Inc. Names Sara Kubiak of the Vanilla Bean Project to Its 2026 Female Founders 500 List

Inc. Names Sara Kubiak of the Vanilla Bean Project to Its 2026 Female Founders 500 List

 

Inc.’s annual Female Founders list celebrates the nation’s most innovative women entrepreneurs, who collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025

 

Lakeland, Minn, March 13, 2026 – Vanilla Bean Project is proud to announce that Sara Kubiak has been named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States. The honor recognizes founders whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries.

 

The 2026 Female Founders honorees collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding to date, underscoring the economic impact of women-led businesses across sectors.

 

Each year, Inc. editors evaluate applications through a rigorous, multi-round selection process. Founders are assessed on both quantitative performance metrics, including revenue growth, funding, sales, and audience size, as well as qualitative factors such as innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. The final list represents entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and measurable progress over the past year. Previous honorees have included such game-changing leaders as Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede — all of whom have transformed their industries and broken barriers along the way.

 

“It is a tremendous honor to be named to Inc.’s Female Founders 500 list alongside all these amazing women,” said Sara Kubiak, founder of The Vanilla Bean Project. “The mission of Vanilla Bean Project has always been to make vanilla better for people and the planet. I am a big believer in the power of small changes to make a big global impact.”

 

Honoree selection is also honed through the evaluation of the program’s advisory board, which includes Patty Arvielo, co-founder and CEO of New American Funding; Tiffany Dufu, president of the Tory Burch Foundation; Joy Mangano, co-founder and CEO of CleanBoss; Michelle Cordeiro Grant, founder and CEO of GORGIE; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai and founder of Care.com; and Melissa Mash, co-founder and CEO of Dagne Dover.

 

Last summer, the Vanilla Bean Project, a manufacturer of premium vanilla products, launched a new class of low-emission ingredients. Using Regenerative Organic Certified®(ROC) as a baseline and layering on the Wind-Powered Shipping certification, Vanilla Bean Project is committed to driving innovation across every part of the supply chain for real, measurable climate impact.

Vanilla Bean Project’s Committed to Wind-Powered Shipping ROC Pure Vanilla Extract and ROC Pure Vanilla Paste are available for both retail and food service. The company also offers its products as a bulk ingredient for food manufacturers pursuing low-emission supply chain solutions as consumers adopt climate-friendly food and menu options.

 

In April 2025, Grain de Sail shipped Vanilla Bean Project’s initial vanilla bean cargo across the Atlantic Ocean from Saint-Malo, France to NYC by wind power. Grain de Sail’s wind-powered approach lowers carbon emissions associated with ocean transportation by up to 95% compared to current options.

 

Vanilla Bean Project signed a Letter of Intent with French shipping cooperative Windcoop based in Lorient, France to transport vanilla beans aboard Windcoop’s wind-powered cargo vessel currently under construction. Vanilla Bean Project was the first North American company to invest and commit to transporting its goods with Windcoop. As part of this partnership, Vanilla Bean Project plans to ship its vanilla beans from Madagascar to France aboard Windcoop’s wind-powered cargo vessel, and from France to the United States via established French-based sail-cargo logistics leader, Grain de Sail

 

"Each year, we are increasingly amazed by the extraordinary leaders on our Inc. Female Founders 500 list,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The honorees on this year’s list include innovators in AI, beauty and wellness trendsetters winning devoted fans, and nonprofit leaders making a real impact in their communities. Together, they’re showing all of us what trailblazing female leadership looks like.”

Several honorees will be featured in Inc. magazine’s Spring print issue[AC1] [SL2] , on newsstands March 17, 2026. To see the complete list of honorees, please visit: https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

 

About Inc.

Inc. is the leading media brand and playbook for the entrepreneurs and business leaders shaping our future. Through its journalism, Inc. aims to inform, educate, and elevate the profile of its community: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters who are creating the future of business. Inc. is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow leading business publication Fast Company. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

 

About Vanilla Bean Project

Based in Lakeland, Minnesota, the Vanilla Bean Project is a pioneering vanilla product manufacturer committed to producing superior quality products while actively contributing to a better and more environmentally conscious world. Vanilla Bean Project makes world-changing vanilla.