News

The Builders Fund LP has acquired a “significant” stake in Brooklyn, New York-based MPOWERD Inc, a provider of clean energy products. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — MPOWERD Inc., a category leader in portable clean energy products, and The Builders Fund LP, a private equity firm that invests in high-growth, purpose-driven businesses that generate both social/environmental benefit and attractive financial returns (“Builders”), announced today that Builders has acquired a significant stake in the Company. Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Seungah Jeong and Co-founder/Chief Business Development Officer John Salzinger, the Company is committed to driving significant growth in terms of product innovation, humanitarian impact and overall profitability. Builders also announced that they have raised $15 million in new capital commitments and closed on their inaugural, $45 million private equity fund.

“The Builders Fund seeks to partner with innovative, high-quality management teams and economically attractive, impactful businesses exactly like MPOWERD. We see a great opportunity to leverage the Company’s thoughtfully designed product portfolio in concert with their meaningful brand platform to build an exciting market-leader in the sustainable consumer products space while simultaneously generating meaningful social impact. We are excited to work with Seungah, John and the MPOWERD team, and proud to support their important Give Luci program with Save the Children to help light up Puerto Rico as part of the recovery effort.” – Tripp Baird, THE BUILDERS FUND Managing Partner

In 2012, MPOWERD created their first product: an inflatable solar light called Luci. Durable, compact and waterproof, Luci was created to specifically empower those living, working and playing off the grid. As they develop products in an increasingly wider range of verticals and markets, MPOWERD treats customers, employees, and like-minded businesses and organizations as active partners in a shared mission to make the world a brighter, cleaner, safer place. This boils down to their uniquely inclusive business model: the more people in developed markets buy MPOWERD products, the more people in low-resource communities they’re able to empower.

“We’re thrilled to have found such a committed partner in The Builders Fund. A fellow B Corp, we feel that their hybrid purpose – and strategy-driven methodology makes them uniquely suited to assisting us in the pursuit of our growth and impact goals, which are often one and the same. Their integrated, regenerative approach to investment aligns with our vision of business as a driver of a more equitable and sustainable form of capitalism.” – Seungah Jeong, MPOWERD CEO

“We are so grateful to have naturally aligned on a shared vision with The Builders Fund. This investment represents an opportunity to strategically accelerate the marketing and sales initiatives for our clean tech offerings. In turn, this aggressive expansion will stimulate our unique, integrated growth/impact business model to serve not only our shareholders but those stakeholders in underserved communities around the world who benefit most from our solutions.” – John Salzinger, MPOWERD Co-Founder, CBDO.

Builders invests in purpose-driven entrepreneurial companies led by conscientious management teams building activist brands and cultures with scalable, profitable business models. Builders takes an operational approach to its investments, and its limited partner group is composed of 40+ LPs, most of whom were C-level operating executives and entrepreneurs – “builders” – in their respective fields and are committed to providing intellectual capital in addition to their investment dollars to the fund’s investments in the service of building high growth, mission-driven businesses that can win in the marketplace. Builders focuses on investing in segments such as: sustainable food & agriculture, health & wellness, resource efficiency and human elevation.

ABOUT MPOWERD:
MPOWERD is a B Corp committed to creating clean energy products that are simple, innovative and easy to use. Using today’s technology and knowledge, the company is determined to provide clean, easily accessible light to the 1.5 billion people still living without access to the electricity grid. An award-winning category creator and leader in the personal clean energy product space, MPOWERD has expanded their global presence to over 90 countries in the outdoor, lifestyle, impact and education verticals. They have positively affected over 1.6 million lives to date. For more information, visit https://mpowerd.com.

ABOUT THE BUILDERS FUND LP:
The Builders Fund LP is a San Francisco, California- and Salt Lake City, Utah-based growth stage private equity firm that invests in entrepreneurial companies which improve the world while generating market rates of return for investors. They focus on thematic areas such as: sustainable food & agriculture, health & wellness, resource efficiency and human elevation. As a B Corp themselves, The Builders Fund LP believes that “Purpose Moves People”. They have a gold, three-star GIIRS fund rating, including a gold environmental score and platinum scores for both governance and community. They were honored in 2017 as a “Best for the World” Fund for their overall impact business model. Previous and current investments include: Traditional Medicinals, Urban Remedy and The Bar Method. You can learn more about The Builders Fund LP at http://www.thebuildersfund.com.