ecoSPIRITS to Launch in the United States in Partnership With Park Street Technology Ventures
MIAMI 28 February 2022 ecoSPIRITS announced today that it has signed a Licensed Operator Agreement for the United States with a new joint venture company established with Park Street Technology Ventures and the Edmund Pillsbury family. ecoSPIRITS USA will be headquartered in Miami, where Park Street is also based. Financing for the joint venture will be provided by all three parties. As part of the launch of ecoSPIRITS patent-pending closed loop spirits technology in the world’s largest premium spirits market, ecoSPIRITS’ Zdenek Kastanek will transition into the new role of Managing Director, ecoSPIRITS USA effective July 2022.
Art Deco Ocean Drive in Miami Beach
Sweet Liberty, one of Miami's award-winning bars
Little Havana is Miami's vibrant Cuban heart
Park Street Technology Ventures is an affiliate of Park Street, a leading technology-enabled services company that helps emerging and established alcoholic beverage suppliers and brand owners cost-effectively and securely scale and manage their businesses in the U.S. market. ecoSPIRITS selected Park Street as their U.S. partner for their extensive experience across the entire beverage alcohol value chain, including regulatory compliance, freight and logistics, importing and distribution, and information and data management. Backed by Park Street’s 400 team members in the United States and around the world, and ecoSPIRITS’ global team and industry-leading experience with circular spirits, the new joint venture is well positioned to bring circular spirits to a complex and exciting U.S. market.
Harry Kohlmann, CEO, Park Street
“Park Street is committed to investing in sustainability, and the ecoSPIRITS system delivers measurable value to participants throughout the supply chain – from manufacturers and distributors to on-premise accounts and consumers. The term ‘drink responsibly’ now has an even broader implication and we are proud to partner with ecoSPIRITS to bring its technology to the U.S. market.”
Paul Gabie, CEO, ecoSPIRITS
“The U.S. is a crucial market in terms of size, visibility and innovation. Over the past two years, we have been received a remarkable number of inquiries about the ecoSPIRITS technology from U.S.-based brands, distributors and hospitality operators. The timing is right to bring closed loop spirits to the U.S. With its broad network of relationships and commitment to innovation, Park Street was the natural partner for ecoSPIRITS USA.”
Private financing for the new joint venture will be led by the Edmund Pillsbury family, with co-investments by ecoSPIRITS and Park Street. Edmund Pillsbury, who is an experienced private investor and a board member of Tahoe Blue Vodka, will take a seat on the board of the joint venture entity alongside Kohlmann and Gabie. The joint venture has opened offices in Miami, where Kastanek is based, and will build a team of industry professionals dedicated to scaling closed loop spirits across the country.
The Champagne Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel at The Surf Club in Miami Beach, Florida
Edmund Pillsbury, Angel Investor & ecoSPIRITS USA Board Member
“As an angel investor and board member of Tahoe Blue Vodka, I was able to appreciate the impact single use glass has on the environment. We sell thousands of cases a year and the majority of our glass ends up in a landfill. ecoSPIRITS is an elegant solution and represents the future of responsible packaging in the spirits and wine industry. This solution could potentially eliminate millions of pounds of single use glass and dramatically improve the climate impact of the entire industry.”
Zdenek Kastanek, International Sales Director, ecoSPIRITS
“ecoSPIRITS has long planned to enter the U.S. market, which is known for leadership in both sustainability and innovation. With a majority of our global customer based already operating in the U.S., we have a head start in terms of Climate Partner brands and hospitality operators. We could not have asked for a better partner in Park Street, or lead investors in the Ed Pillsbury and his family, for one of our most important markets worldwide.”
In the first phase of development, ecoSPIRITS USA will offer closed loop service in Florida and California from three ecoPLANTs (Nos. 31, 32 and 33) based in Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, respectively. The ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner Program will open to spirit brands, importers, distributors and hospitality operators and venues who are looking to reduce the single use waste and carbon footprint of their U.S. spirit distribution and consumption. ecoSPIRITS USA will also participate in the ecoSPIRITS Forest Program, which plants native trees in endangered wild areas based ecoTOTE™ cycles in the closed loop system.
ecoPLANT No. 31, the first in the U.S., will be sited in Miami
ecoPLANTS will be deployed in both Florida and California in the first phase of the new joint venture
Bars, restaurants, hotels, importers, distributors and brands that are interested in joining the ecoSPIRITS Climate Partner Program in the U.S. can get in touch via email at [email protected]. Additional information on the timeline for closed loop service and the coverage in each state will be released soon.
About Park Street
Launched in 2003 by former McKinsey consultants, Park Street is a technology-enabled services company that helps emerging and established alcoholic beverage suppliers and brand owners cost-effectively and securely scale and manage their businesses. The company combines complex sector expertise with skilled human capital and a purpose-built technology platform to deliver fully transparent and reliable performance. Areas of expertise include regulatory compliance, freight and logistics, importing and distribution, order fulfillment, accounting, HR and benefits management, working capital, information and data management, systems development, systems integration, and more. The company is trusted by thousands of brands from new-to-market entrepreneurs to well established multi-brand global portfolios. Park Street is headquartered in Miami, Florida and has over 400 team members supporting operations across the United States and around the world.
About Park Street Technology Ventures
Park Street Technology Ventures (“Park Street Ventures”) is an affiliate of Park Street and invests in early-stage start-ups and established growth companies in the alcoholic beverage industry. The firm’s investment mandate focuses on transformative technologies and green initiatives. Park Street Ventures provides a combination of capital, strategic and operational guidance, and industry knowledge to help companies accelerate growth.
For more information, please visit www.parkstreet.com
As Global Rollout Continues, ecoSPIRITS Appoints Executive Board Chair and Chief Operating Officer
SINGAPORE 21 February 2022 ecoSPIRITS announced today the appointments of Sui Ling Cheah to the role of Executive Board Chair and Anand Subramanian to the role of Chief Operating Officer. The appointments bolster ecoSPIRITS’ leadership team and governance as it navigates both a period of extraordinary global growth and the next phase of development of its closed loop technology. Together, Ms. Cheah and Mr. Subramanian bring more than 40 years of experience in strategy, investment banking, private equity, venture capital and governance to the ecoSPIRITS mission. Both of the new roles will be based in ecoSPIRITS’ Singapore headquarters.
Singapore's Marina Bay skyline
Ms. Cheah & Mr. Subramanian with the patent-pending ecoTOTE 3.0S
In the newly-created role of Executive Board Chair, Ms. Cheah will lead the ecoSPIRITS board, oversee the company’s governance, and assist the CEO in setting the company’s overall strategy and direction. Ms. Cheah brings more than 25 years of experience to the role, primarily in investment banking, technology company advisory and board governance. In addition to her role at ecoSPIRITS, Ms. Cheah is an Operating Partner at Wavemaker Partners, a leading early stage venture fund. She previously spent more than 20 years in investment banking, including time at Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas. Ms. Cheah also holds independent board positions in several publicly listed companies in industries spanning hospitality, healthcare and telecommunications.
Sui Ling Cheah, Executive Board Chair, ecoSPIRITS
“ecoSPIRITS has developed into one of the most exciting companies in the Wavemaker Partners portfolio, having the potential to change the way the spirits industry operates. The world has to get serious about climate change. I believe we can play a part by backing companies with transformative environmental impact and innovative and capital efficient business models. I look forward to working closely with our board members and management team as ecoSPIRITS moves forward on its mission to transition the spirits industry to circular packaging technology.”
In addition to the new Executive Board Chair, ecoSPIRITS has appointed Anand Subramanian to the newly-created role of Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Mr. Subramanian will oversee the company’s board and investor relations as well as the finance, talent and strategy functions. He brings experience in strategy, investment banking, private equity and venture capital to ecoSPIRITS. Mr. Subramanian joins from Comcast NBC Universal, where he was Head of Strategy & Business Development in Asia Pacific. He previously spent thirteen years in investment banking and private equity and growth company investing, most recently with Fullerton Financial Holdings and J.P. Morgan.
Anand Subramanian, Chief Operating Officer, ecoSPIRITS
“I joined ecoSPIRITS because I believe that sustainability should become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. I am excited to join the mission of ending single glass use and at the same time creating a scalable, sustainable and profitable business. As a circular economy technology company, we are truly at the centre of revolutionising the spirits industry by combining economic and social benefits for the entire ecosystem from brands, distributors, retail outlets and eventually the end consumer.”
Both of the new leadership roles will be based in ecoSPIRITS’ headquarters in Singapore, allowing ecoSPIRITS CEO Paul Gabie to spend time across the company’s Miami, London and Singapore offices to better support a growing global network of ecoSPIRITS Licensed Operators and Climate Partners.
ecoSPIRITS serves its customers from offices in Miami, London, Shanghai & Singapore.
Paul Gabie, Chief Executive Officer, ecoSPIRITS
“2021 was a remarkable year for spirits and the circular economy. ecoSPIRITS is now licensed in 18 countries worldwide, including many of the largest consumer markets. The future of circular spirits is bright; yet, delivering closed loop service at global scale presents complex challenges. Having worked closely with Sui Ling as a board member, I am delighted to welcome her to a formal role on the leadership team. Anand brings the strategy and financial acumen ecoSPIRITS requires to continue to develop cutting-edge solutions for circular at global scale. I could not be more excited about the impact these two appointments will have on ecoSPIRITS’ development in 2022 and beyond.”
About Sui Ling Cheah
Sui Ling Cheah is Operating Partner at Wavemaker, a B2B and deep tech focused early stage venture capital fund where she is responsible for helping the mature companies in Wavemaker’s portfolio with business development, follow-on financing and eventual exits. Prior to joining the venture capital industry, she spent 20 years in investment banking raising capital for high growth companies and executing cross-border M&A. Her last investment banking role was as the Co-Head of Corporate Finance of SEA at BNP Paribas. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of Investment Banking at JP Morgan Singapore. Sui Ling started her career with Merrill Lynch New York followed by stints in Singapore and London. Sui Ling is currently also a board director of several publicly-listed companies such as CDL Hospitality REIT, Parkway Life REIT and Telechoice International. Born in Malaysia, she graduated from Wellesley College in the United States with a Bachelor of Arts in French and Economics.
For more information, please visit LinkedIn
About Anand Subramanian
Anand Subramanian has over 16 years of experience in private equity, venture capital, and investment banking. Prior to joining ecoSPIRITS, Anand was the Head of Corporate Strategy and Business Development APAC at Comcast NBCUniversal where he oversaw the go-to-market strategy for NBCUniversal in Asia Pacific across both linear and digital assets. Previously, Anand was Vice President of Investments at Fullerton Financial Holdings, Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, overlooking fintech and financial services investments across South & South East Asia. Anand spent close to 10 years at J.P. Morgan, Singapore, where was an Executive Director, Investment Banking overseeing all facets of IB including capital markets and M&A. He was also the Head of Junior Resources. Born in India, Anand graduated from Symbiosis Center for Management and Human Resource Development with an MBA in Finance & Marketing and from Delhi University with a Bachelor in Commerce.
For more information, please visit LinkedIn