What We Saw at Our First WIN Entrepreneurship Pitch Event

Posted 30 Apr, 2026         1.6k 65 2

There are moments in an industry when you can feel the shift happening in real time.

Our first Women In Nutraceuticals (WIN) Entrepreneurship Pitch Event was one of those moments.

What stood out to me wasn’t just the quality of the ideas—it was the clarity of purpose behind them. Each founder who took the stage wasn’t simply building a product. They were addressing a real, often overlooked gap in the market. That’s where meaningful innovation begins.

Creating Space for Real Innovation

When we organized this event alongside Pelin Wood Thorogood, the goal was straightforward: create a platform where founders could present bold ideas, engage with an informed audience, and receive meaningful feedback.

What we saw exceeded expectations.

Four founders, each with a distinct perspective, but all united by a common mindset—challenge the status quo and build solutions that reflect where health and wellness are going.

The Founders Leading the Conversation

Each entrepreneur brought forward a compelling vision for the future of nutraceuticals and wellness:

Melissa Conklin — Siryns
A functional seltzer designed to support urinary and hormonal wellness, while helping normalize conversations around women’s health.
Allie Chandler — Meet Your Healer
A tri-lateral marketplace connecting patients, practitioners, and brands through root-cause matching—reflecting the growing demand for personalized, integrative care.
Erin L. Glynn — GLP-1 Support Solution
A science-driven approach to supporting individuals on GLP-1 medications by addressing nutrient gaps and side effects—an increasingly critical need in today’s metabolic health landscape.
Joanna Bacchus — Poshie Drinks
A novel approach to functional beverages, using sugar-free dissolvable supplement strips to enable a new kind of social wellness experience.

What impressed me most was not just the ideas themselves, but the level of execution and the founders’ ability to clearly articulate both the problem and the opportunity.

A More Dynamic Format

This wasn’t a traditional pitch competition.

Each founder presented live, engaged in real-time Q&A, and received immediate feedback from an audience of industry peers and experts. That format created something far more valuable than a presentation—it created a dialogue.

And in my view, that’s exactly what this industry needs more of.

Innovation in nutraceuticals doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens when ideas are challenged, refined, and strengthened through conversation.

Recognizing a Standout

After thoughtful deliberation, we awarded the top honor to Erin L. Glynn.

Her solution stood out for its scientific rigor, market relevance, and ability to address one of the fastest-growing categories in metabolic health.

As GLP-1 therapies continue to expand, the need for complementary support solutions will only increase. What Erin is building is both timely and necessary.

What This Means for the Industry

This event reinforced several important shifts shaping the future of our space:

A move toward targeted, condition-specific solutions
Increased demand for consumer-centric, stigma-free health products
The emergence of platform-based wellness ecosystems
Continued innovation in functional formats that integrate into everyday life

These are not isolated ideas—they are indicators of where the market is heading.

At MarketWell Nutrition, we believe the next phase of growth in this industry will be driven by entrepreneurs who are willing to rethink how health solutions are developed, positioned, and delivered.

Looking Ahead

To each of the founders—thank you.

It takes courage to share your vision, invite feedback, and engage in open dialogue. That willingness is what moves this industry forward.

And to the broader WIN community, this is just the beginning.

If this event showed us anything, it’s that the future of nutraceuticals and wellness is being actively shaped by a new generation of founders—and the trajectory is incredibly promising.