Lexington, Kentucky, March 16, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rubicon Technologies, LLC (“Rubicon” or the “Company”), a digital marketplace for waste and recycling and provider of innovative software-based solutions for businesses and governments worldwide, today announced that it has entered into a three year smart city partnership with the City of Houston, Texas (the “City”) to help improve residential waste and recycling services for its more than 2.3 million residents.
RUBICONSmartCity™ is a proprietary, cloud-based technology suite that helps city governments run faster, smarter, and more effective waste, recycling, and heavy-duty municipal fleet operations. The platform includes a mobile app, an onboard data collection device, and a web-based portal that will allow the City’s Department of Solid Waste to track key metrics including service verifications, missed pickups and issues at the curb, as well as vehicle usage and maintenance information, leading to more efficient operations, increased recycling rates, and ultimately improved service for its customers and citizens.
“We are thrilled to partner with the City of Houston to provide digital waste and recycling solutions to the City’s residents,” said Nate Morris, Chairman and CEO of Rubicon. “Houston is one of the largest cities in America, and their decision to work with us speaks volumes about the value provided by Rubicon’s products and the service improvements and savings they deliver to taxpayers in cities all across the United States.”
Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States by population, and Rubicon’s products will be installed across its entire waste and recycling fleet, numbering 391 vehicles. The partnership will give the City greater insight into what is happening in the field, helping to increase the productivity of its Department of Solid Waste, and supporting all internal units from the management team to the drivers.
“Partnering with Rubicon will help our great city optimize its solid waste operations and make it possible for us to digitize our entire waste and recycling management system,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “The City of Houston is committed to providing the highest level of service to its residents and this partnership will allow us to provide better services, save taxpayer dollars, and deliver a better quality of life for Houstonians.”
The partnership aims to improve customer service for City residents by providing enhanced reporting tools for use by 311 and waste and recycling operations, enabling drivers to document issues and exceptions along their routes, including instances of recycling contamination and bins not being placed out on time.
“The City’s Department of Solid Waste can use this information to advise and educate residents around service scheduling, best practices for waste and recycling management, and reduce costly return trips,” said Solid Waste Management Department Director Mark Wilfalk. “These insights, alongside route optimization and digitization efforts, are set to deliver an optimal operation to the City of Houston.”
In 2021, RUBICONSmartCity was listed in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards in the “AI & Data” and “Spaces, Places, and Cities” categories, and it won the Capital Finance International (CFI) Best SaaS Smart City Solutions Award. In December 2021, Amazon produced a documentary featuring RUBICONSmartCity and its work with the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico entitled, “The Road to Zero Waste.”
“Our partnership with the City of Houston is off to a fantastic start, as we were able to install our products and train the entire Solid Waste Department’s workforce in only 73 days, an incredibly fast turn for such an undertaking,” said Michael Allegretti, Chief Strategy Officer at Rubicon. “This partnership comes at a critically important time, as Houston and other cities across the nation look to maintain, and ultimately expand, service levels as they embark on rebuilding and revitalization projects.”
RUBICONSmartCity has been rolled out in over 70 cities across the United States, including Asheville, NC; Baltimore, MD; Columbus, OH; Durham, NC; Fort Collins, CO; Fort Smith, AR; Glendale, AZ; Greenville, NC; Hartford, CT; Kansas City, MO; Memphis, TN; Montgomery, AL; Santa Fe, NM; San Antonio, TX; Savannah, GA; Spokane, WA; and Roseville, CA. The solution is available to purchase on Sourcewell, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, the HGACBuy consortium, and Marketplace.city.
About Rubicon
Rubicon is a digital marketplace for waste and recycling, and provider of innovative software-based solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. Creating a new industry standard by using technology to drive environmental innovation, the company helps turn businesses into more sustainable enterprises, and neighborhoods into greener and smarter places to live and work. Rubicon’s mission is to end waste. It helps its partners find economic value in their waste streams and confidently execute on their sustainability goals. Learn more at Rubicon.com.
Rubicon previously announced an agreement for a business combination with Founder SPAC (Nasdaq: FOUN), which is expected to result in Rubicon becoming a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the new ticker symbol “RBT” in the second quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.
About Founder SPAC
Founder is a blank check company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. While Founder is not limited to a particular industry or geographic region, the company focuses on businesses within the technology sector, with a specific focus on the theme of Digital Transformation. Founder is led by CEO Osman Ahmed, CFO Manpreet Singh, and Executive Chairman Hassan Ahmed. The company’s independent directors include Jack Selby, Steve Papa, Allen Salmasi, and Rob Theis. Sponsor and advisor, Nikhil Kalghatgi, leads the company’s advisory board.
Important Information About the Business Combination and Where to Find It
Founder’s shareholders and other interested persons are advised to read, carefully and in their entirety, the preliminary proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 1, 2022 (including any amendments or supplements thereto) and, when available, the definitive proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus, as well as other documents filed with the SEC, as these materials will contain important information about Founder, Rubicon and the other parties to the Merger Agreement (as defined in the Registration Statement), and the Business Combination (as defined in the Registration Statement). After the Registration Statement is declared effective, the definitive proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus will be mailed to shareholders of Founder as of a record date to be established for voting on the business combination and other matters described in the Registration Statement. Founder shareholders will also be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC that will be incorporated by reference in the proxy statement/consent solicitation statement/prospectus, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s web site at sec.gov, or by directing a request to: Founder SPAC, 11752 Lake Potomac Drive, Potomac, MD, 20854, Attention: Chief Financial Officer, (240) 418-2649.
Participants in the Solicitation
Founder and its directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Founder’s shareholders with respect to the Business Combination. A list of the names of those directors and executive officers and a description of their interests in the Business Combination is contained in the Registration Statement.
Rubicon and its directors and executive officers may also be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Founder in connection with the Business Combination. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the Business Combination is contained in the Registration Statement.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Founder’s and Rubicon’s actual results may differ from their expectations, estimates and projections and consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “believe,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Founder’s and Rubicon’s expectations with respect to future performance and anticipated financial impacts of the Business Combination, the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the Business Combination and the timing of the completion of the Business Combination. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results, including factors that are outside of Founder’s and Rubicon’s control and that are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Founder and Rubicon following the announcement of the Merger Agreement and the transactions contemplated therein; (2) the inability to complete the Business Combination, including due to failure to obtain the approval of the shareholders of Founder, approvals or other determinations from certain regulatory authorities, or other conditions to closing in the Merger Agreement; (3) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement or that could otherwise cause the transactions contemplated therein to fail to close; (4) the inability to obtain or maintain the listing of the combined company’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange following the Business Combination; (5) the risk that the Business Combination disrupts current plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the Business Combination; (6) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition and the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably and to retain its key employees; (7) costs related to the Business Combination; (8) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (9) the possibility that Rubicon or the combined company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; (10) the combined company’s ability to raise financing in the future and to comply with restrictive covenants related to long-term indebtedness; (11) the impact of COVID-19 on Rubicon’s business and/or the ability of the parties to complete the Business Combination; and (12) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in the Registration Statement and other documents filed, or to be filed, by Founder with the SEC.
Founder cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. Although Founder believes the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements or projections set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements or projections will be achieved. There may be additional risks that Founder and Rubicon presently do not know of or that they currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Founder cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Neither Founder nor Rubicon undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by law.
No Offer or Solicitation
This press release shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent, or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the Business Combination. This press release shall also not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act.
