2.45-3.00 – Meeting 10
3.05-3.20 – Meeting 11
3.25-3.40 – Meeting 12
Networking Opportunities
Three disruptors share what they’re changing—across care delivery, commerce, and connection—and why now is the time. From bold pivots to new models, discover how they’re unlocking growth, challenging legacy thinking, and reshaping the pet industry from the inside out.
Exposure Opportunities
Scaling Smarter
Engaging Pet Parents
Investment Opportunities
Interviewer
Chloe DiVita
Director of Growth
Pet Sustainability Coalition
Ryan Leech
Growth Consultant and Host
First 100 and The Bird Bath
Brandy Kuentzel
Co-Founder & CEO
Ease Pet Vet
Brandy Kuentzel is the CEO and co-founder of Ease Pet Vet, the company making expert veterinary behavior care accessible to all pets. Prior to starting Ease, Brandy led legal strategy and advocacy efforts for one of the nation’s most influential animal welfare organizations, the San Francisco SPCA, for more than a decade. As General Counsel, she oversaw numerous groundbreaking legislative victories including shutting down California’s last gas chamber for shelter pets, challenging restrictive laws on veterinary telemedicine, and establishing the nation’s first legal aid organization dedicated to shelter animals. Brandy saw firsthand that behavior was the silent crisis behind so many heartbreaking outcomes for pets, and founded Ease as the first online solution to bring specialty behavior care into the mainstream. An accomplished entrepreneur and corporate attorney, Brandy was the season winner of NBC’s The Apprentice, and previously founded and sold her own venture in the food industry. She earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and holds a BA from UCLA, and enjoys time with her family of two cats, two children and husband in the Bay Area when not building Ease.
Jason Meltzer
Founder & CEO
Live Work Pet
Jason Meltzer is a pet care entrepreneur with a track record of building category-defining brands. He is the founder of Live Work Pet, a new real estate platform that combines premium rental housing with integrated pet care and curated lifestyle amenities designed for modern pet parents. The company is launching its first community in Denver with plans to scale nationally.
Previously, Jason co-founded Wag, where he served as CEO & Chief Dog Officer and helped grow the company into one of the most recognized pet tech startups in the country. He led market expansion, product launches, sales operations, investor relations, and brand storytelling during the company’s early growth.
Jason brings over ten years of experience at the intersection of pet wellness, technology, and consumer real estate. His work is focused on building scalable solutions that improve quality of life for pets and their people while unlocking long-term enterprise value.
Mathe Young Mosny
CEO
Kismet
Unleashing Profit Potential
Trends & Industry Overviews
Charles Rosenblatt
Chief Commercial Officer
Butter Payments
A seasoned innovator in the payments industry, Charles Rosenblatt has held executive leadership positions at major global banks, including Capital One and Chase, as well as prominent fintech organizations. He served on the management teams that led to the sale of Hyperwallet to PayPal and Payoneer going public, and is now Chief Commercial Officer at Butter—the payments technology leader in revenue retention for subscription businesses. Charles is a graduate with a B.A. in Economics and Politics from Pomona College and received an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia.
12.50-1.05 – Meeting Slot 9
1.10-1.35 – Meeting Slot 10
1.40-2.00 – Meeting Slot 11
Networking Opportunities
9 Finalists
7 minutes presenting
Investment Opportunities
Exposure Opportunities
Stephen Albert Johnston
CEO
Calviri
John Hussey
CEO & Founder
Cuddly
Maurice Ferre
Co-Founder
Lumiinus
Erin Dawicki
CEO
LymeAlert
Andrew Green
Founder & CEO
Nanos Vet
Heather Moore
CEO & Founder
Pet Centric Health
Margaret Adelman
VP Business Development
PetPace
Jamie Paris
Founder & CEO
Pronova
Kat Dupré
Co-Founder/Director of Marketing, Insights & Analytics
Watchdog Nutrition
Pet Connects Best in Show Alumni join us back on the main stage to showcase how far they've come and provide insight for this year's finalists.
Scaling Smarter
Asia is home to some of the fastest-growing, most digitally advanced pet economies in the world. For U.S. pet brands eyeing global growth, the opportunity is enormous.
We unpack how success demands a hyper-local strategy, what it takes to win in markets like China, Japan and South Korea, from regulatory navigation and platform preference to pricing nuance and cultural fit.
Learn how to localize, partner smartly, and build lasting traction in the region.
Trends & Industry Overviews
Engaging Pet Parents
Unleashing Profit Potential
Investment Opportunities
Moderator
Bruce Truman
President and Founder
BLT Technology & Innovation Group
Dr. Henry Yoo
Executive Consultant
Infinity Medical Consulting & Co.
Nicole Lin
Country Manager USA
Alibaba
Steve Lin
BU General Manager
Qingmu Tec
- General Manger (Pet segment representing Hills and Nutramax as China exclusive distributor)
- Solid Gold pet food - General Manger (China) - Grow Solid Gold China business into #1 US pet food brand in China during service.
- Petco - Country Manager (China)
Raymond Chi
Founder & CEO
inPetra Technology Co