Rubicon Technologies

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

Rubicon Technologies, LLC
TypePublic
NYSE: RBT
IndustryWaste Management
Recycling
Smart Cities
Founded2008 (2008)
FoundersNate Morris, Marc Spiegel[1]
Headquarters
City Center
Lexington, Kentucky
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people

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.

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. 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". Kentucky Secretary of State - FastTrack. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  2. Fehrenbacher, Katie (6 July 2015). "Coming soon: An Uber for trash". Fortune. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  3. Zax, David (25 October 2014). "Dividing and Conquering the Trash". New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  4. McCullough, Mike; D'Angelo, Caroline (13 Aug 2012). "Investing in Disruptive Sustainability". Wharton Magazine. Retrieved 21 Dec 2015.
  5. Contributor, Ashoka (30 June 2016). "Kentucky Entrepreneur Nate Morris Is Disrupting The World's Toughest Industry: Garbage". Forbes. Retrieved 12 July 2016. {{cite magazine}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  6. altus, Kristen (August 16, 2022). "Taking out the trash: Rubicon brings waste digital marketplace to NYSE as the company goes public". Fox Business. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  7. "Lexington-based Rubicon Global raises $30M in latest round of financing". Lexington Herald-Leader. 16 Jan 2015. Retrieved 21 Dec 2015.
  8. Kolodny, Lora (17 Sep 2015). "Rubicon Global Picks Up $50M for On-Demand Trash Removal". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 Dec 2015.
  9. Konrad, Alex (10 January 2017). "Meet Rubicon Global, The Startup Using Uber's Playbook To Disrupt Your Trash". Forbes. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  10. Konrad, Alex (12 September 2017). "Trash Unicorn: Waste Startup Rubicon Global Hits $1B Valuation With $50M Raise". Forbes. 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. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  12. Chisenhall, Jeremy (8 June 2021). "This $1 billion company hailed for innovation is bringing its global HQ to Lexington". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  13. "Rubicon Fact Sheet" (PDF). Rubicon. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  14. Rosengren, Cole (17 August 2018). "Inside Rubicon's voluminous ambitions". Waste Dive. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  15. "Rubicon acquires German vehicle routing vendor CIVIX". Government Technology. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  16. "The Elimination of Garbage". Knowledge@Wharton. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  17. Lapowsky, Issie (13 January 2015). "A Startup Just Got $30 Million to Shake Up the Garbage Industry | WIRED". Wired. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  18. Waste360 Staff (21 February 2020). "Rubicon, DAVACO Divert 161 Tons of Metal from Landfills". Waste360. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  19. Hook, Leslie (9 February 2016). "Rubicon Global: tapping an app to tip". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  20. Rosengren, Cole (9 February 2019). "Rubicon Global sets sights overseas with new international role". Waste Dive. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  21. Rosengren, Cole (22 May 2020). "Rubicon's first ESG report emphasizes software pivot, $208M potential savings for cities". Waste Dive. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  22. Rosengren, Cole (20 May 2019). "Rubicon Global taking less combative tack, focusing on software business". Waste Dive. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  23. "Rubicon Smart Cities". Rubicon Global. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  24. Douglas, Theo (4 April 2017). "3 Cities Pilot Cloud-Based App, Dashboards to Get Smart About Trash and Recyclables". Governing Technology. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  25. Press Release. "City of Irving, Texas Selects Rubicon Global". Rubicon Global. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  26. "SB315 Overview". Nevada Legislature. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  27. Allegretti, Michael (14 April 2017). "It's time for waste collection norms to change". The Nevada Independent. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  28. Oudman, Tim (3 May 2017). "Response to waste collections op-ed". Retrieved 4 May 2017.
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