Robert Jakobi | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 7, 1985 |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania (A.B.) Duke University |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Robert Jakobi (born April 7, 1985) is a Food entrepreneur. He is the former Managing Director and Co Owner of Metcalfe's Food Company, which was founded by Julian Metcalfe in 2009. [1]
Robert Jakobi grew up in London and then moved to the US to study. Jakobi attended Duke University, and then the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in May 2007. [2]
Jakobi started his career as an Analyst in Investment Banking at Barclays Capital in New York. [3]
In January 2010, whilst working in Finance, Jakobi founded a food company called Pod bites, which was a range of chocolate, and yoghurt covered edamame. [4] He launched Pod bites in Harvey Nichols and Selfridges amongst others in March 2010. [5]
Through Pod bites Robert Jakobi met Julian Metcalfe who is the Co Founder of Itsu and Pret A Manger. [6] Jakobi approached Julian as he was keen to get Pod bites into Itsu and Pret A Manger. [7] Jakobi became the Managing Director of Metcalfe's Food Company in October 2010. [1]
Metcalfe's Food Company enjoyed a compound annual growth rate of over 200% in revenues between 2011 and 2014. [8] In February 2014 the company had forecast to achieve £50 Million in sales within the next 3 years. [9] As of December 2014, Metcalfe's Food Company were the fastest-growing, privately owned food and drink company in the UK. [10]
In January 2016 Diamond Foods acquired a minority stake in Metcalfe's skinny. [11] The investment will help to maximise the growth potential of the brand in the UK and Europe. [12]
In September 2016 the new owner of Kettle Foods Snyder's-Lance, Inc. acquired the remainder of the business. [13]
In April 2017 Jakobi launched BOU, a range of better-for-you bouillon cubes into the US market. [14] AccelFoods, an investment fund focused on food and beverage startups, are the lead investor. [15]
In August 2021 Jakobi led the Series A round of Misfits, a UK plant-based nutrition brand with a £3 Million investment. [16] Misfits were ranked the 99th fastest growing business in Europe in the 2022 Financial Times 1000 list. [17]
In March 2022 Jakobi launched webloom, a growth equity HoldCo to acquire emerging, better for you consumer brands. webloom will acquire UK companies to accelerate their growth in the US. [16]
In December 2023 Jakobi launched Team Miami with global entertainment icon Marc Anthony in the world’s first all-electric powerboat championship called the E1 Series. [18] The celebrity backed series is raising awareness around sustainability and includes other teams from celebrities such as Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal and Will Smith. [19] In July 2024 Team Miami announced a partnership with Azimut Yachts. [20]
In December 2013, Metcalfe's Food Company were featured as one of ten ‘Ones to Watch’ in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. [21] The Fast Track 100 ranks the fastest growing privately owned companies in the UK. [22]
In April 2014, Robert Jakobi along with Julian Metcalfe were named as London & South finalists for the 2014 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. [23] The award is considered one of the world's most prestigious business awards and is held in more than 145 cities and in more than 60 countries worldwide. [24]
In May 2014, Metcalfe's Food Company were announced as one of the winners of The Santander Breakthrough 50 Awards. The awards celebrate the UK's top 50 most exciting fast-growth companies. [25]
In July 2014, Robert was selected as one of 30 Young Guns. Young Guns celebrates annually the best 30 entrepreneurs aged 35 or under in the UK. [26]
In December 2014, Metcalfe's Food Company were ranked at number 4 in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100. [27]
In January 2015, Robert was selected on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Food & Wine. [28] In 2015 Forbes picked 600 people in 20 fields including Food & Wine. [29]
On 16 October 2014, Robert was invited by One Young World as a special delegate to head a panel on successful young entrepreneurs at their annual summit in Dublin. [30] The panel was chaired by Barclays CEO Anthony Jenkins and also included Hailo's Jay Bregman, made.com's Julien Callede, One Fine Stay's founder Tim Davey and YouTube celebrity Michelle Phan. [31]
The summit brings together the generations’ most passionate young people to debate issues of universal concern. [32]
Jakobi explained that the panel was to have a particular focus on the importance of inspiring youth entrepreneurship in an interview he did with Bloomberg prior to the summit. [33]