In this follow-up webinar to Natural Product Business School's Raising Capital live workshop, CPG industry expert Elliot Begoun interviews seasoned investors Jeff Batton and Bill Stoddart of HomeSake Venture Partners. Together they discuss raising capital, the nuances of funding and how early-stage CPG brands can set themselves up for success. 

This video is a great resource for anyone who missed the workshop or wants a more in-depth look at how to obtain funding. Founders of CPG brands will understand the current market better, learn from these experts through their stories and benefit from their guidance. This firsthand knowledge can help founders avoid common pitfalls, make informed decisions and optimize their fundraising strategies. Watch now to gain invaluable insights.

Check here to learn more about the next Natural Products Business School x TIG LIVE workshop.

Webinar guest speakers

Jeff Batton is a serial entrepreneur that has been a growth-stage executive for many businesses and investors throughout the region. His experience includes long-term leadership roles with a wide variety of well-known local businesses including Foundant Technologies, PFL, Wisetail, Blackmore Sensors & Analytics, and The Natural Baby Company. He has been directly involved in more than $400 million in transactions for venture-backed and HomeGrown businesses across the Northwest and in billions of dollars of funding for public companies. For the past several years, Jeff has been a key team member at Foundant Technologies, where his work culminated in a paradigm-breaking series of funding events of ~$20mm in 2019-20 that included investments from several of its foundation clients and other mission-aligned investors. He also played a key role for Blackmore Sensors & Analytics, where his work resulted in an oversubscribed Series B funding event of ~$18mm in early 2018 (key investments from BMW and Toyota) that made it the best-funded startup in Montana in decades. He has held leadership roles at Alaska Growth Capital (Alaska Native-owned for-profit CDFI with over $130mm under management), Ecotrust (impact investment pioneer with just under $100mm under management), and MOFI (non-profit CDFI with over $100mm under management). 

Bill Stoddart is also president/founder of NorthFork Financial, a fiduciary planning and advisory firm that integrates wealth and purpose and that manages ~$100mm in client assets. He is a founder of GreenDrinks Bozeman and CeedNET, a nonprofit focused on community investment. He recently completed a 9-month Fellowship with the RSF Capital Institute, where he worked with fellow financial activists from across the country as they designed a variety of initiatives to further social justice and environmental sustainability.  He has served on the Downtown Bozeman Urban Renewal District Board since 2010 and the Bozeman Public Library Foundation, Montana Wilderness School, and Headwaters Economics Boards for the past three years and recently was appointed to the Board of CibusDx, a HomeStake portfolio company. He is also active with numerous national impact investing groups.