Boa Technology Inc. disclosed that it received funding last month from Glenbrook Consumer Partners, a San Francisco-based investment firm that finances innovative, high-growth consumer brands.
The agreement, finalized May 18, includes a strategic majority investment to accelerate Boa’s brand growth. “Boa exemplifies all of the elements we seek in a partner,” says Peter Breck, a managing director at Glenbrook Consumer Partners. “It has a highly differentiated product offering, attractive and scalable business model, a large market opportunity and, most importantly, an extremely talented, passionate and high-integrity team.”
Boa Technology began in 1998 as the brainchild of entrepreneur Gary Hammerslag. After recognizing the limitations of traditional shoelaces and other closure systems, he crafted a dial-based prototype that became the Boa Closure System. Now the gold standard of closure, it appears in numerous footwear categories including cycling, golf, outdoor, snowboarding, utility as well as helmets and medical bracing.
Boa partners with over 100 premium brands, among them: K2 Snowboarding, Vans, Footjoy, Specialized, Red Wing, Bata Industrials, TrekSta, Smith, Exos Medical and DeRoyal Medical.
“As demand for our system grows, so does our need to expand our resources and capabilities,” says Mark Soderberg, Boa’s CEO. “The Glenbrook team’s long history and proven track record of supporting great management teams to build world-class consumer brands, coupled with their financial commitment, puts Boa in a stronger position to act on opportunities that will help us achieve our goal of placing a Boa-powered product in every life.”
“We look forward to working with Boa’s management to build the Boa brand, introduce more users to the Boa Closure System and help deepen its relationships with both brand partners and end users,” says Glenbrook principal Trevor Ashley.
In conjunction with this transaction, long-time Boa President Mark Soderberg assumes the additional role of CEO. Founder Gary Hammerslag will remain company chairman and lead Boa’s new European office opening later this year.
Middle-market investment banking firm Integris Partners and the law firm Patton Boggs, LLP advised Boa Technology. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP provided legal counsel to Glenbrook.
Based in San Francisco, Glenbrook Consumer Partners, LLC, is an investment firm focused exclusively on financing entrepreneurs building innovative, high growth consumer brands. Glenbrook makes equity investments of $10 million to $40 million in growth equity transactions and minority and majority recapitalizations. Glenbrook targets profitable branded consumer companies with revenues between $10 million and $100 million that have creative and passionate management teams with proven revenue momentum and significant long-term growth potential. The Glenbrook team has worked together at Rosewood Capital, a private equity firm founded in 1986 and focused on consumer growth equity investments, whose investments include Clarisonic, Jamba Juice, and Under Armour.
