Founded by Maura Rampolla, WCAS ’90
In 2004, Maura and her husband, Mark, were bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and founded ZICO Beverages, one of the trailblazers of today’s $8B coconut water category. The Rampollas launched ZICO to combat obesity by encouraging consumers to drink a healthy, natural alternative to popular artificial, high-sugar beverages and to spur sustainable economic development in tropical nations across the world. ZICO experienced a decade of explosive growth and became one of the fastest growing beverage brands in the world before being acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 2013. Rampolla’s roles at ZICO spanned strategy, branding, marketing, product development and employee health and wellness.
Prior to ZICO, Maura lived in El Salvador for five years where she gave birth to and raised her daughters while consulting for a variety of small and large non-profits. She wrote grants, evaluated programs and consulted on rural health and early education for CARE El Salvador, DEVTECH Systems, and Health Unlimited UK. During the late 1990s, Rampolla championed women and children’s health at Planned Parenthood and LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN.
Today, Maura Rampolla is Principal of Rampolla Ventures. Rampolla Ventures invests in and advises companies with social missions. She is also co-founder and director of The Mark and Maura Rampolla Foundation established in 2012. The Foundation’s focus is on health and social entrepreneurship benefiting low income and vulnerable populations. She also sits on advisory boards of USC’s Brittingham Social Entrepreneurship Lab (part of the Marshall School of Business) and UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health.
Gary Kremen
