# Alex Abelin

> Alex Abelin is the co-founder and CEO of PlantBaby, the Hawaii-based company behind Kiki Milk, a whole-food, organic plant-based milk built for kids. A three-time founder who spent seven years at Google and sold his smart-city startup LQD WiFi to Verizon in 2016, he traded payphone kiosks for pumpkin seeds after he and his wife Lauren couldn't find a clean plant milk for their son. PlantBaby has raised roughly $7M and hit $4.8M in revenue in 2024, selling through its own site plus Sprouts, Wegmans, Erewhon, Amazon and Thrive Market.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at PlantBaby (Kiki Milk)
- **Organizations:** PlantBaby, Kiki Milk, LQD WiFi, LiquidTalent, Google, Verizon
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA/BS, Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley - Haas School of Business
- **Known for:** Three-time founder across food, communications and tech., Sold LQD WiFi to Verizon in 2016., Built Kiki Milk into a brand stocked at Sprouts, Wegmans, Erewhon, Amazon and Thrive Market.

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Graduates from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business; joins Google at 22.
- **2012** — Leaves Google after seven-plus years; backpacks solo through Southeast Asia.
- **2013** — Founds LiquidTalent, a job marketplace for tech talent.
- **2014** — Co-founds LQD WiFi, building connected smart-city kiosks.
- **2016** — LQD WiFi is acquired by Verizon; Abelin joins as Urban Affairs Manager in the Smart Cities division.
- **2020** — Co-founds PlantBaby in Hawaii with wife Lauren; launches flagship Kiki Milk.
- **2024** — PlantBaby reaches $4.8M in revenue across DTC and retail.
- **2025** — Closes a ~$4M seed round led by B2 Partners at a $20M post-money valuation.

## Achievements

- Three-time founder across food, communications and tech.
- Sold LQD WiFi to Verizon in 2016.
- Built Kiki Milk into a brand stocked at Sprouts, Wegmans, Erewhon, Amazon and Thrive Market.
- Grew PlantBaby to $4.8M revenue in 2024.
- Raised roughly $7M total from investors including B2 Partners, Big Idea Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, X Factor Ventures and Babylist.

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Closed a seed round (~$4M, B2 Partners lead) at a $20M post-money valuation to fund retail expansion and new product formats.
- **2024-12** — PlantBaby reported $4.8M in 2024 revenue across DTC and national retail.

## Links

- Website: https://plantbaby.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexabelin
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/plantbabyco
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/PlantBabyCompany

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alex-abelin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25