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A candid look at the pet industries funding gaps: why early-stage capital is scarce, where investors are placing bets, and how founders are getting creative with capital.

From tapping into angel investors and leveraging crowdfunding platforms to forging creative partnerships, this solutions-oriented session offers founders practical advice for navigating todays funding maze.

Investment Opportunities
Scaling Smarter
Moderator

Author:

Natalie Marks

Chief Executive Officer
VANE

Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.

Natalie Marks

Chief Executive Officer
VANE

Dr. Natalie Marks is a small animal veterinarian with over twenty years of clinical experience. She owned the largest animal hospital in Chicago. More recently, she has been the founder and president of MarksDVMConsulting, an educational and strategy consulting firm working with companies of all stages nationally and internationally. She is also on the Executive Committee of VANE, the premier veterinary angel network investor group. VANE currently has 28 portfolio companies and provides direction, connection, and funding to start-ups in the animal health space.

Author:

Dace Graham

Founder & Managing Partner
1731 MGMT

Dace Graham

Founder & Managing Partner
1731 MGMT

Author:

Gina Del Vecchio

General Partner
Chicago Pacific Partners

Gina Del Vecchio

General Partner
Chicago Pacific Partners

Author:

Rachel Sheppard

Director of Ventures
Mars Petcare

As the Director of Ventures for Mars Petcare, I also co-Lead the Leap Venture Studio program. If you're working on a new pet care startup idea, it would be great to connect!

Talk to me about: pet care startups, innovation, new ideas, and fundraising!

Rachel Sheppard

Director of Ventures
Mars Petcare

As the Director of Ventures for Mars Petcare, I also co-Lead the Leap Venture Studio program. If you're working on a new pet care startup idea, it would be great to connect!

Talk to me about: pet care startups, innovation, new ideas, and fundraising!

A fast-paced, insight-rich look at developing pet health and nutrition products and services, and what this means for the innovators and investors shaping the next decade. Drawing on deep product development, business development, and veterinary expertise, this session examines ways of expediting the creation and commercialization of new products and service to thereby accelerate revenue generation and create stronger market presence with greater product/ service differentiation.

Attendees will gain a clear view of how credible advisory and early-stage planning can accelerate go-to-market timelines, strengthen investment readiness, and help avoid the common pitfalls that slow commercialization. Participants will leave with a sharper understanding of the environment they are working in and the opportunities most likely to define commercial success in 2025 and beyond.

Trends & Industry Overviews
Investment Opportunities
Scaling Smarter

Author:

Dr. Paul Dick

President
Paul Dick & Associates

Dr. Paul Dick

President
Paul Dick & Associates
 

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Producer
Pet Connect

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Producer
Pet Connect

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Producer
Pet Connect
 

Badari Kommandur

Fellow
Cadence

Badari Kommandur

Fellow
Cadence

Badari Kommandur

Fellow
Cadence
 

Laurent Moll

Chief Operating Officer
Arteris

Dr. Laurent Moll most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm where he led a 500-person team creating infrastructure IP for Qualcomm’s chips, including NoC interconnects, memory subsystems, cache coherency subsystems and more. Laurent has led a storied career for over two decades, performing key technical roles at industry leaders such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation, SiByte, Broadcom, Montalvo Systems and NVIDIA.

Laurent Moll

Chief Operating Officer
Arteris

Laurent Moll

Chief Operating Officer
Arteris

Dr. Laurent Moll most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm where he led a 500-person team creating infrastructure IP for Qualcomm’s chips, including NoC interconnects, memory subsystems, cache coherency subsystems and more. Laurent has led a storied career for over two decades, performing key technical roles at industry leaders such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation, SiByte, Broadcom, Montalvo Systems and NVIDIA. Prior to his nearly 8-year tenure at Qualcomm, he was the Chief Technology Officer at Arteris Inc, a predecessor company of Arteris. Throughout his career, he has played an influential role in inventing the system-on-chip architectures, IP subsystems, and methodologies that are today the foundation of modern semiconductor design. Laurent earned his PhD in Computer Science at École Polytechnique and holds over 60 patents on various aspects of SoC technology.

 

Steve Garlock

Partner
Thompson Coburn

Steve Garlock

Partner
Thompson Coburn

Steve Garlock

Partner
Thompson Coburn
 

Shawn Pate

Head of US Pet
TikTok Shop

Shawn Pate

Head of US Pet
TikTok Shop

Shawn Pate

Head of US Pet
TikTok Shop
 

Nadja Skale

Angel Investor
VANE

Nadja Skale

Angel Investor
VANE

Nadja Skale

Angel Investor
VANE