NATION’S FIRST CONSUMER PRODUCT GOODS ACCELERATOR SKU PRESENTS SHOWCASE DAY TUESDAY, MAY 14 FOR SEVENTH TRACK
Tickets now available for SKU 7 track finale; see seven companies in the cohort present their final pitches to investors and Austin community with an evening of networking and celebration

(AUSTIN, TEXAS – May 8, 2019) – Austin-based Consumer Product Goods (CPG) accelerator SKU gears up for their seventh program’s Showcase Day, an event where companies in the cohort will complete their programming by presenting their final pitches to investors and the community, taking place next Tuesday, May 14 from 6-9 p.m. at Native Hostel and Bar & Cafe (807 E. Fourth St. Austin, Texas). Tickets for Showcase Day are $25 each and are available for purchase today. The event will also have an open bar, with catering by Ranch Hand, Alpaca Market and Maggie Louise Confections. For tickets and more information, see here. Attendees will be introduced to the seven companies that have spent the last 12 weeks furthering their businesses in exceptional ways with the help of the SKU mentor network. These companies include Bhoomi Cane Water, Grocery Pup, LAMIK, Pure Active CBD, MODEQ, PickleSmash and YVY. For more information on SKU, please see here.  

“SKU Track 7 has been working hard and we have seen all the great advancements in the companies over the past eight weeks - from name changes to strategy refinement and team building,” said SKU Managing Director Kirstin Ross. “Showcase Day will be their time to shine. These seven companies are some of the strongest to come through our program and represent many consumer product verticals. There will be something for everyone to get excited about.”

Companies in the SKU cohort will be given a cash stipend, as well as exclusive access to additional forms of funding; they have participated in a 12-week program consisting of courses that go over diverse topics important to growing businesses, such as product development, marketing and branding, accounting and finance, and more. The companies also meet with SKU Mentors who advise on and aid the growth of the companies. SKU Mentors for this track include Doreen Lorenzo, Clayton Christopher, Blake Chandlee, Scott Jensen, Leon Chen, Even Loomis and Leo Resig.  
The SKU 7 Cohort consists of the following companies:

Harness Mother Nature's electrolytes with cold-pressed sugar cane juice. Used for thousands of years in ayurvedic medicine, Arpit Bhopalkar and Elora Turner are bringing a modern take to a low-glycemic, plant-based hydrating drink. It's time to Get Bhoomi'd!

Eat Healthier Together, Live Longer Together. Everyone wants man's best friend to live a long, happy, healthy life. Ruth Stedman and Javier Marriott are making it even easier to feed your dog a great diet with human-grade sous-vide dog food options. Vet-crafted, pup-approved!

Love And Makeup In Kindness. Doesn't that feel good to say? Join Kim Roxie in learning about her clean beauty line focused on multicultural representation. Don't miss out on what's been called “the Glossier for women of color.”

Seize the Outdoors. Humans have been gathering around fire since the dawn of time and in 2019, it's time for grill functionality to step it up a notch. Part ways with your clunky grill and let Megan Grigsby, Direct of Marketing, fill you in on the sexy new MODEQ Fire. That's right, a sexy grill.

What do you get when you combine the brine-y goodness of pickles with the spicy kick of salsa? PickleSmash! Brian and Liz White have created an amazing flavor explosion with their inventive pickle salsa. At only 80 calories for an entire jar, this is a must-see, must-taste condiment.

Great products start from great roots. Jon Kelly is a farmer on a mission to provide traceable, superior-quality CBD beverages that taste great. Learn more about getting healthy, not high.

YVY
Ready to change home cleaning as you know it? Most cleaning products are 90% water, wasting precious resources in shipping and creating excess plastic waste. YVY has created concentrated, natural products sold DTC for a convenient “Keurig for cleaning products” experience.
SKU is a Texas-focused, female-led consumer products accelerator that advances innovation and entrepreneurship within the consumer products industry. SKU has built a community of serial entrepreneurs and industry experts to aid in turning emerging CPG businesses into strong brands and scalable companies. Since launching their first track in January 2012, SKU has taken in many local companies that have gone to become widely successful, such as Austin Eastciders, Siete Foods (found in Whole Foods across the nation), Seaweed Bath Co. (found in Target, Whole Foods and Bed Bath and Beyond nationwide), Wildway (sold at grocery stores across the country) and more. SKU also maintains that 96 percent of companies that go through their program are still in business to date. 

”The knowledge and connections that SKU provides to our companies cannot be found at any other accelerator,” said Doreen Lorenzo, SKU Strategic Director. “What SKU provides is uniquely powerful.”

After the intensive molding process, SKU hosts a showcase event to introduce the track companies to potential investors, partners and media. Once companies graduate from the program, SKU receives a small equity stake from each business in exchange for continued guidance towards future success. Companies proceed independently after their time with SKU, but the SKU team and mentors remain available for ongoing guidance as needed.

SKU helps brands with market-validated products that have achieved at least early-stage distribution and revenue. These products may be food, beverage, apparel, jewelry, toys or tools that can sold at brick-and-mortar or online retailers. 

SKU Mentors form the core of each program’s faculty. SKU seeks equity Mentors, who are accredited investors in addition to being successful entrepreneurs, industry executives, subject matter experts. Mentors pay a membership fee to join the SKU equity mentor pool. As a benefit of membership in the community, every SKU equity mentor owns a fractional portion of equity in each company from the track in which they participate. 

SKU Managing Director Kirstin Ross

ABOUT SKU:

SKU was founded in 2011 by lawyer Shari Wynne Ressler and serial entrepreneur Clayton Christopher with the mission of accelerating innovation and entrepreneur success by coalescing CPG communities around the globe. SKU surrounds their startups with an ecosystem of seasoned entrepreneurial mentors, customized educational content, advanced operations support and privileged access to funding, all while preparing these companies to rapidly scale and become breakout successes and household names. For more information, please see www.sku.is.

ABOUT KIRSTIN ROSS:

Kirstin Ross is the Managing Director of SKU, a world-class program that accelerates emerging CPG brands through a thriving community of serial entrepreneurs and industry experts. SKU's 14-week intensive program provides emerging companies with access to industry leaders, key retailers, and the tools necessary to accelerate smarter, faster growth. The program has put through notable companies such as Siete, Austin Eastciders and The Seaweed Bath Company. In her role as Managing Director, Kirstin oversees selection of the six to eight participating companies, curates the 40-person mentor group of leading CPG experts, and manages over 30 advisory mentors that are part of the extensive SKU network. Prior to joining SKU, Kirstin was a broker at Wortham Insurance, which was acquired August 2018 by Marsh. A resident of Tarrytown, Kirstin is an active parent at Good Shepherd Episcopal School and is on the steering committee of Invest to Elect, a women run political group in Austin.

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