Waste industry solutions provider Rubicon Global has brought on a new CFO to manage the company’s financial operations as they continue to scale their platform. Chad Gold served as CFO overseeing financial operations at Ariba, a cloud-based software company, following its $4.3 billion acquisition by SAP in 2012. Now he will leverage that experience, where he helped the team more than double cloud subscription revenue, at Rubicon.
Gold is joining the company in the middle of a transformational year that kicked off in January with a win at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of the Ecolab Award for Circular Economy Digital Disruptor. Following that, the company announced an investment and strategic partnership with France-based multi-national resource management company Suez. The $50 million round led by Suez put the company’s valuation at $800 million.
They also announced the first pilots in their SmartCity program: Atlanta, GA; Columbus, GA; and Santa Fe, NM. By partnering directly with city governments to help public works departments utilize the Rubicon technology, they are now actively collecting waste data from over 200,000 households.
“Rubicon is on the cutting edge of leveraging emerging technologies, such as big data and IoT, to transform the way businesses and municipalities view their waste collection and disposal,” says Gold.
“With a strong management team and investor base, a huge addressable market, and an ongoing pipeline of innovation, I see amazing growth prospects for Rubicon.”
Gold shares more about what he’ll be focusing on at Rubicon, why he believes in the technology, and how Rubicon will leverage partnerships to take their platform to a global audience.
How will your previous experience at Ariba, particularly during such a high-growth period and acquisition, lend itself to your new role at Rubicon?
I really see my role helping in two core ways: 1. I have experienced what it is like to scale cross functionally while supporting high growth and profitability in a technology company. And two, Ariba’s business model as a SaaS business and commerce platform aligns well with identifying new revenue strategies for Rubicon that are in addition to our offerings today.
Why does Rubicon need a CFO now? What will you be focusing your energies on?
Rubicon is in a similar position to most rapidly-growing technology companies that look for a finance leader to help scale the business. I will be focusing on serving as a strategic partner to our management team as we continue to grow our platform and expand our business model.
What most excites you about Rubicon’s technology and industry?
I was drawn to Rubicon because it is leveraging its technology platform to completely evolve an industry. Rubicon has developed technology to support small business by reducing costs for our customers while also empowering local haulers by bringing them new business. This is a winning combination. I also was drawn to Rubicon’s core values and ultimate goal of zero landfills in an industry that has never thought like that before. It’s inspiring.
With the Suez partnership/investment, Rubicon has the opportunity to build a global brand. How will the company leverage that opportunity?
I think the Suez partnership allows us to learn and test our software in areas outside of the U.S. It also provides us with a partner that is at the forefront of sustainability in the waste industry, and who gives us the ability to provide additional services to customers with a global footprint.
What should we look for from Rubicon in the second half of 2017?
I see us continuing to drive growth through our core business and Rubicon SmartCity platform, providing differentiated service for our customers, and continuing to grow our technology platform to provide additional value to our customers and haulers.
