Exploring the Consumer Products Vertical

By Nakul Ramaswamy & Evan Courtney

Introduction

At the University of Connecticut (UConn), Hillside Ventures gives students something that most undergraduates don’t get, which is real exposure to how venture capital actually works. We’re not just learning theory in a classroom. We’re sourcing companies, speaking with founders, running diligence, debating internally, and forming investment theses.

Within the fund, the Consumer Products vertical is one of the most interesting spaces to evaluate because it’s so closely tied to everyday needs/aspects of a consumer. These are the products people use when they wake up, what they eat during the day, what they put on their skin, and what becomes part of their routine.

Why Consumer?

The Consumer Products vertical centers on one of the most consistent and behavior-driven areas of the economy. Consumer companies operate within daily routines, shaping what people eat, apply, use, and repurchase. The strongest brands do not rely on one-time transactions. They build habitual usage, long-term loyalty, and durable revenue streams by becoming part of everyday life.

From an investment perspective, this consistency is meaningful. Spending across food, personal care, hygiene, and lifestyle categories tends to remain steady across economic cycles because these products are tied to necessity, comfort, and self-care. The opportunity lies in backing founders who understand their customers deeply and can translate that insight into differentiated products, strong unit economics, and scalable distribution strategies.

Industry Outlook

This year, Hillside Ventures introduced Consumer Products as a dedicated vertical, transitioning from what was previously the Human Development focus. The shift reflects a strategic decision to concentrate on a market that is both expansive and deeply integrated into everyday life. Consumer products touch essentials, snacks/drinks, personal care items, and other routine purchases that consistently shape spending behavior.

The broader Care and Lifestyle market supports this direction. The global personal care and beauty market surpassed $570 billion in 2024 and continues to grow at a steady pace. In parallel, the global wellness economy has exceeded $1.8 trillion, expanding at approximately 7 to 8 percent annually. These figures highlight a category that is not only large, but resilient across economic cycles.

For Hillside, the move toward Consumer Products creates the opportunity to evaluate businesses that consumers interact with daily. Rather than focusing on abstract or niche markets, this vertical centers on tangible products that drive repeat purchasing and long term brand loyalty. As spending patterns increasingly prioritize convenience, quality, and wellbeing, Consumer Products positions our fund to back founders building brands that align with helping consumer behavior.

Consumer’s Two Sub-Verticals

Food and Beverage

The Food and Beverage sub-vertical includes packaged foods, beverages, and functional nutrition brands that compete in a highly competitive and fast-moving consumer environment. Success in this space depends on a company’s ability to balance taste, pricing, margins, and distribution while adapting to changing consumer preferences around health, convenience, and ingredient quality. Early-stage brands often gain traction by targeting specific dietary needs, lifestyle trends, or consumption occasions, then scaling through retail partnerships or repeat purchasing behaviors. While the category presents operational and supply chain challenges, it also offers clear opportunities for brands that can build loyalty, demonstrate strong unit economics, and navigate distribution effectively, making it a compelling area for early-stage consumer investment.

Care & Lifestyle

The Care and Lifestyle sub-vertical focuses on consumer brands in personal care, beauty, wellness, and lifestyle categories where long-term success is driven by product performance, brand trust, and repeat purchasing behavior. Companies in this space often differentiate by solving a specific consumer problem, building daily routines, or creating a strong emotional connection with their audience through community and storytelling. Trust plays an outsized role, particularly in skincare and wellness, where ingredient transparency, perceived safety, and consistent results matter deeply to consumers. As a result, many successful early-stage brands scale by pairing strong products with modern go-to-market strategies such as direct-to-consumer distribution, creator-led marketing, and selective retail expansion once early traction is established.

Strategic Paperboy Ventures Partnership

This semester, Hillside Ventures expanded its work in consumer investing through a strategic partnership with Paperboy Ventures, a consumer-focused venture fund backing early-stage brands. The partnership gives student analysts direct exposure to how professional consumer investors think about sourcing, diligence, and founder support, while also helping us better understand what drives success in competitive consumer markets. Working alongside Paperboy allows us to learn how experienced investors evaluate brand, product-market fit, and go-to-market strategy beyond what we see in the classroom.

The partnership is especially meaningful given Paperboy’s connection to the UConn community. Paperboy Ventures was co-founded by Kyle Fitzpatrick, a UConn alumnus who has built his career investing in and advising consumer startups. Having the opportunity to collaborate with a fund led by a UConn graduate reinforces Hillside’s mission of connecting students with alumni who are actively shaping the venture ecosystem. It also strengthens our sourcing network and creates a more direct bridge between student-led investing and the broader consumer venture landscape.

Conclusion

The Consumer Products vertical reflects Hillside Ventures’ focus on investing in businesses that are deeply embedded in everyday life and driven by real consumer behavior. Through our work across Food and Beverage and Care and Lifestyle, we evaluate brands where differentiation comes from product quality, trust, and the ability to build repeat engagement over time. Paired with our partnership with Paperboy Ventures, the vertical gives students hands-on exposure to how early-stage consumer companies are sourced, evaluated, and supported in real investment settings. Together, this approach reinforces Hillside’s mission of combining experiential learning with thoughtful capital deployment, while positioning the fund to identify and support the next generation of consumer brands.