About Us
ScrollHistory
GVB Biopharma is a story of friendship, dedication to exacting principles, and swift success. Founded in the fertile farm country of central Oregon in 2016 by three best friends who have known one another since high school, GVB has grown rapidly into a leading technology-driven hemp solutions provider. Our carefully selected team of 150 employees includes top chemists, engineers, doctors, and biologists paired with talented operators and a robust sales and marketing team. A strong sense of pride runs through the company as we share our mission to create the highest-quality hemp cannabinoid products possible.
Vision
GVB is one of the world’s leading innovators in hemp technology. GVB is at the vanguard of the organic cultivation, research, development, and marketing of hemp-based wellness solutions for suppliers, customers, and consumers around the globe. We believe passionately in the powerful, life-enhancing qualities of CBD and other hemp-based products, and take pride in our research in every facet of hemp cultivation and production. Our work changes lives for the better.
Leadership
Phil has managed GVB’s farming and manufacturing operations since the company’s inception. Through hands-on experience and a commitment to innovation, he has become an international expert in the field of CBD extraction and scaled CBD production. Phil is a graduate of Colby College in Maine with a BA degree in economics.
Jack became interested in the emerging industry of legal cannabidiol after graduating from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business with a BS in finance in 2016. While serving in various finance roles at Fisher Investments, he conducted extensive research on equipment and methods of CBD extraction. This led to the initial business plan for GVB Biopharma, which he co-founded in 2017.
Drew is an accomplished entrepreneur with a proven track of success. While attending Indiana University he co-founded the successful boutique social media marketing firm Loudley. Loudley’s clients included Live Nation—a Fortune 500 events promoter—and Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com. Using his marketing business as a platform, Drew began focusing on e-commerce, and pioneered the free-plus-shipping-business model in a number of consumer markets. He joined GVB in 2018.
While attending Chapman University, Sebastian co-founded an online marketplace for students to buy and sell items & exchange services. He then moved on to join Eekoh, a start-up news aggregation platform utilizing artificial intelligence. From there, Sebastian joined the founding team of Trendy Butler, a men’s subscription clothing platform based around machine learning to automate style picking. After two years at Trendy Butler, Sebastian left to found his digital marketing agency Loudley. Loudley’s clients included Live Nation, Electric Family, and Chinese E-Commerce giant JD.com. Sebastian joined GVB in 2019.
John Eberhard brings with him more than 25 years of sales and operational experience working for the largest Institutional blown film manufacturer and mineral additives companies in the USA. In his early career in plastic film; John worked his way from Sales Associate to General Manager of the Western region with a total of $60+ million in sales. John transitioned back into Sales Management working for the largest mineral additives company in the USA servicing the plastics industry. In this role, John managed numerous fortune 150 OEM’s and converters with over 50+ million in sales responsibility. John is married to his wife Carrie and enjoys fly fishing in the northwest. John joined GVB in 2020.
Jonathan Staffeldt is a seasoned attorney with a diverse professional background well suited for his role as General Counsel. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in accounting, he decided to continue his education with a law degree from UCLA. Jonathan began his professional career as a corporate attorney working on a variety of transactional matters including mergers and acquisitions, contract negotiations, and debt and equity financings. Later, he practiced at a boutique litigation firm representing clients in complex civil matters. Jonathan then moved in-house as assistant general counsel at a medical company prior to joining GVB in 2019.
Advisory Board
Ted Swindells brings more than 30 years of experience acquiring, investing in, building, financing, and advising companies across a broad range of industries. He has been a principal in his own firms and a partner in various venture capital, investment banking, and merchant banking firms in New York, San Francisco, and London. His specialty is financing and developing growth companies across a range of sectors, including agriculture, natural resources, energy, technology, and telecommunications. He has held senior venture capital positions with Drexel Burnham Lambert, RubiconVentures, Hambrecht & Quist, and Woodman Kirkpatrick & Gilbreath.
Ed Mooney has more than 25 years of experience in all facets of corporate development, governance, and compliance for publicly traded companies and privately held ventures and investments. His background spans corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, investor relations, and regulatory compliance. He is currently a Director and Chief Administrative Officer for a private company developing telecommunications projects in Mexico and the Caribbean. He is an advisor to a California firm developing advanced AI-based personality mapping technology for use by marketers. He also is a managing member of investment entities in the agricultural, finance, and consumer product categories.