Crstl is a San Francisco-based, AI-native EDI and agentic B2B commerce network that connects brands, retailers, and logistics providers from order to payment. Its platform replaces the legacy, error-prone world of electronic data interchange with no-code integrations and an always-on AI agent named Edison that processes purchase orders, generates ASNs and invoices, and keeps merchants compliant with big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods - so direct-to-consumer brands can scale into wholesale, marketplaces, and omnichannel retail without an EDI team.
Tundra was an online B2B wholesale marketplace that connected independent retailers with brands across the U.S. and Canada on a zero-commission model. Founded in 2017 by Arnold and Katie Engel, it pitched itself as the friction-free alternative to trade shows and middleman markups, letting buyers source millions of products at true wholesale prices with low minimums, free shipping, and net terms. After raising roughly $38M from investors including Emergence Capital and Redpoint, Tundra grew to a community of 30,000+ retailers before winding down its marketplace in 2023 amid intense competition from Faire.
Faire is an online wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with the makers and brands that supply them. It replaces the trade-show-and-cold-email model of buying inventory with a personalized, machine-learning-driven storefront, layering on retailer-friendly financing - net 60 payment terms and free returns on first orders - so that mom-and-pop shops can stock their shelves the way big-box chains do, without the cash-flow risk.
Bob McCollum is the long-serving CEO and driving force behind R.S. Hughes Co., Inc., an employee-owned industrial distributor headquartered in Sunnyvale, California that has grown into a $527 million enterprise spanning North America. A University of Michigan alumnus and former college quarterback, McCollum spent decades building RS Hughes into one of North America's top 50 industrial distributors, known for its culture of integrity and genuine care for employees. He has been recognized for significant philanthropic contributions to the University of Michigan athletics program, endowing the quarterbacks coaching position with a $2 million gift in 2022.
Max Rhodes is co-founder and CEO of Faire, the online wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with makers and brands. A Square alumnus from Oklahoma who studied history at Yale, he turned a side hustle importing British umbrellas into a thesis about the messy economics of small-town retail - and built a company that crossed a $12B valuation while courting the very shopkeepers Amazon ignores.
FLOWER CO. is a California members-only cannabis delivery club that sells lab-tested weed, prerolls, edibles, and concentrates at wholesale prices, shipped next-day from Humboldt to San Diego.
Chad Powell is the CEO of FLOWER CO. (Flower Company Cannabis), a members-only cannabis delivery service operating in California. He co-founded BloomThat, a Y Combinator-backed same-day flower delivery startup that was acquired by FTD Companies in 2018. After honing his product and growth chops at startups like Nebia and Boosted, Powell joined FLOWER CO. as Head of Growth, rose to VP of Product Development, and eventually became CEO. Under his leadership, FLOWER CO. has scaled to $53.4M in annual revenue with a lean team, offering 40-50% discounts vs. traditional dispensaries through a Costco-style membership model sourcing directly from California cannabis farms.
Melissa Kim is the Co-Founder and CEO of Minted, the San Francisco-based design marketplace that connects consumers with independent artists for premium stationery, art, and home decor. Hired in 2007 as Director of Finance and Strategy straight out of Stanford Business School, she was later named co-founder by Mariam Naficy in recognition of her foundational role in building the company. Under her leadership as CEO, Minted surpassed $300 million in revenue in 2026, with double-digit year-over-year growth, a wholesale business that grew 31% in 2025, and profitability that doubled - all fueled by a sharp premium-market focus and an owned-channel marketing strategy built on the virality of physical design.
Sherwin Xia is the co-founder and CEO of Trendsi, a San Francisco-based e-commerce supply chain infrastructure company that raised $30M total including a $25M Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Before Trendsi, he was one of the first employees at Lime and an analyst at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). A Stanford postgraduate, Xia co-founded Trendsi in late 2020 after spotting an opportunity to bring Asian S2B2C supply chain models to Western markets, targeting a demographic of small boutique sellers and stay-at-home moms building online fashion businesses. Trendsi's platform automates inventory forecasting, dropshipping, and custom branding for thousands of independent sellers.