A startup with its beginnings in a dorm room has been acquired by a private equity firm.
Carpe, whose products focus on the “embarrassing” problem of body sweat, is a company with both Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill roots. Topspin, a private equity firm focused on the consumer sector, recently acquired the company.
Topspin did not disclose the financials of the transaction.
Kasper Kubica (Duke) and David Spratte (UNC-Chapel Hill), founded the company in 2015 out of their dorm rooms, having met through the schools’ collaborative Robertson Scholars Leadership Program. And little by little, they built it into an empire.
Kubica and Spratte said the value proposition Topspin brings, other than growth capital, is expertise in the retail arena, the "final frontier" for the firm which, up until now, primarily sells through its website and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).
“We do feel like we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what’s possible,” Spratte said, noting that 80 percent of purchases in the category are happening in store. Topspin brings both consumer goods know-how and retail expertise and connections, he said.
The company has about 30 employees, 20 of whom are located in North Carolina. And the Topspin wallet likely means growth, they said.
Carpe began almost 10 years ago from a problem Spratte personally experienced in high school — sweaty hands.
“What we’re focused on is sweat all over,” Spratte told TBJ in 2019. “It’s been this painful embarrassing problem of a lot of people and, when it comes to any other area of the body outside of the underarms, we’re basically told to deal with it.”
Carpe’s solution was an antiperspirant lotion that can be used throughout the body, from underarms to hands and feet. The company launched in 2015 off of an initial $100,000 capital infusion from Thundershirt backer Bootstrap Advisors of Durham. Additional investment would follow, including a $5 million raise that closed in 2019.
The company saw 2022 revenue hit $22 million.
When asked what lessons they had for other entrepreneurial-focused college students, the pair said to make connections.
“You need to find a David to partner with,” Kubica said, noting that early mentors, including Bootstrap, became essential to the company’s success. “We’re very fortunate we built the company in an area where there’s so much support. … We have no intention of moving it.”
In a statement, Leigh Randall, managing partner at Topspin, said the firm’s investment in Carpe “reflects our commitment to partnering with fast-growing, founder-led brands that are disrupting their markets, and we're excited to support Carpe's continued growth and success.”
