Determining how to finance your growth is one of the most important and most complex decisions for a founder. In this session, we share an overview of the types of capital used to fund food businesses such as debt and equity, non-traditional financing, and self-funded “bootstrapping”, as well as hear from investors and founders on how they navigated this key step on the growth trajectory.
Speakers:
- Lauren Abda, Founder at Branchfood and Co-Founder at Branch Venture Group
- Marcia Hooper, Co-Founder at Branch Venture Group
- Michael Hallock, Chief Executive Officer at RI Mushroom Co.
- Betsy Leatherbee, Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase
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Lauren Abda is the Founder and CEO of Branchfood, the largest community of food entrepreneurs and startups in New England, and Co-founder at Branch Venture Group, an angel network for investment in early-stage food startups. Prior to Branchfood, Lauren consulted for foodtech businesses in Boston and San Francisco, worked as an analyst for Salt Venture Partners LLC, a venture capital firm, focused on food startups, targeting content, commerce, and technology, and wrote reports on international food safety development initiatives on behalf of the Agriculture and Commodities division at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She has a Masters in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Vermont.
Marcia Hooper currently serves as a Partner of Branch Venture Group, LLC, an angel investing group focused on food startups, targeting food products, food technology, business services for food-related companies, ag-tech, and sustainability. She has over 35 years of venture investing experience having been a partner at Advent International and Ampersand Ventures. She also serves as a Senior Advisor to Bowside Capital, a private equity firm focusing in the small capitalization market. Marcia has served as a Director of over 30 private and publicly listed companies and began her career at IBM in marketing. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and mathematics from Brown University. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in chemistry from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
Michael Hallock is the CEO and co-founder of the Rhode Island Mushroom Co., LLC, the largest grower and purveyor of exotic mushrooms in the northeast. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he moved with his family to Wisconsin at the age of fourteen and attended Marquette University High School in Milwaukee. While there, he demonstrated a talent for both science and music. After graduating, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in Performance and Business before moving to New York City to accept an internship in the publicity department at Columbia Records in 2004. He proved himself quickly at Columbia, and within just two years was overseeing the International Tour Marketing department. He handled finances and interfaced closely with Sony’s international business affiliates in over 20 countries. Hallock views music, mycology, and business as complementary disciplines; he moves easily between them, infusing elements of each into his multifaceted professional life. “It’s about creating relationships with partners – growers, sellers, restaurants, and the public – and bringing them together in mutually beneficial way. I’m not afraid to lead, and I know how to create those key partnerships and move them forward to reach a common goal.”
Betsy Leatherbee is a relationship executive within J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking, providing financial solutions to early- and mid-stage high growth companies throughout New England. Betsy’s 21 years of banking and financial services experience have been with J.P. Morgan and its predecessor organizations. A significant portion of Betsy’s career has been dedicated to new business development, particularly facilitating the growth of portfolios in an out-of-footprint market. Prior to her current role, Betsy served as a founding member of the Middle Market Banking platform in New England and, before that, as Vice President with J.P. Morgan’s New England Corporate Client Banking team. In this capacity, she was responsible for the coverage of companies with revenues between $500 million and $3 billion. Betsy began her career as a relationship manager with Chase Business Credit, covering clients in the textile and apparel industry in New York City before moving to Boston in 2005. Betsy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University. She resides in Hingham, Massachusetts, with her husband and four children.
