BIC, which manufactures stationery products such as pens and pencils, has acquired digital notebook company Rocketbook.
BIC is paying $40 million upfront for the startup, with the potential for more payments based on future performance.
Rocketbook, based in Boston, makes cloud-connected, smart and reusable notebooks and accessories.
A Rocketbook notebook can be written in just like the traditional pen and paper notebooks students have been using for years. Using one of the company’s pens, a user’s writing sticks to the pages. However, the content can be sent to various cloud services for storage and later access. If a user wipes the notebook with a damp cloth, the writing disappears, so the notebook can be reused indefinitely.
BIC’s operations in the United States are headquartered in Shelton. This acquisition expands BIC’s product offerings, while expanding Rocketbook’s reach, according to the companies.
BIC CEO Gonzalve Bich said he admires how Rocketbook transformed the everyday notebook.
“At BIC, we are focused on reimagining everyday essentials and introducing new products that enhance peoples’ lives,” Bich said in an announcement. “This acquisition solves a major challenge for many stationery consumers, providing a way to write that can be easily stored and shared in a quick, efficient and environmentally conscious manner.”
BIC anticipates digital writing products – reusable notebooks, smart pens, slate tablets and stylus pens – will be an area of growth.
Partners Joe Lemay and Jake Epstein founded Rocketbook in 2014, and it has grown rapidly, both in product offerings and sales. Rocketbook reported $32 million in net sales in 2020.
According to Lemay, six years ago, the pair sat in a Boston pub and dreamed about creating a reusable notebook.
“We faced huge obstacles and countless skeptics early-on because we were working to reinvent a centuries-old industry,” said Lemay, Rocketbook’s CEO, in a press release. “Through a mix of crowdfunding and some disruptive breakthroughs with material and digital technologies, Rocketbook notebooks have gone on to become top-selling notebooks on Amazon and around the world. To come full circle from that moment when we were drafting plans on cocktail napkins to being acquired by BIC is a dream come true.”
Epstein said he anticipates that BIC’s support will allow Rocketbook to expand its list of retail partners, distribution facilities and global reach.
“Together, we’re going to do for notebooks, what Tesla did for cars,” Epstein said.
Meanwhile, BIC also announced this week that it has signed a purchase and sale agreement to sell its Brazilian adhesive label business, PIMACO, to Grupo CCRR for 40 million Brazilian Real, which translates to $7.8 million. That transaction must be approved by the Brazilian antitrust authorities, and the closing is expected in the first quarter of 2021.
This story has been updated to include the sale price.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
