Company:Rubicon Technologies

From HandWiki
Short description: Cloud-based waste and recycling company
Rubicon Technologies, LLC
TypePublic
NYSERBT
IndustryWaste Management
Recycling
Smart Cities
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
FoundersNate Morris, Marc Spiegel[1]
Headquarters
City Center
Lexington, Kentucky
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Nate Morris (Founder and Chairman)
  • Phil Rodoni (CEO)

Rubicon Technologies, LLC, commonly known as Rubicon, is a software company focused on waste and recycling.

Rubicon has developed a mobile application to provide on-demand trash pickup.[2]

History

Rubicon was founded in Kentucky in 2008 by Nate Morris and Marc Spiegel who were friends from Eastern High School in Louisville.[3] Spiegel's family had been in the waste and recycling hauling trade for more than a century; his knowledge piqued Morris's interest in starting a company that could be effective in changing waste industry. Morris maxed out personal credit cards and sold items on eBay to fund initial expenses, like a website and basic legal work.[4][5] Rubicon became a public company, listing on the New York Stock Exchange as RBT in August of 2022.[6]

Funding

In the summer of 2012, Rubicon received $5 million in its first financing round. Investors included Rotunda Capital Partners, Richmond Global, C.M. "Bill" Gatton, and Joel Moxley.[citation needed]

In January 2015, Rubicon raised $30 million in a second round of financing. Investors included Barry Sternlicht, Brad M. Kelley, Marc Benioff, and Fifth Third Bank.[7] In September 2015, Rubicon raised $57 million in a third round of financing. The round was led by Nima Capital. Investors included Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Kravis, Paul Tudor Jones, Goldman Sachs, and Wellington Management.[8]

Forbes reported in January 2017 that Rubicon had raised an additional $50 million in funding, bringing its valuation to $800 million.[9] French-based multi-national company Suez led the financing round which raised a total of $75 million. In September 2017, Forbes reported that Rubicon had raised an additional $50 million from Promecap, the Mexico-based investment firm led by Fernando Chico Pardo, a long-time associate of Carlos Slim. The funding put the company's valuation at more than $1 billion.[10] Recode reported in May 2018 that Rubicon had received $65 million in funding from the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.[11]

Corporate information

Rubicon is headquartered in Lexington, Ky,[12][13] In 2016, Rubicon acquired Waste Integrated Service Consultants (WISC). In 2018, Rubicon acquired three waste-management companies: RiverRoad Waste Solutions, Computerized Waste Systems and WestRock’s waste services division.[14] In 2022, Rubicon acquired the German vehicle software company CIVIX.[15]

Business model

Rubicon aims to reduce inefficiencies and maximize the amount of waste being diverted from landfills.[16] Customers include 7-Eleven and Wegmans,[17] as well as Starbucks.[18] Rubicon serves the United States , Canada and Puerto Rico and launched in 18 additional countries in early 2016.[19] In February 2019, Rubicon said it was formally setting its sights on international business development, with efforts expected to focus on Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to start.[20] As of May 2020, the company said it has 2.7 million user service locations.[21]

Rubicon describes itself as a cloud-based company. It created and maintains its own software platform that analyzes its customers’ waste stream and makes sense of all the data on haulers, clients, and recycling possibilities.[17] Rubicon provides a suite of SaaS products for waste, recycling, and smart city solutions.[buzzword] This subscription business is targeted to comprise more than 50% of Rubicon's revenue.[22]

RUBICONSmartCity is the company's product offering specifically designed for city governments.[23][24] In spring 2019, Rubicon said the smart cities platform had been rolled out in more than 30 cities across the U.S.[25]

In 2017, Rubicon supported legislation in Nevada to increase collection opportunities for independent haulers. The company argued in an op-ed that Senate Bill 315[26] would "save taxpayer money, empower competition, and help eradicate landfills."[27] Republic Services responded with an op-ed arguing against the bill.[28]

References

  1. "Rubicon Global, LLC". http://web.sos.ky.gov/ftshow/(S(qx4xqjzvyr4ul2gycc20pitn))/default.aspx?path=ftsearch&id=0735922&ct=06&cs=99999&ce=kHgG5%2fDG4FHOSGgtPAgQNOPPSQby%2bkBbyq184eUJ8%2bc2RQpzUM8MjByx8gBshkJ4. 
  2. Fehrenbacher, Katie (6 July 2015). "Coming soon: An Uber for trash". Fortune. http://fortune.com/2015/07/06/coming-soon-an-uber-for-trash/. Retrieved 21 December 2015. 
  3. Zax, David (25 October 2014). "Dividing and Conquering the Trash". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/business/dividing-and-conquering-the-trash.html. 
  4. McCullough, Mike; D'Angelo, Caroline (13 Aug 2012). "Investing in Disruptive Sustainability". Wharton Magazine. http://whartonmagazine.com/2012/08/investing-in-disruptive-sustainability/. 
  5. Contributor, Ashoka (30 June 2016). "Kentucky Entrepreneur Nate Morris Is Disrupting The World's Toughest Industry: Garbage". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2016/06/30/kentucky-entrepreneur-nate-morris-is-disrupting-the-worlds-toughest-industry-garbage/. Retrieved 12 July 2016. 
  6. altus, Kristen (August 16, 2022). "Taking out the trash: Rubicon brings waste digital marketplace to NYSE as the company goes public". Fox Business. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/taking-out-trash-rubicon-brings-waste-digital-marketplace-nyse-company-goes-public. Retrieved August 29, 2022. 
  7. "Lexington-based Rubicon Global raises $30M in latest round of financing". Lexington Herald-Leader. 16 Jan 2015. http://rubiconglobal.com/news/lexington-based-rubicon-global-raises-30m-in-latest-round-of-financing. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  8. Kolodny, Lora (17 Sep 2015). "Rubicon Global Picks Up $50M for On-Demand Trash Removal". Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2015/09/17/rubicon-global-picks-up-50m-for-on-demand-trash-removal/. 
  9. Konrad, Alex (10 January 2017). "Meet Rubicon Global, The Startup Using Uber's Playbook To Disrupt Your Trash". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/01/10/rubicon-global-follows-uber-playbook-to-disrupt-trash/#17e96d5c1437. Retrieved 18 January 2017. 
  10. Konrad, Alex (12 September 2017). "Trash Unicorn: Waste Startup Rubicon Global Hits $1B Valuation With $50M Raise". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2017/09/12/rubicon-global-raises-50-million/#262a381112c0. Retrieved 12 September 2017. 
  11. Schleifer, Teddy (10 May 2018). "New Zealand's government has made a rare investment of $65 million into 'Uber for trash' startup Rubicon". Recode. https://www.recode.net/2018/5/10/17341814/new-zealand-super-fund-rubicon-trash-recycling-startup-investment. 
  12. Chisenhall, Jeremy (8 June 2021). "This $1 billion company hailed for innovation is bringing its global HQ to Lexington". Lexington Herald-Leader. https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article251968998.html. 
  13. "Rubicon Fact Sheet". https://www.rubicon.com/wp-content/uploads/rubicon-fact-sheet.pdf. 
  14. Rosengren, Cole (17 August 2018). "Inside Rubicon's voluminous ambitions". Waste Dive. https://www.wastedive.com/news/rubicon-voluminous-ambitions/530112/. 
  15. "Rubicon acquires German vehicle routing vendor CIVIX". 13 January 2022. https://www.govtech.com/biz/rubicon-acquires-german-vehicle-routing-vendor-civix. 
  16. "The Elimination of Garbage". Knowledge@Wharton. 6 March 2014. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/elimination-garbage/. 
  17. 17.0 17.1 Lapowsky, Issie (13 January 2015). "A Startup Just Got $30 Million to Shake Up the Garbage Industry | WIRED". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2015/01/rubicon-global/. Retrieved 22 December 2015. 
  18. Waste360 Staff (21 February 2020). "Rubicon, DAVACO Divert 161 Tons of Metal from Landfills". Waste360. https://www.waste360.com/metals/rubicon-davaco-divert-161-tons-metal-landfills. 
  19. Hook, Leslie (9 February 2016). "Rubicon Global: tapping an app to tip". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9b491e4c-ce87-11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77.html#axzz3zhA3bshM. 
  20. Rosengren, Cole (9 February 2019). "Rubicon Global sets sights overseas with new international role". Waste Dive. https://www.wastedive.com/news/rubicon-global-international-expansion/547950/. 
  21. Rosengren, Cole (22 May 2020). "Rubicon's first ESG report emphasizes software pivot, $208M potential savings for cities". Waste Dive. https://www.wastedive.com/news/rubicon-esg-sustainability-report-circular-economy-climate/578324/. 
  22. Rosengren, Cole (20 May 2019). "Rubicon Global taking less combative tack, focusing on software business". Waste Dive. https://www.wastedive.com/news/rubicon-global-taking-less-combative-tack-focusing-on-software-business/555052/. 
  23. "Rubicon Smart Cities". https://www.rubiconglobal.com/smartcities/. 
  24. Douglas, Theo (4 April 2017). "3 Cities Pilot Cloud-Based App, Dashboards to Get Smart About Trash and Recyclables". Governing Technology. http://www.govtech.com/data/3-Cities-Pilot-Cloud-Based-App-Dashboards-to-Get-Smart-About-Trash-Recyclables.html. 
  25. Press Release. "City of Irving, Texas Selects Rubicon Global". https://www.rubiconglobal.com/news/city-irving-texas-selects-rubicon-global/. 
  26. "SB315 Overview". https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/79th2017/Bill/5293/Overview. 
  27. Allegretti, Michael (14 April 2017). "It's time for waste collection norms to change". The Nevada Independent. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/time-waste-collection-norms-change. 
  28. Oudman, Tim (3 May 2017). "Response to waste collections op-ed". https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/response-waste-collections-op-ed.