User:ContentCreative/Rubicon Global

Rubicon Global is a cloud-based, full-service waste and recycling company focused on sustainability. It works with customers to find inefficiencies and cost-savings in their waste stream and to develop new and innovative ways to reduce, re-use and recycle waste.

Rubicon has developed a mobile application to provide on-demand trash pickup. The company has been compared to tech startups like Uber and Airbnb.

History
Rubicon was founded in Kentucky in 2008 by Nate Morris and Marc Spiegel who were friends from Eastern High School in Louisville. Spiegel’s family had been in the garbage hauling trade for more than a century; his knowledge piqued Morris’s interest in starting a company that could disrupt the waste industry. Morris put $10,000 on personal credit cards to fund initial expenses, like a website and basic legal work. Shortly thereafter, Hank Dudgeon joined as a co-founder.

Funding
In 2010, Rubicon received early seed money from QuarterMoore, an Atlanta-based private investment firm. QuarterMoore principal Lane Moore joined Rubicon as a co-founder.

In the summer of 2012, Rubicon received $5 million in its first financing round. Investors included Rotunda Capital Partners, Richmond Global and C.M. “Bill” Gatton.

In January 2015, Rubicon raised $30 million in a second round of financing. Investors included Auren Hoffman, Barry Sternlicht, Brad M. Kelley, Chris T. Sullivan, Bruce Lunsford, Marc Benioff and Fifth Third Bank.

In September 2015, Rubicon raised $50 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. The company’s post-money valuation climbed to $500 million.

Corporate information
Rubicon has offices in Atlanta, Lexington, Ky., New York and San Francisco.

Business model
Rubicon aims to cut costs for customers by working with suppliers to reduce inefficiencies and maximize the amount of waste being diverted from landfills. Customers include 7-Eleven and Wegman’s.

Rubicon is 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.

Sharing Economy
In 2015, Rubicon launched an app that provides on-demand trash pickup.

Rubicon has been called the “Uber for trash.” Key Rubicon advisors and employees with Uber connections include Oscar Salazar, David Plouffe and Brent Callinicos.

Small Business Empowerment
Rubicon has focused on small business empowerment. The company is partnered with the National Federation of Independent Business to promote and expand their independent vendor network.

Zero Waste
Rubicon CEO Nate Morris has said that the company's goal is to move all of their "material into something more sustainable than a landfill by 2022." Rubicon is a member of the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council.

B Corporation
Rubicon is a certified B Corporation.

In 2013, Rubicon worked with companies including Warby Parker and Prudential Financial to pass a law in Delaware recognizing Public Benefit Corporations.