Trive Capital has made an investment in Rubicon Bakers, a maker of all-natural cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and muffins.
Rubicon’s product line includes more than 50 SKUs – including vegan and plant-based options – that are sold at more than 2,500 retail locations nationwide.
Rubicon is headquartered near San Francisco in Richmond, California. The company’s slogan is “Bake a Better World” and it actively trains, employs and supports people who have faced structural barriers to employment such as homelessness, incarceration, or substance abuse. Rubicon, a certified B Corporation, was founded in 1993 and acquired by Leslie Crary and Andrew Stoloff in 2009.
B Corporation certification is conferred by B Lab, a nonprofit organization with offices in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Company’s receiving the certification must have and maintain a minimum score from an online assessment of “social and environmental performance”, incorporate B Corp stakeholder commitments into governing documents, and pay an annual fee ranging from $500 to $50,000 depending on annual sales. Companies must re-certify every three years to retain B Corporation status. As of April 2020, there was just over 3,300 certified B Corporations operating in 150 industries in 71 countries.
“Rubicon was built on a culture of integrity, innovation, and caring that governs not only how we develop our products, but also how we relate to our customers and employees,” said Mr. Stoloff. “We believe we have found like-minded partners in Trive, and we look forward to building on our momentum with an operationally focused firm that can help us thoughtfully scale our production and efficiency to meet the increasing consumer demand for high-quality, honest, and delicious baked goods.”
“We are firm believers in the product and mission of the company, and we are excited to invest alongside management to support the continuing growth of Rubicon,” said Chris Zugaro, a partner at Trive Capital. “Rubicon has shown to be a true value-added supplier to its grocery partners due to its focus on innovating with exciting new flavors, vegan offerings, and product lines that create a fresh and engaging experience for the retailers’ customer. Trive looks forward to providing capital and resources to further enable Rubicon to pursue its mission and meet growing customer demand.”
Trive invests from $10 million to $150 million of debt or equity in North America-headquartered companies with revenues of $40 million to $1.5 billion. The firm is industry-agnostic but has specific experience across a range of sectors including aerospace and defense, automotive, building products, business services, chemicals, and consumer goods.
Last month, Trive agreed to acquire publicly traded Seven Aces, a coin-operated amusement machine route operator. The Norcross, Georgia-based company is the largest route operator of gaming machines in the state of Georgia.
In September 2017, Trive held a final closing of Trive Capital Fund III LP with $1 billion of capital commitments. The firm was founded in 2012 by Conner Searcy and Chris Zugaro and is based in Dallas.
Private Equity Professional | July 24, 2020
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