# Kite

> Kite was a New York commerce company founded by Rob Solomon, Juxtapose and Blackstone to acquire promising consumer brands and give them shared technology, supply-chain, design and customer-acquisition muscle. Announced with a $200 million equity commitment in 2023, it bought two undisclosed businesses, drew roughly $25 million and shut down in early 2024 when weaker small-brand performance and a harsher funding market made attractive deals scarce.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Founders:** Rob Solomon (Co-founder and CEO), Juxtapose (Founding investment partner), Blackstone (Co-founder and capital partner)
- **Products:** Owned-and-operated brand portfolio, Commerce operating platform, Strategic brand investment
- **Notable:** Secured a $200 million equity commitment from Blackstone and Juxtapose., Recruited senior leaders with backgrounds at GoFundMe, Google, Facebook, Uber, IDEO, Bain Capital portfolio operations and major manufacturers., Acquired two undisclosed consumer businesses, one in fitness and one in broader self-improvement.

## Products & services

- **Owned-and-operated brand portfolio** — Kite acquired and intended to operate selected digital-first consumer brands, supplying capital and centralized operating expertise.
- **Commerce operating platform** — A planned shared technology and services layer spanning product manufacturing, supply chain, design, customer acquisition, storage, shipping and multichannel selling.
- **Strategic brand investment** — An investment route for founders who wanted growth capital and operational support without necessarily selling immediately.

## Achievements

- Secured a $200 million equity commitment from Blackstone and Juxtapose.
- Recruited senior leaders with backgrounds at GoFundMe, Google, Facebook, Uber, IDEO, Bain Capital portfolio operations and major manufacturers.
- Acquired two undisclosed consumer businesses, one in fitness and one in broader self-improvement.
- Avoided the heavy debt structure used by many e-commerce aggregators, although this did not prevent closure.

## Latest updates

- **2023-04** — Kite publicly announced its $200 million equity commitment, Rob Solomon as co-founder and CEO, and several senior hires.
- **2024-03** — The Information reported that Kite had shut down earlier in 2024, laid off more than 25 staff, acquired two brands and drawn roughly $25 million of the commitment.

## Links

- Website: https://kite.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kite.co

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kite
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28