A bankrupt startup in Raleigh has a new owner — its investors.
Neither BOA Nutrition’s NIL deals (name, image, likeness) with college athletes nor its sports-energy supplement technology were enough to secure alternative bidders after a group of the company's investors submitted a stalking horse bid of $400,000.
The purchase was approved by a bankruptcy court in recent weeks. But it remains unclear who the buyer group is made up of. The group taking control of BOA's assets is called BOA Refinance. The investors making up BOA Refinance hold a secured claim of more than $185,000, according to court filings.
J. Kelley Williams Jr. of Greenover Group, one of BOA's investors, is listed as manager of BOA Refinance in business registration filings. Neither he, nor his attorney, have responded to multiple requests for comment.
BOA Nutrition co-founder Hank Durschlag did not return requests to comment.
The company's technology was developed at Duke University. Its two-second aerosol spray was supposed to deliver as much sodium as a 12 ounce sports drink.
At a recent court hearing, bankruptcy trustee John Bircher said the lack of interest wasn’t surprising, “based on some information we had gleaned.”
Robert Tramantano, principal at Great Neck Realty, had gone over his $5,000 marketing budget at his own expense in trying to secure a higher bid than the stalking horse offer already on the table. He told the bankruptcy court that he advertised in trade publications and even reached out to private equity groups directly about the opportunity.
“The main sort of obstacle … we were dealing with primarily patent applications as opposed to patents secured,” Tramantano said, adding that potential buyers were turned off by the overall “uncertainty.” While he secured six nondisclosure agreements from potential bidders, no one actually came through, putting the technology back in the hands of BOA's initial investors.
The fact that the startup had failed and filed for bankruptcy was also a factor working against the asset sale, Tramantano said.
“We feel like the initial sale price was a good price for what we had,” Bircher told the court. “We had a buyer that had some history and knowledge and working understanding of the technology.”
BOA Nutrition attracted big name investors early on, people like Martin Rennie, former head coach of the Carolina Railhawks; Rod Walters, president of sports medicine consultant Walters Inc.; Eric Gibson, CMO of Golf Pride in Pinehurst; Alston Gardner of DGI Capital; Jay Harrison, a former Carolina Hurricanes player; and former BioAgilytix CEO Jim Datin.
But it wasn't able to attract the revenue it needed to keep going, bankruptcy filings show.
In 2022, the company inked nearly $183,000 in gross revenue. But by the time of the bankruptcy filing late last year, 2023 revenue added up to $106,000. The company had racked up more than 50 creditors and had less than $500,000 in assets. Debts identified in the bankruptcy petition add up to just over $2.7 million.