The Best Founders in America Oversubscribe Beanstalk 2026, Three Weeks Before Opening

The invite-only gathering for consumer brands passed last year’s full attendance in late August, running a waitlist till opening day, closing at nearly 1,500 registered executives.

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beanstalk, the invite-only summit for the consumer brand and ecommerce industry, opens today at Industry City in Brooklyn oversubscribed. The 2026 edition passed last year’s full attendance in late August, three weeks before the doors opened, and ran a waitlist from that point on. Registration closed at nearly 1,500 executives.

The 2026 Summit represents more than $85 billion in combined annual revenue across 600+ brand companies. Roughly seven in ten attendees hold C-level or general partner titles and nine in ten are VP-level or above. On the brand side, 84%+ of the executives attending carry a founder or C-suite title.

The Seniority Gap

84% of brand attendees are C-Suite or Founders of their respective companies. By comparison, other industry events sit closer to 29%. Nearly 3x more CEOs attend Beanstalk than any other event in the industry.

Brand operators make up the largest share of the Summit, spanning apparel and accessories, beauty, CPG and food, home, health, pets and consumer electronics. Investors attending collectively manage more than $145 billion in capital.

“At any conference, 99% of the value comes from who you sit next to, not who’s on stage. While we have some incredibly impressive speakers, we spend countless hours vetting potential attendees, reviewing referrals, and meticulously arranging groups and seating arrangements to ensure each and every guest has the best experience possible. This level of curation, and our strict policy on Heads of Function or Executives to attend, is what drives interest in Beanstalk higher every single year. It’s clear this is what today’s modern founder and executive is looking for.”

Ben Cogan, Co-Founder, Beanstalk

Keynote Speakers

The 2026 program is headlined by a slate of founders and operators leading public companies and category-defining consumer brands.

Steve Huffman — Co-Founder, Reddit (NYSE: RDDT)
Ryan Petersen — Founder & CEO, Flexport
Adam Foroughi — Co-Founder & CEO, AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP)
Dave Wright — Co-Founder & CEO, Pattern (NASDAQ: PTRN)
Jeff Raider — Co-Founder, Mammoth Brands
Jess Jacobs — CEO, Coterie
Josh Friedman — CEO, Dr. Squatch (Sold for $1.5 Billion to Unilever)
Suveen Sahib — Co-Founder & CEO, K18 (Acquired by Unilever)
Aaron Wolk — Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Bombas
Logan Chierotti — Founder & CEO, Physician’s Choice
Jack Jia — Founder & CEO, Musely
Reed Duchscher — Founder & CEO, Night
Ndamukong Suh — Investor & Super Bowl Winner (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Ryan Murphy — Investor & 5× Olympic Gold Medalist (Team USA Swimming)

Also on the 2026 Program

They are joined by speakers across Beanstalk’s Boardroom Discussions and Dinners, which include leaders from public companies, NBA and NFL athletes, and other private company executives such as:

Amanda Baldwin — CEO, Olaplex (NASDAQ: OLPX)
James Reinhart — CEO, thredUP (NASDAQ: TDUP)
Jon Blotner — President, Wayfair (NYSE: W)
Karoline Dygas — Chief Procurement Officer, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX)
Eline de Graaf — President, Beauty & Wellness, Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE)
Gonzalve Bich — Chairman and former CEO, BIC (Euronext Paris: BB)
Andrew Perlmutter — CEO, NBA Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO)
Josh Krepon — President, U.S. Direct-to-Consumer & Global Digital, Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO)
Danny Yeung — CEO & Co-Founder, Prenetics (NASDAQ: PRE)
John Butcher — CEO, Mammoth Care (Harry’s, Flamingo, Lume, Mando)
Mariam Naficy — Founder & Chairman, Minted; CEO, Arcade
Dan Reich — Co-Founder, DIBS Beauty and TULA Skincare (Sold to Procter & Gamble)
James Brennan — Co-Founder & Chairman, Kopari Beauty; Co-Founder, Suja Juice (NASDAQ: SUJA)
David Barnett — Founder & Chairman of the Board, PopSockets
Jess Schinazi — CEO, Away
David Lester — Co-Founder, OLIPOP
Eric Skae — CEO, Carbone Fine Food
Mike Beckham — Co-Founder & CEO, Simple Modern
Noura Sakkijha — Co-Founder & CEO, Mejuri
Davis Smith — Co-Founder & Chair, Cotopaxi
Justin Yoshimura — CEO, Co-Founder & Chairman, CSC Generation
Jordan Nathan — Founder & CEO, Caraway

The Format

Beanstalk 2026 runs September 14 to 16, taking over Manhattan and Industry City in Brooklyn. The program is built around 10,000+ scheduled executive meetings, 50+ boardroom discussions, and 30+ private dinners at iconic New York institutions like The Corner Store, Union Square Cafe, Manhatta, Nobu, Zero Bond, Or’esh, Dirty French, Little Maven and Cipriani.

Registration is closed. Executives can still join the waitlist, and Beanstalk will approve them if a spot opens up this year, at beanstalkevents.com/tickets.

Major Partners

NBCUniversal — Founding Partner
Flexport — Official Logistics Partner
AppLovin — Official Advertising Partner
Postscript — Official SMS & Email Partner
Richpanel — Official CX Partner
Highbeam — Official Banking Partner
Google — Partner
Pinterest — Partner
TikTok — Partner
Shopify — Partner

About Beanstalk

Beanstalk is an invite-only summit for the consumer brand and ecommerce industry, held annually in New York. Founded by Ben Cogan, Jesse Horwitz, Anil Aggarwal and Max Starkman, the event convenes founders, C-suite operators, investors and solution providers for three days of structured 1:1 meetings, small-group boardroom discussions and private dinners. Past attendees include leaders from AppLovin, Shopify, Unilever, NBCUniversal, Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Pattern, BIC, Dr. Squatch, Bombas, Ro, Away, Dyson, Ridge and TikTok.

Media Contact

Registration is closed to general attendees. Journalists can apply for media credentials by emailing jack@beanstalkevents.com.

Jack, Beanstalk Events
jack@beanstalkevents.com
www.beanstalkevents.com

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