SKU Food & Beverage Showcase Pitch Event

Founders of the six brands in the Food & Beverage ‘23 cohort will celebrate the culmination of the program with an in-person event held at Native Hostel from 4:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. CT on May 23.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear the pitches from the impressive founders.In-person attendees can arrive by 4:30 p.m. with the pitches kicking off at 5:00 p.m. for those who want to watch it virtually, it will be lives streamed from 5-6:30 p.m. CT.. The in-person event will be followed by a party with complementary food, drinks and a sampling pavilion from our six founders.

The Showcase event will integrate SKU’s Insider Round. A panel of investor judges will have $1M in “Monopoly Money” to invest in each company. After the pitches, the judges can ask founders detailed questions. At the end, they will announce which companies they would “invest” in and how much.

The SKU ’23 Food & Beverage brands are:

Blue Norther: Blue Norther was founded by a father-son duo (both named Austin Pittman) on their family ranch. Blue Norther offers craft Ranch Water and Hard Seltzer that’s made with real fruit, organic agave, and is ”as refreshing as the Cowboy Cold Front that it was named after.”

delOrigen: Sisters Claudia and Cristina Sanchez Gutierrez de Piñeres craft delicious healthy frozen cheese sticks and empanadas that all are keto, gluten-free, plant-Based, whole grain, without any additives. 

Growth Spurt: Growth Spurt, founded by Kacey Witte, is a full fat goat milk toddler formula that is modeled after breastmilk and naturally easier to digest than the other leading dairy and cow milk formulas. 

Leisure Project: Leisure Project was founded by two brothers and former D1 collegiate athletes Alex and Steve Michaelsen. They observed that no products in the hydration category were made with their mental well-being in mind, so they created Leisure Project.

RoRo’s Baking Co.: RoRo’s Baking Company is a family owned and operated Dallas-based company, specializing in delicious handmade rolls. 

Wunderkeks: Married couple Luis Gramajo and Hans Schrei, built Wunderkeks out of their belief that the foods we share help tell the story of who we are, and that by openly, fearlessly telling these stories, creates the Safe Spaces others may need to tell theirs. They moved from their home country of Guatemala to Austin and their farmer’s market cookie business flourished.