Material is a New York-based direct-to-consumer kitchenware company building beautifully designed, non-toxic, and sustainably made cooking essentials that are meant to last a lifetime. Founded in 2017 by Eunice Byun and Dave Nguyen, the brand pairs minimalist design with thoughtful materials - Japanese steel knives, copper-core pans, and the reBoard cutting board made from recycled plastic scraps and sugarcane - to make everyday cooking simpler and more pleasurable.
Matt Eanes is the VP and General Manager of Consumer Goods at Adobe, based in the Greater Philadelphia area. A seasoned enterprise software sales leader with over 20 years of experience, he has spent the past decade at Adobe climbing from account executive to leading the consumer goods vertical. Before Adobe, he held senior account roles at Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, and HP, building deep expertise in complex enterprise software deals across multiple industries.
Eric Hunter is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of World Market (Cost Plus World Market), the specialty retail chain known for globally sourced furniture, home decor, artisanal foods, and international gifts. Based in Alameda, California, Hunter joined World Market in May 2021 as Chief Commercial Officer, was elevated to President in June 2022, and became CEO in July 2023. He brings deep retail marketing expertise from executive roles at Pier 1 Imports, JCPenney, Kellwood Company, and Ascena Retail Group's plus-size division (Lane Bryant, Cacique, Catherines). Under his leadership, World Market has pursued digital transformation, flexible payment solutions, and continued its mission of delivering unique, globally inspired products across nearly 250 stores and online.
Jennifer McAllister-Nevins is the CEO and Co-Founder of Savor, a New York-based brand that turns keepsakes and important documents into beautifully designed, display-worthy storage. A former ACLU attorney and Legal Aid Society lawyer who pivoted from legal advocacy to product entrepreneurship, she co-founded Savor in 2014 with Karla the Losen after meeting at their children's school. Under her leadership, Savor grew revenue tenfold in five years, landed on the Inc 5000 at #3206, went viral on TikTok Shop landing in the top 10%, and earned placements at Anthropologie, Pottery Barn Kids, and Nordstrom. Her flagship products - including The Library, The Folio, and the 'In Case I Go Missing' binder - have been featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, CNN, HGTV, Oprah Daily, Vogue, and The New York Times.
Michael J. Pengue is the Chief Executive Officer of Hint Inc., the San Francisco-based maker of unsweetened fruit-infused water that pioneered the better-for-you flavored water category. With more than 30 years in the beverage industry, Pengue has led multibillion-dollar businesses at Nestlé Waters North America, helped orchestrate the $1.65 billion sale of Bai Brands to Dr Pepper Snapple, and built ZOA Energy into the fastest-growing energy drink in the US before its acquisition by Molson Coors. Appointed CEO of Hint in November 2024, he is leading a comprehensive 2026 brand relaunch designed to reframe hydration as desire rather than discipline.
Nico S. Enea is a co-founder, board member, and distribution lead at NUG, Inc., a state-licensed, vertically-integrated California cannabis company he helped build from the ground up starting in 2014. Operating out of Alameda and Oakland, NUG has grown into one of California's most recognized cannabis brands, represented in over 80% of the state's dispensaries, with $28M+ in annual revenue, 150 employees, and a $15M Series A round under its belt. Enea also serves as Founder and CFO of Bloom Innovations Holdings LLC, a cannabis holding company managing diverse assets including property, IP, patents, and securities.
Worldly is a sustainability and supply chain intelligence platform that helps brands, retailers and manufacturers measure the environmental and social impact of their products and supplier networks. The exclusive licensee of the Higg Index, Worldly aggregates primary data from more than 40,000 facilities and is used by hundreds of consumer goods companies to meet regulatory disclosure requirements and cut emissions.
Michael Boese is the CEO of Specright, the first cloud-based Specification Data Management platform, appointed in April 2025. A seasoned enterprise software executive with 25+ years across Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, Taleo, and multiple startup CEO roles, Boese brings a track record of scaling B2B SaaS companies through operational discipline and product innovation. Under his leadership, Specright is accelerating its mission to digitize product specifications across global supply chains, with $42M in total funding, $22.4M ARR, and ambitions to infuse AI across its platform to help manufacturers, retailers, and brands make better, more sustainable products.
Dan Hoskins is the President & CEO of Sundia Corporation and its parent entity GT Brands, a plant-based snacking company headquartered in Orinda, California. A veteran of the food and beverage industry with 25+ years of experience, Hoskins helped turn Sundia from a fresh watermelon branding startup into one of the fastest-growing plant-based snacking brands in the US, distributing preservative-free True Fruit refrigerated cups and True Chia products to more than 6,000 grocery and convenience stores across the US and Canada. Before Sundia, he built his chops scaling Odwalla's national distribution and managing e-commerce at Hello Direct. An English Lit grad and former varsity swimmer and rower at UC Berkeley, Hoskins brings a rare blend of operational discipline and consumer intuition to a category he has helped define.
Nathaniel Chu is the co-CEO and co-founder of Tezza Foods (now Plonts), an Oakland-based food company using ancient fermentation techniques and microbial science to make genuinely complex, stinky plant-based cheese from soy milk. Holding a PhD in microbiology from MIT and a BS from Brown University, Chu spent years studying gut microbiomes before pivoting to harness those same microbial principles in food. With $12M in seed funding led by Lowercarbon Capital, Plonts launched in August 2024 in New York City and San Francisco restaurants, offering a plant-based cheddar that actually ages, melts, and smells like the real thing.