GOLIATH Solutions Secures $27M In Funding From Cordjia And The Walnut Group

GOLIATH Solutions, LLC, a privately-held marketing intelligence company that has developed a proprietary and proven solution to maximize retailer returns from in-store advertising and merchandising, announced recently that it has completed a $27M financing led by two private equity firms: Cordjia and The Walnut Group.

With the funding, GOLIATH will move to quickly fulfill its contract with Walgreens, which is implementing the patented GOLIATH solution in 6,200 stores nationwide," said Bob Michelson, CEO of GOLIATH Solutions. "We will also accelerate the rollout of our solution to support retailers in the grocery, office, specialty and mass channels."

The financing included a $16M Series E equity investment and $11M in debt commitments. Joining Cordjia and The Walnut Group in the investment were other investors and a syndicate of financing providers including CapX Partners, Trinity Capital Investments and Comerica Bank.

"We are excited about the partnership with Cordjia and The Walnut Group, which will help position the company for long-tem success," Michelson said. "This is more than just financing. Both of these organizations have deep expertise and relationships in the retail industry and are committed to directly helping GOLIATH execute its growth plans."

The GOLIATH system has typically generated a positive return on investment (ROI) within months of implementation, Michelson says. GOLIATH's solution enables retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to measure consumer response to in-store promotional displays, signs and merchandising fixtures-a $17B industry-by integrating sales data with in-store display execution and location information. The system is being installed in thousands of retail stores, and more than 40 leading CPG companies subscribe to GOLIATH data.

"We believe GOLIATH's innovative solution is industry transforming," said Shane Flynn, Managing Director at Cordjia. "The retail industry will soon depend upon GOLIATH's unique marketing intelligence to plan and react to in- store marketing activities, creating billions of dollars of improved industry profits that were previously impossible to attain."

"The opportunity to partner with GOLIATH to build a world-class consumer marketing intelligence company is very exciting to all of us at The Walnut Group," added James Gould, Managing General Partner. "The Walnut Group's core criterion is to invest in companies with outstanding management teams, a proven track record and a thorough understanding of the business-and that is exactly what we are fortunate to have at GOLIATH."

About GOLIATH Solutions, LLC
GOLIATH Solutions is a marketing intelligence company that tracks consumer response to in-store promotional displays, signs and merchandising fixtures by integrating sales data with in-store display execution and location information. Retailers and CPG companies invest $17 billion annually in in- store advertising and merchandising, but until recently, they had very little information about consumer response to the displays. By using patented long- range RFID technology to track displays within a retail store and combining that information with store sales data, GOLIATH Solutions has been able to deliver the marketing intelligence retailers and CPG companies need. For more information about GOLIATH, please visit www.goliathsolutions.com.

About Cordjia, LLC
Cordjia is a Delaware-based private equity firm that delivers long-term financial gains for investors by providing the capital, key managerial experience and deep operational expertise needed to unlock the vast growth potential of middle market partners and real estate ventures. Cordjia's principals have more than 80 years of combined experience and have worked together in various executive management, senior operations and corporate real estate positions for more than 15 years. For more information about Cordjia, please visit www.cordjia.com.

About The Walnut Group The Walnut Group is a Cincinnati, Ohio,-based private equity firm organized by life-long friends Frederic H. Mayerson and James M. Gould who's diverse, yet complementary entrepreneurial backgrounds span more than 25 years. They have been investors as well as founders and operators of businesses. The Walnut Group makes equity investments across a broad range of industry sectors with a particular focus on retail, consumer products and services, and business and financial services. Their investments have included Build-A-Bear Workshop, Skylight Financial, and Cap Toys. For information about The Walnut Group, visit www.thewalnutgroup.com.

About CapX Partners
CapX Partners, founded in 1999, is an equipment financing and secured mezzanine fund focusing on transaction sizes of $1-$7M for private equity and venture backed portfolio companies. CapX has $150M of capital and favors manufacturing, distribution, service, technology and healthcare service industries with an emphasis on revenue producing fixed assets. For more information about CapX, visit www.capxpartners.com.

SOURCE: GOLIATH Solutions, LLC