JH Partners, LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on the consumer products and services industry, has invested in TerraCycle, Inc, the first company to produce gardening
JH Partners, LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on the consumer products and services industry, has invested in TerraCycle, Inc, the first company to produce gardening fertilizer products entirely out of waste.
JH Partners chose to invest in TerraCycle because of the company’s fresh approach to an existing market and its massive growth potential, and the firm hopes to use its experience growing leading brands to help TerraCycle develop into a sustained market leader.
TerraCycle range of organic and all-natural plant foods are made from worm droppings, The ‘eco-capitalist manufacturer’ also packages its products in re-used soda bottles collected from recycling centers as well as through the Bottle Brigade program, which has over 2,000 community groups that earn five cents for every bottle they collect. Because the Company’s products are completely made from and packaged in waste, the manufacturing of TerraCycle plant foods and fertilizers actually consumes more waste than it produces.
"JH Partners is the first institutional investor to join TerraCycle," said TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky. "We have turned down every other firm that has approached us as they have never shared our vision or energy and have wanted to move TerraCycle away from our commitment to being environmentally beneficial in all aspects of business. When I first met with JH Partners, I knew instantly that they were the perfect choice to help TerraCycle maintain the exponential growth we have already experienced."
TerraCycle has experienced 300% growth annually since 2003, when the company’s products were still called Earth Plant Fuel and made in a garage. Every year since those humble beginnings, the company has attracted more retailers, earned more shelf space and produced more varieties of its plant foods. As a result, TerraCycle has outgrown its current 25,000 sq foot factory in only two years and plans to move to a nearby facility that is five times the size. TerraCycle believes JH Partners is the ideal investor to help guide this growth.
"With an innovative, differentiated product and extraordinary growth potential, TerraCycle fits strongly with JH’s investment strategy," said John Hansen of JH Partners. "The Company is well positioned to capitalize on the growing market for natural and eco-friendly home products and is poised to become a leading brand. By leveraging our deep multi-channel experience, we believe, together with the impressive management team, we can build TerraCycle into an established market leader."
