Big Belly Solar, the global leader in smart waste solutions for public spaces, announced today that it has partnered with McCarthy Capital Fund VI to recapitalize the Company and provide further cash investment to accelerate growth. McCarthy Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in Omaha, NE, manages more than $1 billion of investment capital across its portfolio of companies and specializes in growing businesses in partnership with management teams.
Bigbelly pioneered the smart waste industry over ten years ago and currently has over 60,000 solar-powered and remotely managed units deployed in cities, parks, universities, airports, and retail outlets in over 50 countries. The investment will support Bigbelly's plans to expand its penetration of existing markets, including through its platform as a service subscription offering, while also developing exciting new market opportunities in both the public and private sectors. In addition, the investment will support new product development including expanding the system into a hosting platform for wireless communications technologies, including 4G LTE and the rapidly growing 5G infrastructure.
"As the recognized market leader in the smart waste industry, we take great pride in what the Bigbelly team has created. McCarthy Capital is a natural fit due to their partnership philosophy and our mutual desire to continue to innovate while providing the highest level of customer service in the marketplace," said Brian Philips, President and CEO of Bigbelly. "I am especially excited about the opportunity to expand into new markets and to achieve a level of scale that would have not been possible previously."
"Bigbelly has single handedly created the smart waste market that has had a transformational impact in creating cleaner public spaces in major cities worldwide while simultaneously helping municipalities achieve dramatically more efficient and sustainable waste collection operations through its smart, cloud-based platform. The Bigbelly solution is also delivering the same benefits in many private sector operations such as theme parks, airports, corporate and university campuses," according to BJ Hansen, Vice President at McCarthy Capital. "We are excited to partner with Brian and his team as they continue to provide innovative IoT solutions in an ever-growing range of markets. In fact, as you travel around the world you are likely to come across Bigbelly units in whatever city you may be visiting."
Stephens Inc. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Bigbelly in this transaction.
About McCarthy Capital
McCarthy Partners Management, LLC is a registered investment advisor that conducts business as McCarthy Capital. McCarthy Capital, headquartered in Omaha, NE, is focused exclusively on lower middle-market companies. For more than 30 years, the McCarthy organization has been partnering with founders, families and exceptional management teams to support the growth of their companies. More information about McCarthy Capital can be obtained at www.mccarthycapital.com.
About Bigbelly
Bigbelly (www.bigbelly.com) is the world leader in smart waste and recycling solutions for public spaces. Deployed across communities, campuses and organizations in over 50 countries, the smart and connected Bigbelly waste & recycling system combines smart, solar powered, compacting stations with a cloud-based management platform to optimize waste operations. Customers experience up to 80% collection reduction in addition to cleanliness, operational, economic, and environmental gains with Bigbelly.
