Innovation in consumer products and retail is booming, but only a handful of people across the industry know the names of those who are helping to catalyze it. In tech, we all know this is a different story. Those at the top of the food chain are nearly mini celebrities, because the media frequently celebrates them, including the Midas list. Overall, there’s a spotlight on tech. A top VC may own your local basketball team, or hotly funded CEO maybe have close to a million Twitter followers.
But who are the top consumer industry VCs, CEOs, influencers, and dealmakers of the 2016?
We at CircleUp are big fans of celebrating and accelerating innovation, shining the light on the consumer industry specifically, illuminating those who improve what we eat, drink, wear, put on our skin and, well, consume. Today, the consumer world is changing, dramatically. More than $18 billion in market share shifted from big CPG brands to smaller ones in 2011-2015. There is transformation happening in consumer products and retail companies, and there’s a clear group of leaders catalyzing it.
To produce this list, our team gleaned insights from the thousands of deals we evaluated this year, as well as the deals done across the industry, then polled the hundreds of entrepreneurs who have raised capital on CircleUp. Without further ado, here are the 2016 winners of the Consumer Catalyst Awards, in alphabetical order.
To say Greg Fleishman is a heavy hitter in CPG marketing would be an understatement. He first cut his teeth in the industry as a lead executive at Kashi (acquired by Kellogg), then became CMO/General Manager/Head of Strategy of Coca-Cola, Sambazon, and Suja Juice. Today, he serves as co-founder & CEO of Foodstirs Junk-Free Bakery, and continues to be a sought-after advisor, with current partners including Chameleon Cold-Brew, REBBL, Hail Merry and others.
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