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Rachel Sheppard
Director - Ventures at Mars in the San Francisco Bay Area
Rachel Sheppard is the Director of Ventures at Mars Petcare, where she plays a pivotal role in early-stage investing and fostering innovation in the pet care industry. She leads the Leap Venture Studio & Academy, an initiative designed to support and invest in startups focused on improving the quality of life for pets and their owners. This program, a collaboration between Mars Petcare, Michelson Found Animals, and R/GA Ventures, is notable for being the first accelerator specifically targeting pet care startups.135
Sheppard's professional background is a blend of veterinary science and entrepreneurship. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship from Santa Clara University. Before joining Mars Petcare in July 2021, she served as the Director of Global Marketing at the Founder Institute, where she co-created the Female Founder Initiative to enhance participation of women in startup ecosystems.124
In her current role, Sheppard is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of investments aimed at addressing various challenges in pet care, including health monitoring technologies and solutions for senior pets. Her efforts also include initiatives to support underrepresented founders in the venture capital space.13
Highlights
I am so very honored to be included among the amazing Corporate Venture leaders on the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist this year https://lnkd.in/gQYC79jM. I am very excited to be part of the corporate venture community and have the opportunity to learn from others on how we can support startups in moving our industries forward. Being in this role as the Director of Ventures at Mars Petcare and Co-Leading the Leap Venture Studio & Academy has put me in a position to learn and grow, and I arrived at this point having learned from, and collaborated with, so many wonderful people throughout my career. Behind every person’s accomplishments are wide networks of people who helped them, collaborated with them, mentored them, and pushed them to think differently. I wouldn’t be here without the help and support of so many wonderful people and pets who have inspired me throughout the years! Thank you to every one of you! 🙏
#corporateventure #startups #venturecapital #petcare
I'm really happy to be here.
Working at Mars Petcare & Leap Venture Studio & Academy is a truly wonderful experience because every day we get to work with people and companies who are creating #ABetterWorldForPets.
Last week was an exceptional one as we hosted Leap Demo Day for Cohort 8 (you can watch the recording here: https://lnkd.in/gSJA_xFT), where numerous innovative startups in the pet care industry showcased their ideas that aim to take pet care to the next level. GekkoVet omnipetfood VetVerifi 🐾Scooch Innovative Pet Lab WIMBA BestyBnB This year we were honored to have several investors and speakers join us to support the startups in our community: Jose A. Bermudez, Sydney Couval, Dace Graham, Cole Ahlvers, Brandon Neumann, Jason Fiedler, Emily Dong, Aarti Kapoor, Jasmin Kern, Kaia Simmons, Carolyn Simmons, Katie Hunt, Julie Liu, Nadja Skale, Wendy Diamond, Patrick Cooley, Doug Hexter, Jessica Southard, Janet Patterson-Kane FRCVS, Anthony Providenti, and Cynthia Cole.
And of course none of this would have been possible without the Leap team! Thank you to Paige Ellen for her incredible work on this event, and to the whole Leap team for making this event happen Dylan Boyd, Audrey Yoo, Brett Yates, Zachary Schultz, Beata Rozek, and Phil Kim.
Here's to a future where our pets benefit from the best that innovation has to offer, and where diversity in investment continues to thrive and lead to greater success. 🐶🐱
#petcareaccelerator #demoday #Leap #innovativecompanies #petcareindustry #pettech #petstartups #petcare

