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 cohort one founding brands. We're honest about the stage.
Application-only · Founding pricing locked · No long-term contract
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 cohort one.
That's the whole project. FMCG HQ is the operating system: sampling, UGC, private-label, insights, capital. Built with the cohort one 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 cohort one.
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
- Cohort one 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 cohort one — no tickets, no tiers
- Founding brands vote on the public roadmap — they shape what ships next
What we won't do
- Take equity in cohort one 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
Cohort one 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 cohort one
We don't have customers yet. We have a cohort.
Cohort one 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 cohort one — 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.
Cohort one 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 cohort one founding brands. No customer logo wall to fake.
Cohort one ships in the United States. Other markets per the public roadmap.
Cohort one 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.
Build cohort one with us
Brands, partners, investors, and team interest — every path forward starts here. We respond within one business day.