No promotion felt right for John Armstrong in his corporate role.
More success was supposed to mean more happiness. But each career boost seemed to create more frustration. So, he packed his desk to start his own company with two goals — create an enjoyable place to work and solve a problem.
Four years later, Armstrong feels like his plan is working. His supply chain technology startup Reibus International Inc. says it has a $750 million valuation and a sevenfold revenue growth from 2020. Reibus has more than 120 employees and only “one person leave us that we regret” in the past year, Armstrong said.
At the end of November, Reibus raised a $75 million Series B round, the largest raise from any Atlanta startup that month, according to Atlanta Inno reporting.
SoftBank Vision Fund, an emerging technologies fund from global investor SoftBank, led the round. SoftBank has notable companies in its portfolio, including food delivery company DoorDash (NYSE: DASH), global logistics company Flexport, and Atlanta’s Kabbage, which was acquired by American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Canaan Partners, Nosara Capital, Battery Ventures, Bowery Capital, Initialized Capital and FJ Labs also back Reibus.
Reibus is a marketplace for industrial materials, such as steel and aluminum. Any company within the industrial materials supply chain, from suppliers to distributors to manufacturers, can use the marketplace. Reibus handles all listing and payments, allowing for companies to remain anonymous within the marketplace.
"Who’s most likely to have the material you need, right now, available tomorrow? Your competitor,” Armstrong said of the reasoning to allow anonymity.
Armstrong spent 25 years in the industrial materials space. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he was vice president and general manager of international metals producer OmniMax International Inc.
Supply chain technology is in high demand because of strains on the logistics networks. Demand drove $52 billion into the supply chain tech space last year. The current disruptions in the supply chains aren’t unprecedented, Armstrong said. It’s typical for there to be delays in the industrial market supply chain during political changes or severe weather crises that cause spikes in demand.
About 100 of Reibus’ employees were hired in the last year. The company recently expanded into new office space — two floors at One Glenlake in Sandy Springs.
By the time the startup had three employees, Armstrong was creating a company culture where people would be excited to come to work. He implemented values that were behavioral-based, rather than "aspirational nonsense” to create more concrete guidelines. Armstrong has interviewed every candidate for Reibus positions and plans to continue that trend until the company reaches 500 people.
“If there’s 500 people in the company that truly believe in our values and culture, I believe we’ll be in good shape,” Armstrong said.
In the next year, Reibus plans to expand its European business and team, Armstrong said. The company is also launching two product lines — logistics services for industrial materials and a financial technology product that allows Reibus to extend payment terms between transactions and finance their inventory. Those offerings were already available to customers and will become available outside of the Reibus marketplace.
