Trilantic North America Acquires Stake in Gorilla Commerce

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trilantic North America, a leading private equity firm, announced today that it has acquired a substantial interest in Gorilla Commerce (the “Company”), an e-commerce platform specializing in the development and sale of home and pet products through direct-to-consumer channels. Co-Founders and Co-Chief Executive Officers Jennifer Bernstein and Marissa Saporta continue to own a meaningful equity stake in the business and will continue to lead the Company through its next phase of growth.

Founded in 2014 in Westport, Connecticut, Gorilla Commerce operates as a direct-to-consumer home and pet product development platform, utilizing a data-driven approach to product category selection through a systematic assessment of underlying market characteristics. The Company manages over three thousand SKUs across more than 30 product categories through a portfolio of brands that includes Gorilla Grip, Kangaroo and Sofa Shield, among others.

“Jen and Marissa have developed an incredibly powerful system that harnesses data to capitalize on both the growth of the home goods product market and channel shift dynamics resulting from e-commerce penetration,” said Jamie Manges, Partner at Trilantic North America. “At Trilantic North America, we remain dedicated to partnering with exceptional founder-owned businesses and are increasingly focused on investing in next generation companies that are leveraging technology to disrupt traditional consumer categories. We’re thrilled to partner with Gorilla Commerce, which exemplifies both these core attributes, and are excited to help guide the Company through its next chapter of development.”

“We’re incredibly proud of the robust system we’ve built over the last five years and to partner with Trilantic North America, who shares our vision for the potential of our platform,” said Bernstein.

“Our partnership will fuel the continued growth of our existing product portfolio, accelerate the introduction of new products and enable our entry into new sales channels and geographic markets,” said Saporta.

Lincoln International acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Gorilla Commerce on the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal advice to Trilantic North America.

About Trilantic North America

Trilantic Capital Management L.P. ("Trilantic North America") is a 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, consumer, and energy sectors. Trilantic North America currently manages six private equity fund families with aggregate capital commitments of $9.6 billion. Trilantic North America has been recognized by Inc. Magazine's 2019 list of Top 50 Founder-Friendly Private Equity Firms. For more information, visit www.trilanticnorthamerica.com.

About Gorilla Commerce

Gorilla Commerce is dedicated to bringing our customers premium and functional household products at reasonable prices. As the owners and developers of brands including Gorilla Grip, Sofa Shield, Kangaroo, Grip Master, Ninja, GripMAX, Mighty Monkey and the Connecticut Home Company, our vision is to continuously innovate and improve our products based on customer needs and current industry trends. For more information, visit www.gorillacommerce.co.