Westport Business Owners Finalists For Entrepreneur Award

Press release from Gorilla Commerce:

Aug. 25, 2020

Gorilla Commerce, a leading direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform specializing in the development and sale of home and pet products, today announced that Co-Chief Executive Officers Jennifer Bernstein and Marissa Saporta have been selected as Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 New York Award finalists by Ernst & Young LLP. Now in its 34th year, The Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors entrepreneurial business leaders whose ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity as they build and sustain successful businesses that transform our world.

Bernstein and Saporta met as 16-year olds and founded Gorilla Commerce in 2014 in Westport, Connecticut. By utilizing a customer-centric and data-driven approach, the company identifies existing gaps between consumer needs and available products in the home and pet markets. Since its inception, Gorilla Commerce has grown from just a slip resistant rug pad to eight powerful brands within a multi-million-dollar company and now ranks in the top five of private label sellers on Amazon US to offer functional household and pet products. In late 2019, Gorilla Commerce received an investment from NY-based private equity firm Trilantic North America to fuel strategic growth.

“It’s an honor to be selected as finalists for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year program that recognizes and celebrates the entrepreneurial mindset,” said Bernstein. “We entered a competitive e-commerce market with our own money as our sole source of funding and a vision to create a family and value-oriented brand. We relied entirely on our own instincts to build a proprietary data and research system and create products that would satisfy our customers’ needs.”

Added Saporta, “Over the last six years, we have been focused on creating high quality and functional products for any home across the world. Now consumers are spending more time at home and with their pets than ever before, and we will continue to provide our customers with products capable of enhancing their experiences during this uncertain time. We’re grateful to be recognized among other leading entrepreneurs for this esteemed honor.”

Entrepreneur Of The Year® is one of the preeminent competitive award programs for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The nominees are evaluated based on six criteria, including overcoming adversity; financial performance; societal impact and commitment to building a values-based company; innovation; and talent management. Since its launch, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.

Award winners will be announced through a special virtual event in early October.

This press release was produced by Gorilla Commerce. The views expressed here are the author's own.