Carole Buyers brings more than 25 years of diverse food and beverage experience in venture capital, investor relations, corporate finance, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), strategy and investment research to the Management Board of CP Kelco. Carole co-founded BIGR Ventures in 2016, an investor in early-stage organic and natural food and beverage companies.

She was previously Senior Vice President of M&A and Investor Relations at Boulder Brands from 2011 to 2016. In her first three years at Boulder Brands, Carole identified the trends in the gluten-free and frozen organic markets and led the acquisition of three companies (Udi’s, Glutino and evol). Along with her role at Boulder Brands, Carole served as Founder & Managing Director of Boulder Brands Investment Group (BBIG) from 2013 to 2015, an in-house venture fund for Boulder Brands. Prior to this, she was VP of Finance & Investor Relations at Gaiam.

In 1995, Carole began her career in the nascent natural foods industry, as an equity research analyst. Carole’s roles included both sell-side and buy-side research at RBC Capital Markets and The Boston Company, respectively, where she actively covered and published research on food, beverage and a broad range of consumer products companies.

Carole currently serves on the board of Nielsen-Massey, a leader in the production of vanillas and flavors. In this capacity, Carole also serves as the Chair of Audit & Finance. She also serves as the Chair of the Endowment Committee for Colorado Academy, a dynamic private liberal arts school serving students pre-k through grade 12. She was previously a Trustee of Colorado Academy’s School Board for six years. Her prior board roles include EPIC Provisions, Temple Turmeric, Bonafide Provisions, Hope Foods, RE Botanicals and Soozy’s Grain Free.

Carole has an MBA from The University of Colorado in Boulder and a BA in Communications from University of Albany.