Bénédicte King is a runner, storyteller, and entrepreneur who has lived many lives. From working at the World Bank and the UN to becoming a yoga instructor, model, and now embarking on a new chapter as her own boss, Bénédicte thrives on bold pivots. Trained in international development and diplomacy, she has lived in over eight countries, speaks five languages, and spent six years as a communications strategist in global organizations.In 2022, after experiencing severe burnout, she took a sabbatical and turned to running as a form of healing. What began as a coping mechanism quickly became a passion—and within three years, she completed three marathons and six half marathons. Along the way, she began sharing her journey online, building a global community of over 35,000 and partnering with leading sports brands.For Bénédicte, running is more than a sport—it’s a medium for learning and storytelling. Through curated video edits and soulful voice overs, she explores universal lessons about resilience, failure, consistency, and self-trust, showing how these principles apply to all areas of life. Now diving into entrepreneurship, Bénédicte is passionate about proving that life’s messy, unplanned pivots can lead to alignment, creativity, and meaning far beyond what we initially imagine. Her mission is to inspire others to carve their own path, even when there’s no roadmap.

Heather Chan is the co-founder and CEO of Moonbow, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) inspired skincare brand on a mission to harmonize skin and spirit. Raised in Hong Kong, Heather grew up immersed in Asia’s rich beauty traditions, where skincare was a daily ritual shaped by TCM principles. With a strong foundation in operations, Heather spent seven years in private equity before launching Moonbow in 2024. Her private equity career specialized in mid-market buyouts and institutional fundraising, giving her deep expertise in market analysis, brand development, and strategic growth. Known for her entrepreneurial drive, Heather also championed startups across fashion, wellness, and CPG, gaining hands-on experience in scaling emerging brands. After moving to the U.S. for school and encountering gut health challenges, she sought solutions that reconnected her to her roots in TCM. Today, alongside her twin sister, Dr. Felice Chan, a Chinese medicine doctor, Heather is on a mission to share TCM’s wellness benefits with the Western skincare market, blending cultural heritage with a modern, innovative approach to beauty.

Selina is the cofounder of ⁠gymii.ai⁠, an AI-powered nutrition app that makes tracking effortless and fun. With just a photo, gymii breaks down the nutritional content of any meal, while transforming the experience through a social feed, fun facts, and gamified features that make nutrition tracking feel more like a game than a chore.Since its launch in March, gymii has rapidly gained traction, with over a thousand early users and 9 professional athletes, including 3 Olympians, joining as brand ambassadors. Before founding gymii, Selina worked as a quant researcher at JPMorgan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics with minors in Statistics and Data Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and recently completed her master’s in Computer Science at Cornell Tech. A lifelong competitive golfer, Selina represented the Hong Kong National Team for many years and co-captained the women’s golf team at UPenn. Her passion for building gymii stems from her own struggles with nutrition tracking as an athlete, a process she found tedious and outdated. Last month, Selina and her team won the Cornell Tech Startup Awards, securing their initial pre-seed funding and momentum to continue growing.

Sophia Cheng is the founder and CEO of Oddball. Currently based in New York, she grew up in Singapore and Hong Kong, where she was used to eating local and fresh fruits all the time. When she got to the US, she noticed the issues plaguing today’s snack industry. Before founding Oddball, she joined Bridgewater Associates, working for Ray Dalio at the Dalio Family Office & Dalio Foundation, and was the youngest ever director at Estee Lauder as part of the CEO's strategic initiatives team.

Delia Hughes is the co-founder of Tazzy, a women-owned sweets company crafting indulgent, bite-sized cookies made with ingredients the founders love—conveniently packaged in pre-portioned sizes. Tazzy launched five years ago in the hard candy category and pivoted to baked goods in the past year. Before founding Tazzy, Delia built a diverse career in the food industry—working on yogurt innovation at Danone, driving business development in specialty cheese importing, and working as a cheese buyer for Sam's Club. She holds both an MBA and a Bachelor's in Food Science from Cornell University, where she continues to mentor students in the school’s entrepreneurship programs.

Imane is the founder of Kise — a clean, contemporary hot sauce made with premium African superfoods and bold flavors crafted to spark joy and excitement into any meal. Frustrated by the lack of nutritious, clean, (truly) flavorful, versatile, and culturally representative options on grocery shelves, she set out to change the narrative — bringing African heritage into every meal. As an ex-MBB consultant and tech exec, marathon runner, and wellness advocate who’s lived in 7 countries and speaks 4 languages, she leverages her multicultural background and holistic approach to disrupt the condiment aisle with products that nourish, excite, and empower. Through a direct farm-to-table model with West African smallholder farmers, she’s making climate-resilient foods more accessible, supporting food security and sustainability.With Kise, Imane is on a mission to make African superfoods a global staple — helping people flourish through food that’s good for you, tastes incredible, and makes you feel seen.

Ilay Karateke is the co-founder and CEO of BEZI—that makes labneh, a Mediterranean dairy dip, in plain, everything, and red pepper flavors. BEZI launched in September 2024, retail first—starting with local favorite grocery stores in NYC.. BEZI dreams of making labneh a thing here in the US.She is an Istanbul-raised, New York-based, ex-McKinsey consultant turned labneh lady. She grew up in a large family, with their lives punctuated by big family-style meals shared with friends and neighbors. Labneh was ever-present in her upbringing, alongside homemade breads and seasonal produce.Once she moved to New York, Ilay longed for a taste of home and was inspired to introduce labneh she grew up with to not just friends and family but to the US grocery stores in her Turkish New Yorker way. She partnered with Hasan, her friend and the heir to Bahçıvan Dairy, her childhood favorite cheese company. So they took it upon themselves to bring BEZI—the labneh that labnehs better than any other labneh out there… familiarized enough for the American consumer, everything and red pepper flavored, rich in protein, and low in tang.Within 8 months of operations, BEZI currently sells all around NYC, recently expanded to SF and LA, and growing!

Maddie recently took the leap to launch Steer, the first affiliate marketing platform built specifically for consumer services—think ShopMy or LTK, but for experiences like fitness studios, wellness services, hospitality, and live events. Through Steer, creators can share their favorite experiences with followers, while brands can easily track performance, offer perks, and pay commissions—making it seamless for both sides to collaborate and drive sales.While this is Maddie’s first time as a founder, she’s no stranger to the world of startups and business building. She was one of the earliest employees at Bumble while still in college, and later worked in investment banking and private equity. Maddie holds a Bachelor’s in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.With Steer, she’s merging her experience in brand building, deal-making, and growth strategy to empower creators and experiential brands alike—and she’s just getting started.

Veronica Panzardi is the founder of edggies, a veggie brand making it radically easier to eat your vegetables with USDA organic kale sprinkles. After 4.5 years in investment banking, Veronica launched edggies veggies to support busy professionals—especially women like herself—who want to eat better without overhauling their routines. With a background in corporate hustle and a passion for food systems, she’s on a mission to fight food waste and make nutrition feel effortless.

Aurelia (Ray) Biebuyck is the founder of Hurray, a Los Angeles-based beverage company known for its flagship product, Girl Beer—a playful brand challenging traditional gender norms in the beer industry. Launched in 2024, Girl Beer has quickly gained traction across Southern California, securing distribution in Whole Foods and BevMo stores. Before founding Hurray, Biebuyck served as Director of Operations at Shacksbury (2020–2022), was an Associate in Strategy at WeWork (2018–2020), and began her career as an Investment Banking Analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (2017–2018). A graduate of NYU's Stern School of Business, she leveraged her extensive experience in operations, strategy, and finance to create Hurray during the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to disrupt traditionally male-dominated markets through humor and bold, unconventional branding.