Rahul Raj

Member Since 2022

Rahul Raj

Founder & CMO

5&Vine

Toronto, Canada Area

I help Challenger Brands win. I started 5&Vine to help build, launch and grow meaningful brands that disrupt categories and better society. To date, our impact has helped our partners close over $1.4B in follow on financing and two have gone public. 5&Vine was born from my time as CMO at ecobee, where I helped transform the brand from relative obscurity into the #2 thermostat brand in North America with a 30% share and developed a playbook on how Challengers could take down industry incumbents. I know what a brand needs to take on Goliath. Prior to ecobee, I ran an incubator for Walmart in San Francisco. After seeing an opportunity to extract more value out of products that already existed, I built a refurbishing infrastructure that turned costly customer returns into a multi-billion dollar revenue stream. For these efforts, I was honoured with Walmart's Innovation Champion Award, a fellowship with the Aspen Institute and by GOOD magazine as 1 of 100 people pushing the world forward. My commitment to bettering the world started when I was young. At the age of 17, I founded and developed Meal Exchange to build healthy, just and environmentally sustainable food systems across Canada. Our work has been recognized by TIME magazine as "revolutionary”. Today, alongside my work at 5&Vine, I'm actively engaged in inspiring and empowering others to make their own positive impact. As well as being on the Design Team of the Aspen First Movers fellowship, I mentor entrepreneurs at First Round Capital, Tech Stars, the American Marketing Association, the University of Toronto’s Venture Mentoring Program, the Presidio Graduate School, and delivered a TEDx talk on the power of Challenger Thinking.


SKILLS

  • Branding
  • Innovation & Growth
  • Go to Marketing Strategy

RECENT CONTENT

March 6th, 2023

In brands we trust: what a Dutch supermarket chain can teach us about building community and earning loyalty

As a brand, it's not enough to understand just the demographic segmentations of your audience. It has to be deeper than that.

January 10th, 2023

Holding AI accountable: Three considerations for the tech and the minds behind it

When AI is designed intentionally, it can spark innovation without sacrificing functionality or performance.

January 6th, 2023

Beating the backlash: when business competitors stomp on innovation 

Tune out the industry naysayers and lean into solving your target market's pain points.

November 22nd, 2022

14 ways employers can nurture their staff's creative contributions

Inspiring employees to address current business challenges—transparently and collaboratively—enables the opportunity to find innovative solutions for business growth. 


COMPANY INFO

5&Vine

5&Vine is a full-service marketing agency trusted to challenge incumbents, and win. We’ve collaborated with some of the world’s largest VC’s to accelerate growth for Challenger Brands in their portfolio resulting in +$1.4Bn in follow-on financing, three acquisitions and two IPOs. We empower businesses to win while also being a force for good. 5&Vine is championing an evolved form of capitalism that benefits communities and the planet, alongside shareholders. We support our clients in being profitable and bettering the world around them. Our goal is to show how socially responsible transactions can help businesses make economic strides. We help brave and ethically-minded Challenger Brands achieve the impossible and come out on top. We empower our clients to challenge the status quo, stand up for what they believe in, and confidently take on global challenges.


AREA OF FOCUS

  • Marketing
  • Social Media Advertising
  • Brand Marketing

INDUSTRY

Marketing & advertising