BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sunrise Strategic Partners (“SSP” or "the Company"), a leading growth equity investor in the healthy, active and sustainable living space, today announced key organizational changes to support the evolution of its unique, value-added investing model. SSP was established in 2016 in partnership with Trilantic North America (“Trilantic”). The Company’s investments to date include Kodiak Cakes, where SSP helped drive revenue from $15 million in sales to over $200 million and facilitated a successful sale to L Catterton; Vital Farms, which completed its IPO in 2020; CoolHaus; Pact; Maple Hill Creamery and Teton Waters Ranch.
To further enhance its differentiated model, SSP recently brought on four Operating Partners with deep expertise in key functional areas and track records of growing businesses and achieving liquidity:
- Hunt Killough specializes in strategic omni-channel development and execution, as well as key customer, team and P&L management for small and mid-size high growth food and beverage companies. Prior to joining SSP, Hunt was Chief Sales Officer of ONE Brands, which sold to The Hershey Company in 2019. His 25+ year career includes senior leadership positions with Justin’s Nut Butter and Ancient Harvest.
- David Ziegert brings more than 25 years of consumer packaged goods (CPG) experience. David has harnessed his expertise in the areas of general management, operations, supply chain and finance to drive value for portfolio companies by enhancing strategic planning, creating and leveraging operational processes and accelerating results against commercial strategies. His previous leadership experience includes serving as Chief Operating Officer at ONE Brands and General Manager at Celestial Seasonings.
- Jeff Perkel is a commercial leader with nearly 20 years of experience delivering results for both emerging and established brands, with an emphasis on e-commerce, marketing and sales. Most recently, Jeff held leadership roles at Perfect Snacks, which sold to Mondelez, and prior to that, at Justin’s Nut Butter.
- Mark Doiron has more than 20 years of experience managing and executing commercial sales strategies of CPG businesses, with a primary focus on maximizing sales execution and trade fund management across channels. Prior to joining SSP, Mark was Senior Vice President of Sales at ONE Brands and also held senior management positions at Justin's Nut Butter and Celestial Seasonings.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with each of our new Operating Partners at different points of my career and can attest to their expertise in scaling brands and commitment to operational excellence,” said Peter Burns, Managing Partner of SSP. “The addition of Hunt, David, Jeff and Mark will enable SSP to bring even greater value-added expertise to our portfolio companies and further differentiate our investing model.”
Co-Founder and Managing Partner Vincent Love added, “In today’s turbulent environment, it is imperative that we are able to support our portfolio companies across all key functional areas. We are excited to continue to add experienced CPG leaders to our team who share our passion for building the next generation of food and beverage businesses.”
SSP is also pleased to announce the additions of Peter Schnuck as Senior Associate and Lexy Brown as Associate. Peter joins SSP after three years at MidOcean Partners and Lexy joins SSP from Goldman Sachs.
To learn more about Sunrise Strategic Partners, visit the company’s website: https://www.sunrisestrategicpartners.com/.
About Sunrise Strategic Partners
Sunrise Strategic Partners, LLC (“SSP”), based in Boulder, Colorado, provides growth capital and expertise to differentiated and authentic emerging brands in the healthy, active and sustainable living space. SSP invests in brands with $20 - $50+ million in revenue that have a strong proof of concept and need capital for growth. The SSP team is deeply experienced in scaling brands and supports these investments by adding strategic value and guidance on tactical priorities. Sunrise Strategic Partners was founded in 2016 in partnership with Trilantic North America, a leading private equity firm. For more information, visit www.sunrisestrategicpartners.com.
About Trilantic North America
Trilantic Capital Management L.P. ("Trilantic North America") is a growth-focused middle market private equity firm focused on control and significant minority investments in North America. Trilantic North America's primary investment focus is in the business services and consumer sectors. Trilantic North America has managed six private equity fund families with aggregate capital commitments of $9.9 billion. Trilantic North America has been recognized by Inc. Magazine’s 2022 list of Top Founder-Friendly Investors and has been named one of Growthcap’s 2021 Top 25 Private Equity Firms for Growth Companies. For more information, visit www.trilanticnorthamerica.com.
Media Inquiries:
Katy Love
(720) 378-1931
Katy@commodditiesinc.com
