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Nail your pitch, protect your ideas, and win investor confidence.

This session breaks down what today’s investors want to see—from deck structure to storytelling flow—so you can command attention, communicate traction, and raise capital with clarity and conviction.

Pitching

We’re flipping the script…. again! After 2024’s sold out success it’s the return of the reverse pitch!

40+ investors, each with a dynamic two-minute pitch detailing their investment criteria, category preferences, stage of interest and what they look for in potential partners.

Following this reverse pitch the meeting scheduler will open to pre-book the afternoons 1-2-1 meetings.

Taking the guess work out of meetings so you can connect smarter and faster. Get ready, get comfortable and let the pitching begin!

Funding

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.

Funding
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.

A practical crash course on where the pet industry is headed — and how to play it, tailored for start-ups and investors ready to win.

Cut through the noise with key trends, quirks, risks, and opportunities shaping success in 2030 and ensure understanding of the environment you’re scaling in.

 

The essential guide for building or backing tomorrow’s pet businesses.

Trends
Investment & Scaling

Author:

Candise Goodwin

Founder
Outlier Advisors

Candise Goodwin

Founder
Outlier Advisors

Author:

Bruce Truman

President and Founder
BLT Technology & Innovation Group

Bruce Truman

President and Founder
BLT Technology & Innovation Group
 

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Director
Pet Connect

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Director
Pet Connect

Poppy Howard-Wall

Event Director
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.