Sean O'Sullivan
Sean O’Sullivan is managing partner of SOSV, the world-leading “Accelerator VC”. SOSV invests $50 million per year and backs more than 150 new startups annually through its accelerators. Recognized in 2017 as the world’s #1 most active global early stage investor and the #2 most active global seed investor*, SOSV is also the #1 most active investor in hardware and life sciences, helping startups get further and go faster.
* Crunchbase: "Global Innovation Investment Report - 2016 Year in Review"
Richard Cleland
Mr. Cleland joined the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Advertising Practices in 1991. In 1996, Mr. Cleland was appointed Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection and, in 1998, he was appointed Assistant Director of the Division of Service Industry Practices.
He currently serves as Assistant Director of the Division of Advertising Practices. His primary area of expertise is the advertising and marketing of health-related products and services. He also supervises many of the Commission’s health fraud and weight-loss product and service law enforcement initiatives.
Mr. Cleland supervised the FTC’s review of the Endorsement and Testimonial Guides and the revision of the FTC’s guidance on making effective disclosures on the Internet and other digital platforms (.com Disclosures). Recent projects have included social media marketing and native advertising.
Rend Al-Mondhiry
Rend Al-Mondhiry advises the dietary supplement, food, cosmetic, and over-the-counter medicine industries on a broad range of regulatory and compliance matters. She is committed to helping companies responsibly develop and market products, drawing on her years of experience advising the nation’s leading dietary supplement and food companies on complex ingredient and labeling issues.
Rend’s practice focuses on reviewing product labeling, ingredients, and advertising to determine compliance with federal and state regulations, and assisting companies in matters before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and National Adverting Division (NAD). She also advises clients on compliance with California’s Proposition 65, U.S. Customs issues, class action defense strategies, and FDA matters including Warning Letters, recalls, detentions, seizures, and import alerts.
Noah Voreadas
Nalin Siriwardhana
Mike Rogers
Michael Bush
Mike has more than 25 years of experience leading venture-backed businesses in the natural products, healthcare and bioinformatics industries. As president and CEO of probiotic innovator Ganeden, Michael grew the market of the company’s patented ingredient to over 65 countries and more than 1,000 SKUS, culminating with the 2017 merger with Kerry, Inc. Additionally, he founded a national business growth consultancy firm, co-founded a national biomedical services firm and led acquisitions and merger activities for a global medical services company.
Len Monheit
A recognized industry analyst and thought leader, Len Monheit has over 20 years experience in the natural products and dietary supplement industry, with over 15 years background in digital media. Monheit has participated in dozens of speaking engagements across four continents, talking about best business practices, industry trends across the health and wellness industries, and success factors for international business development.
With a background in Biopharma and biotechnology, and as General Manager of a contract research and analytical lab, Monheit, in 1999, co-founded NPIcenter, which grew over the subsequent 8 years, to be the largest online media enterprise in the North American Natural Products industry. Selling that to Penton Media’s New Hope Natural Media in 2006, Monheit joined Penton/New Hope as digital media director, ingredient portfolio manager, market leader and ultimately Executive Director of Strategic Business Development.
Taking on the role of General Manager, US, with UK-based William Reed Business Media, Monheit, over three years, introduced two new annual conferences to the US (Food Vision and Probiota) and was responsible for a tradeshow launch (The Healthy & Natural Show) in Chicago in May of 2016. Monheit had responsibility for all of William Reed’s activities in the Americas, including FoodNavigator-USA, NutraIngredients-USA, as well as Pharma and Cosmetics publications, in addition to international partnerships and growth projects.
Kevin Honaker
Kevin Honaker is co-founder and CEO of BiomeSense, an early stage life sciences startup developing a novel biosensor that enables continuous gut microbiome tracking in the home. Kevin has worked in health care for the past 7 years and is passionate about identifying, developing and commercializing new technologies that can improve health. Prior to joining BiomeSense, he led operations for PrescriptIQ, a pharmacogenomics startup, primarily responsible for strategic planning, finance, and product development. Kevin earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
