Peter Groverman

Groverman is a lawyer, entrepreneur, investor, advisor and philanthropist. He got a close look at startups working for Venmo and Half.com. He earned his law degree at Villanova University before launching a missionbased foundation called R.E.L.I.E.F. that has done multiple missions in places like Haiti and Puerto Rico. He co-founded Grovara, combining his name with co-founder Abu Kamara, soon after the pair met and realized they had a complementary skill set.

Grovara is an import/export business moving thousands of products into more than 50 countries. “Grovara has standardized and streamlined the many fragmented, complex and manual workflows of traditional exporting by bringing together data, algorithms and automation in a lightweight platform and curated global wholesale marketplace offering better products and better margins,” the company said.

Groverman has played a key role in attracting investors to Grovara, including executive chairman and former Charles Schwab CEO David Pottruck and a $5.5 million seed round. He helped land numerous major brands as users of Grovara’s platform, bringing in household names like Danone and Frito-Lay. Groverman also helped the company establish in-country collaborations in Dubai, where it will leverage its online marketplace with growing trade in the region. Those collaborations will likely mean $20 million in new marketplace sales in the first year, the company said.

“As our team at Grovara expanded, we were able to finally build the right technology after eight years,” Groverman said. “We are on year 11 of our journey and we feel like our team members are making the kinds of decisions that are pushing us forward to greater things.”

Groverman recently launched a sister company, Better for You (BFY) Media, which will serve as a content platform for Grovara’s team, brands and collaborators.

Because of his entrepreneurial track record, Groverman has become an advisor for promising CPG startups like Cultured Decadence, a cellular agriculture-based seafood startup, and Neo Bites, an insect protein-based dog food startup.

In 2021, Groverman was named to the National Small Business Association Small Business Technology Council, advocating for U.S. policy that supports small business growth. He has provided testimony to advance state and local trade policy at the Pennsylvania State Senate and Philadelphia City Council.

Groverman is also a content creator. He executive produced an animated short film, “Would Have,” that featured at 10 major film festivals, winning Best Animated Short at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida. On top of everything else he’s involved in, Groverman is learning Mandarin Chinese.

“I invest time every day in thinking about how what I’m doing now might lead to or influence what I’m doing in five or 10 years,” Groverman said. “I have cultivated relationships by being attentive, listening and following up with sincere gratitude, and this approach continues to bear fruit. I have amazing colleagues who are doing amazing things and being around that environment helps keep me plugged into where the world is headed.”