As a former food entrepreneur, Caroline Mak is committed to advocating for underrepresented small business owners, especially in the food space. She co-founded and ran a beverage company, Brooklyn Soda Works for seven years and the successes plus the failures of her first company led her to become invested in learning more about what supports are necessary to ensure small food businesses are able to grow sustainably and thrive.

Caroline Mak is currently the Senior Accelerator Director at the venture capital firm Big Idea Ventures, that invests in early stage foodtech companies around the world. She works closely with founders on all aspects of their startup, from scaling up to fundraising. Caroline is also a visual artist. She grew up in Hong Kong, received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Stanford University and her MFA from the University of Chicago. She has been the recipient of an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park, and the BRIC Media Fellowship, and has recently discovered a love of making lumpy clay vessels.

Questions for mentors can be directed to wealfund@gmail.com.