The operating system for consumer goods
FMCG HQ is a startup in private beta. We're building the operational infrastructure that lets consumer brands launch, sample, and scale — with founding brands. We're honest about the stage.
Why we're building this — and why now.
Consumer goods is the largest industry on earth where the operational infrastructure is still glued together by hand. The same founder launching a $40M energy drink brand in 2025 still finds her co-packer through a warm intro, hires a fractional CMO via DM, signs a personal guarantee on raw materials, and stitches together five SaaS tools to run a single SKU's launch. None of that has gotten meaningfully better in twenty years.
Meanwhile, the brands actually winning the new shelf are the ones that figured out how to compress the operational stack — creator-led brands launching from a phone-shot ad, DTC operators with sampling pilots producing buyer evidence inside two weeks, founders who don't take the warm-intro broker tax. The infrastructure is the unfair advantage. We want to make that infrastructure available to anyone willing to apply for founding 100.
That's the whole project. FMCG HQ is the operating system: sampling, UGC, private-label, insights, capital. Built with the founding brands today, expanded with them tomorrow. We sequence the operational layers before the financial ones — because capital underwrites better on real operational signal than on narrative.
We're a startup. We're a small team. We're honest about what's shipped vs what's on the roadmap on every page of this site. If that's the kind of partner you want for your next launch, apply for founding 100.
What we do — and what we don't
What we believe
- Operational stack ships before the capital stack — every time
- Founders keep IP, brand, customer data, and equity — we're infrastructure
- Founding 100 pricing is locked, forever — we never re-price the founding cohort
- We say what's on the roadmap vs what's live — on every page
- Direct line to the founding team for founding 100 — no tickets, no tiers
- Founding brands vote on the public roadmap — they shape what ships next
What we won't do
- Take equity in founding 100 brands (we're not an incubator)
- Sell or pool your data without explicit founder consent
- Run multi-year contracts with auto-renewals — month-to-month, always
- Ship a marketing page for a product we haven't built (roadmap is honest)
- Charge for integrations that should be standard (API + webhooks ship day one)
- Work in regulated CBD/THC, tobacco/vape, or prescription-adjacent categories
Why we ship the operational layer before the capital layer
Every page on this site reflects this sequencing. Here's the logic in five steps.
Operational signal is the only real diligence layer
You can't underwrite signal that doesn't exist yet
Founding brands are the customer and the partner
Pricing locked at founding tier — forever
Honesty about the stage is the whole product
The hardest thing to build in a CPG startup isn't the product. It's the trust that the people behind it will still be honest about what doesn't work yet. We picked the harder thing on purpose.
Six commitments to founding 100
We don't have customers yet. We have a cohort.
Founding brands are design partners. What you tell us in the first 90 days shapes what every brand after you gets.
Founding pricing is locked. Forever.
Whatever we agree on during beta stays with your account. We never re-price founding 100 — that's the whole point of being early.
Direct line to the team building this.
A private Slack channel with the founding team. No tickets, no tiered support. You ping, we respond — usually within hours.
No long-term contracts. Ever.
We earn next month by being useful this month. If we're not delivering, you walk — no termination fee, no clawback, no friction.
Built with you, not at you.
Founding 100 votes on the public roadmap. We ship what founding brands need first — not what looks impressive on a pitch deck.
We say what's not done yet.
Every page marks what's live vs what's roadmap. We don't paint over the gaps. Honesty about the stage is the whole product.
The honest numbers
Private beta with founding brands. No customer logo wall to fake.
Founding 100 ships in the United States. Other markets per the public roadmap.
Founding 100 is capped at 100 founding brands. Application-only.
Whatever we agree at beta stays with your account for the life of the relationship.
Frequently asked questions
What founding brands and curious onlookers ask us most.
Related reading
Build founding 100 with us
Brands, partners, investors, and team interest — every path forward starts here. We respond within one business day.