Should You Apply for Startup CPG's Founders & Funders?
In this bonus solo episode, host Daniel Scharff breaks down everything founders need to know about Founders & Funders, Startup CPG's flagship fundraising event happening December 10th in New York City, to help you decide whether you should apply.
Daniel explains why he built the event: after hearing founders describe spending up to 50% of their time on fundraising, he wanted to create a highly efficient, application-based summit that brings together the top 100 VCs in emerging CPG with the community's strongest brands for a single, high-impact day. Unlike the free, ticketed regional roadshows Startup CPG runs throughout the year, the December event is capped, competitive, and application-based, designed around fast, curated one-on-one meetings rather than open networking alone.
Daniel walks through exactly how the day works, from the one-pager application brands submit ahead of time (which VCs review to select the meetings they want) to what a typical five-to-ten-minute investor conversation actually looks like. He also shares who's already confirmed to attend, from major retailers to dozens of top consumer VC firms, and offers honest, practical advice on applying, including how early you should apply and what actually matters in your application video.
Listen in as he covers:
- Why Daniel created Founders & Funders after hearing founders describe spending half their time on fundraising
- The difference between Startup CPG's free, ticketed roadshows and the application-based December summit
- How the one-pager application works, and why VCs use it to pre-select which brands they want to meet
- What a typical one-on-one meeting at the event actually looks like, and how long they really last
- Why Daniel believes even brands not actively fundraising yet should consider applying for 2027
- The retailers and VCs already confirmed to attend this year's event, including 7-Eleven Ventures, Albertsons, Walmart, and dozens of leading consumer VC firms
- How the rolling, batch-based application review process works, and why applying early matters
- What to actually include in your application video, and why it doesn't need to be polished
- Why building relationships with investors early, even before you're ready to raise, pays off later
- How the roadshows can be a great alternative or complement for brands who aren't accepted to the December event
Episodes mentioned in this episode:
- Inside Founders & Funders with Alex Michaelsen from Leisure Hydration and Alex Malamatinas from Melitas
- Founder + Funder: Alex Michaelsen, Founder of Leisure Hydration and Ryan Springer, Midnight Venture Partners
Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.
Show Links:
- Transcripts of each episode are available on the Transistor platform that hosts our podcast here (click on the episode and toggle to "Transcript" at the top)
- Join the Startup CPG Slack community (40K+ members and growing!)
- Follow @startupcpg
- Visit host Daniel's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscharff/
- Questions or comments about the episode? Email podcast@startupcpg.com
- Episode music by Super Fantastics
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