competition and was one of two undergraduates
accepted into Wharton's on-campus incubator program for
student-run start-ups.
Upon graduating in 2011, Jason joined Insight Venture
Partners, a leading NYC-based growth equity fund focused on
internet and software businesses. Jason sourced Insight's
$26M investment in Smartsheet and was involved in Insight’s
investments in Pluralsight, Anaqua and Branding Brand.
Jason also helped manage recruiting for Insight’s Summer
Analyst Program across top-tier undergraduate universities.
In 2013, Jason moved to San Francisco and joined Uber as an
Operations Manager. Jason was responsible for launching and
managing three of Uber's first 100 markets, and was also
involved in the launch of UberRUSH and early experiments in
food delivery.
In 2015, Jason joined Red Sea Ventures and has since been
involved in everything from deal sourcing and diligence to
platform and portfolio management.
In addition to his professional career, Jason has been an
active participant in New Heights, a NYC-based charity that
combines basketball with academics and social support
services to boost high school graduation rates of innercity
youth. Jason was nominated and will be joining the
Junior Board at New Heights.
Jason grew up in Scarsdale, NY and nothing is more
important to him than family. He continues to play
recreational basketball, tennis, golf and indoor cycling.
Author:
Marshall Morris
Marshall is the co-founder and President of HomeLife Media which owns and operates iHeartDogs.com, iHeartCats.com and Cannanine.com all of which are strategically focused on pet health and wellness online. In addition to being ranked on of Inc 500’s fastest growing companies, they manage the largest communities of pet owners online reaching over 30 million people monthly and have donated over 15,000,000 meals to shelter dogs since inception.
Author:
Nancy Hassel
Nancy Hassel is the founder and President of American Pet Professionals, an award winning business networking, educational and multimedia organization for the pet industry since 2009. Leading over 125 in-person educational networking events, seminars, fundraisers and online events for pet industry professionals. A Public Relations specialist for the pet industry, Nancy works with pet companies in many aspects of PR, event planning, media relations and training for pet professionals. Nancy also co-hosts the boutique B2B trade-show, NYC Re-Tails & Sales Pet Expo, with Dana Humphrey every spring. Also, Nancy is a speaker at various pet industry conferences, a writer for pet trade and consumer magazines, blogger, avid photographer, and was a TV producer and production coordinator for 10+ years. Nancy created a Responsible Dog Ownership program and taught over 2,500 pet parents in a 5-year period. Recently awarded the 2018 Women of Influence by Pet Age Magazine and her American Pet Professionals was voted Best Networking organization three years in a row by LI Press newspaper. Nancy resides on Long Island, NY and is the proud pet parent of Cody, a rescued American Pit Bull Terrier.
Connect socially: @AmericanPetPros on Twitter and Instagram
Speakers
William Broun
Nicole Massey
Nicole is an experienced innovator and business leader with over 20 years of CPG and consulting experience. Nicole leads front-end innovation and growth strategy for the J.M. Smucker Company and is a founder of Velocity, a Smuckers initiative focused on accelerating growth through partnerships with the entrepreneurs and founders disrupting the CPG industry.
Previously, Nicole led teams across innovation, marketing and sales at Del Monte Foods and Big Heart Pet Brands, and was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group.
Nicole has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley and a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College
Kellyn Grantham
Paul Allen
We are the leading specialty retailer of pet food, pet supplies and professional pet grooming in North America, with more than 130 locations open or under development the U.S.
Woof Gang Bakery was recently designated one of the top 10 largest retailers by Pet Business Media and one of Central Florida’s top privately held companies by the Orlando Business Journal. Woof Gang Bakery also was named best overall multi-unit retailer and received the Multi-Service Excellence Award from Pet Business Media, received the Retailer of the Year Franchise Award from Pet Product News and was recognized by Pet Insight magazine as one of the nation’s fastest-growing pet chains.
Shawn Mcghee
Andrew Bleiman
Andrew Kim
Bryan Jaffe
Gabby Slome
Gabby Slome is the co-founder and chief experience officer of Ollie, a national company that delivers freshly cooked, human-grade food that’s tailored to each dog’s nutritional needs. A former equestrian, Slome has had a lifelong passion for animals, and founded Ollie to improve the lives of dogs and revolutionize the $30 billion pet food industry.
Prior to Ollie, Slome served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Primary Ventures. Slome has also held executive roles at Vente-Privée U.S.A. and Primary.com
Slome lives in New York City with her husband, daughter, and rescue dog Pancho.
# # #
Gabby Slome on Social
Twitter - https://twitter.com/gabbyslome
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellegaddy/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gibblesanbits/
Gary Tang
Based in Palo Alto, Gary focuses on growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors at Norwest including consumer, retail, internet and education. Gary’s current investments include Bailey44 and Topo Athletic. Gary was previously involved with Norwest’s investments in PCA Skin (acquired by Colgate-Palmolive), The Learning Experience (acquired by Golden Gate Capital), and Turnitin (acquired by Advance).
Jason Fiedler
Jason graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and
received the Frederick H. Gloeckner Award in
Entrepreneurial Studies from The Wharton School. He
finished as the top undergraduate in the 2011 Wharton
Business Plan Competition and was one of two undergraduates
accepted into Wharton's on-campus incubator program for
student-run start-ups.
Upon graduating in 2011, Jason joined Insight Venture
Partners, a leading NYC-based growth equity fund focused on
internet and software businesses. Jason sourced Insight's
$26M investment in Smartsheet and was involved in Insight’s
investments in Pluralsight, Anaqua and Branding Brand.
Jason also helped manage recruiting for Insight’s Summer
Analyst Program across top-tier undergraduate universities.
In 2013, Jason moved to San Francisco and joined Uber as an
Operations Manager. Jason was responsible for launching and
managing three of Uber's first 100 markets, and was also
involved in the launch of UberRUSH and early experiments in
food delivery.
In 2015, Jason joined Red Sea Ventures and has since been
involved in everything from deal sourcing and diligence to
platform and portfolio management.
In addition to his professional career, Jason has been an
active participant in New Heights, a NYC-based charity that
combines basketball with academics and social support
services to boost high school graduation rates of innercity
youth. Jason was nominated and will be joining the
Junior Board at New Heights.
Jason grew up in Scarsdale, NY and nothing is more
important to him than family. He continues to play
recreational basketball, tennis, golf and indoor cycling.
Josh Goldberg
Matthew Kruer
Pat Robinson
Ryan Yamka
Renaldo Webb
Renaldo Webb is Founder and Chief Product Officer at PetPlate. Inspired by his dog Winston, Renaldo founded PetPlate after deciding that he did not want to feed his dog anything less than real food. After making hundreds of batches of home-cooked dog food for Winston and his pup pals, Renaldo decided to launch a pet food brand that he could proudly call his own.
Prior to PetPlate, Renaldo worked at LCatterton and McKinsey & Company as a lean manufacturing consultant, where he led operational turnarounds for public and private companies. He launched PetPlate as a nationwide subscription service in early 2017, following an appearance on the hit TV show Shark Tank.
Renaldo is a graduate of MIT with a degree in Physics. A New Orleans native, he currently lives in Brooklyn with his fiancee, Suzanne, and their dog Winston.
Daniel Rotman
Alex Jarrell
Alex Jarrell is the chief experience officer of NomNomNow, a leading D2C pet food brand she co-founded after her own dog, Harlee, suffered a life threatening illness. Founding NomNomNow change her professional work and life views, and Jarrell’s passion for educating people about the power of pet nutrition and portion control has turned the brand into a leading e-comm provider of food-based solutions for dogs and cats. Alex’s daily mission: demonstrate to pet owners the worth of spending a few extra dollars a week on food that can add months or even years to a pet’s life, and quality of life."
MAKE THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS
Make the most valuable connections possible with your bespoke meeting scheduler.
With free access to the MEETING MOJO platform, you can create a bespoke meeting schedule for the summit, ensuring you connect with the industry stakeholders that are most important in building your business.
MEETING MOJO gives you access to the entire attendee list, allowing you to message and invite people to connect during the formal meeting sessions run throughout the day. You will also have additional time during our informal networking sessions.
12 private meetings are available for each guest.
Senior Event Partners
Threadstone
Website: http://www.threadstonelp.com/
Threadstone Advisors is a leading independent advisory and investment firm specializing in the beauty and personal care, apparel, specialty retail and direct-to-consumer sectors. Our philosophy behind the creation of Threadstone Advisors is the belief that the comprehensive knowledge and a values-oriented culture of the senior partners are at the core of our success. We are committed to helping our clients benefit from more than 100 years of combined experience. Having assisted clients ranging from start-ups to global brands through different economic cycles, our perspective is broad. Our industry knowledge, thorough preparation and hard work, allows Threadstone to generate ideas to help companies achieve their strategic and financial goals and objectives.
Threadstone helps entrepreneurs and founders of young, exciting businesses to achieve intermediate financing goals. Our unique perspectives in the beauty sector allow us to better understand the nuances of the businesses we represent. Threadstone approaches each engagement in the same mindset as venture capital – we understand that businesses are looking for more than just money. Through a unique partnership approach, Threadstone develops a deep understanding for the strengths and opportunities of our clients and tailors a go-to-market approach that delivers both the financial and strategic resources that our clients need.
Event Partner
Cascadia Capital
Website: http://www.cascadiacapital.com
Cascadia Capital is an independent investment bank providing middle-market entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses with merger and acquisition advice, capital raising and strategic advisory services. For nearly two decades, the firm has strived to deliver the best outcomes for its clients by leveraging its extensive transaction experience, deep domain expertise and commitment to building long-term relationships. Cascadia is a pure advisory firm and is not conflicted by trading, lending, research or cross-selling business.
True Leaf
Website: https://www.trueleaf.com/
True Leaf is a leading global cannabis and hemp wellness brand for pets. Founded in 2013, True Leaf has two main operating divisions: True Leaf Medicine Inc. and True Leaf Pet Inc.
True Leaf Medicine Inc. was launched in July 2013 to become a licensed producer of federally-approved medicinal cannabis for the Canadian market. The company is in the final stages of approval and will be subject to a Health Canada inspection to allow for the production, manufacture, and distribution of cannabis products upon the completion of its cannabis cultivation facility being built in Lumby, British Columbia. Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2018.
Established in 2015, True Leaf Pet Inc. is one of the first companies to market hemp-based products for pets worldwide. The company is initially marketing a line of hemp-seed based supplements for pets. True Hemp™ chews, dental sticks, and supplement oils are sold in more than 1,800 stores across North America and Europe.
Media Partners
American Pet Professionals
Website: https://www.americanpetprofessionals.com/
American Pet Professionals, (APP), is a multiple award-winning National Business Networking, Educational and MultiMedia Organization for the Pet Industry. Educating, Uniting, Referring, Connecting and Helping all Pet Professionals since February of 2009!
The organization offers in-person networking events nationwide with expert speakers offering their expertise on many different topics to help individuals and businesses grow, work together and unite the pet industry. Hosting over 100 in-person networking and educational events for pet professionals since it’s inception.
In addition to in-person networking events, American Pet Professionals also hosts webinars for our members; Facebook LIVE video series highlighting APP member pet professionals; sends out a weekly Pet Events Newsletter to 16,000+ pet lovers that covers events and works with many rescue groups throughout the region.
The membership-based, professional organization was founded by Nancy E. Hassel, a seasoned public relations professional and television producer who also always worked in the pet industry in one way or another since childhood.
Founder and President of American Pet Professionals, Nancy E. Hassel, also travels across the country Speaking and attending pet business conferences and works with many of the organizers of such conferences to bring more expertise, knowledge, ideas and inspiration to its members.
Visit their website: www.americanpetprofessionals.com
Connect socially: @AmericanPetPros on Twitter and Instagram
Pets+ Magazine
Website: http://petsplusmag.com
PETS+ is a B2B publication for owners of U.S.-based independent consumer-facing pet businesses, such as pet stores, kennels, groomers and pet sitters. These are often family-owned, Main Street businesses that face competition from chains and the Internet. PETS+ provides readers the tools, tips, techniques and actionable advice to strengthen their businesses. In treating subject matter not as a typical trade magazine might, but as a general-interest magazine whose readers’ interest happens to be pet retail, PETS+ helps and engages its readers to stand up to the competition and thrive in their markets.
BirdsEye Advisory Group
Website: http://www.birdseyeadvisory.com
BirdsEye Advisory Group is a boutique investment bank focusing exclusively on the pet industry. Our services include Sell side advisory, Buy side advisory, and Exit planning. Our principals have 45+ combined years of working in the pet industry both as business owners and investment bankers.
Become a Sponsor
Kisaco Research provides the much-needed platform on which industry executives can network, connect and learn from each other as well as meet potential industry partners.
Far from the typical ‘meet-and-greet’ exhibition experience, you – as a sponsor or exhibitor – will be positioned as a partner of the event with a focus on the benefits of your product and brand, rather than just a name on an exhibition list.
With our extensive marketing experience and strategy, your partnership with Kisaco Research will grant you a sponsorship package that is an extension and enhancement of your current marketing and branding efforts. We value your ROI and will work with you directly on your specific goals and targets – that’s why we take special care in finding the most relevant end-users to attend, so that your financial and resource investment is smartly allocated.
Find out more by calling us at +44 (0)20 3696 2920 or email us at [email protected].
The Agenda
Download the agenda for Pets & Money 2019.
What you can expect at the 2019 Pets & Money Summit
- 200+ leaders from pet brands, supporting companies, strategic buyers and financial buyers
- Opportunities to connect with some of the pet industry's most influential executives
- A chance to participate in the Best In Show pet brand spotlight
See what happened at Pets & Money London 2019i
Download Agenda
Venue
Hyatt Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs, Austin, TX 78704, USA
Hyatt Regency Austin,
208 Barton Springs,
Austin,
TX 78704,
USA
Click here to book at the special rate available for attendees. Please note, this rate is only available until Tuesday November 12, 2019.
Conference Packages
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About Kisaco Research
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