Brent Blonkvist

Brent Blonkvist brings nearly fifteen years of experience in finance, entrepreneurship, and operations. Before Palingen, he co-founded The Long Drink Company, the world’s fastest-growing US spirits brand (2022 & 2023), and served as a founding advisor at Avenir Growth Capital, a NYC-based growth equity firm with $2B+ AUM. Previously he served as President & COO of Odyssey, a venture-backed media technology company creating a space for more civilized conversation online. Brent started his career at HSBC covering multinational corporates and finished his time in the investment bank’s Structured Finance & Advisory group focused on the energy sector.

After spending a decade in New York City, Brent moved back to his hometown of San Antonio, Texas in 2022 with his wife, Alex, and their two children. Since then, they have welcomed a third child and found loving community at First Presbyterian Church of San Antonio.

Brent serves on the national board of Generous Life and enjoys CrossFit, swimming, art, and music. He earned a B.S. in international business and finance from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.