Originally published for Marin Living Magazine
Carlotta Mast, SVP of Natural Products, at Nutrition Capital Network’s Natural Products Expo East (Photo courtesy of Nutrition Capital Network)
New health and wellness brands seem like a dime a dozen nowadays. Out of the zillions of options, what should you feed your kids? Clean your home with? Drink for a supplement boost? Each brand is vying for and buying your attention. But Nutrition Capital Network knows the real deal. The company works as a community of health and wellness businesses, investors, selection committee members and alumni (companies who have gone through it and know the lay of the land).
“It’s an ecosystem that we help nurture and grow,” says Mike Dovbish, Marin resident and executive director of Nutrition Capital Network. “Our primary purpose is to funnel investors and help companies raise money or gain partnerships — but part of that work is us creating this community.” For health and wellness brand directors who think they’d make it big if only they had the right contact or money in the bank: this community is their golden ticket.
Nutrition Capital Network hosts four events per year — in New York, Europe, Canada and San Francisco — where roughly 20 small companies present their brands to the top investors and mentors in the industry. Think Shark Tank but everyone’s wearing Birkenstocks.
Between these four events, Nutrition Capital Network holds educational events at the two largest conventions in the industry: Natural Products Expo West (Anaheim) and Natural Products Expo East (Philadelphia), both of which are run by New Hope Network, which acquired Nutrition Capital Network a few years back. These events are where the greater community begins. Presenters are selected by a committee of former founders and industry veterans who help coach each company before the big day. After each event, presenters become alumni and the community continues to evolve.
To date, that looks like 903 different presenters, 50 percent of which received funding from investor groups. The Nutrition Capital Network community includes names you know, like like Annie’s, Essentia Water and KeVita. But also some names you may not have heard of (yet) like Super Coffee, Nuritas and nutpods.
The ecosystem doesn’t stop there. Nutrition Capital Network maintains a database of information available to its community members filled with insider knowledge on deal originations, market intelligence and other business development details to provide insight on presenters’ (and the broader industry’s) growth.
Where other similar companies in the industry focus solely on events for businesses to showcase what they offer, Nutrition Capital Network makes the investor community priority number one. That’s how the health and wellness industry flourishes and develops.
“Just by being out there we have helped grow the health and wellness industry to be an interesting and exciting space for investors who are not currently investing in this category,” says Dovbish.
Investors and health and wellness consumers alike should keep an eye on those companies that pop up on Nutrition Capital Network’s website. Those logos may just be occupying space in your pantry soon.