Founder & CEO

Laura Simonson

Best Pal: Seva

Laura is Virchew's heartbeat. She leads this venture with pure passion and a dog-loving soul. The relentless entrepreneur-within guided Laura through decades of success in real estate, fitness studio ownership, business development, sales, venture capital, events, website development, branding, and communications. Laura began research into plant-based diets for dogs in 1989. Deeply inspired by her first border collie, Shanti and due to her remarkable health, Laura knew she was on to something. Thirty years later and after a decade of research and development along with a team of experienced business leaders, specialists, veterinary professionals and Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists, Laura began meticulously creating the formation of Virchew's foods and direct distribution business model. The strategy has been set in place to position Virchew as a company that will redefine the canine nutrition industry, one dog and one veterinarian at a time.

Chief Operating Officer

Todd Maki

Todd Maki’s purpose-driven career has spanned collaborating with contemporary leaders and building dynamic cohesive teams, to systematically positioning organizations for development and sustainable success. His background includes over 20 years of corporate experience at The Walt Disney Company, The Universal Music Group, and various additional leading-edge companies, and has a track record for streamlining processes and creating scalable operations to enhance profitability. He's known for creating high-functioning teams that achieve measurable success, developing business plans that capture capital investment, building quality relationships with customers and partners, and creating sales and marketing campaigns to ignite exponential growth. Todd is thrilled to join Virchew’s visionary crew, to ‘do the right thing’ for dogs, their people, and our planet and, together to bring to the masses an idea whose time has simply come, and the innovative products to consciously fuel it.

Chief Marketeing Officer (Fractional)

Steve Simitzis

Best Pal: Artemis and Boo Bear

Steve Simitzis is a visionary entrepreneur and seasoned vegan advocate, boasting over 25 years of commitment to a plant-based lifestyle. With a dynamic 20+ year career spanning the startup ecosystem, Steve has excelled as a founder, operator, and advisor, particularly in the realms of pet food marketing and digital healthcare for pets. Steve's professional journey includes a transformative tenure as the Chief Marketing Officer at Wild Earth, a leading vegan pet food brand in the United States. His expertise in corporate incubation was honed at Mars Petcare, where he spearheaded the development of direct-to-consumer startups. This role followed the successful acquisition of his innovative startup, Treat, which revolutionized veterinary care and telemedicine through modern technology. In addition to his impactful industry roles, Steve is a Partner at Solvable Syndicate, a vibrant community of angel investors dedicated to advancing food tech and climate tech solutions. Through his work at Solvable Syndicate, Steve is driving positive change and fostering innovation for a better world.