Ruben Taborda, former Chief Procurement Officer/Head of Supplier Diversity at Johnson & Johnson has been tapped as AVS’ new CEO
MIAMI, Oct. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Altura Capital, a lower and middle market credit enhanced impact investor, today announced it has successfully completed an investment in Automation & Validation Solutions, Inc., a leading diverse owned Pennsylvania-based consulting company specializing in Fortune-100 pharma, biotech, and med device companies. AVS enables customer growth via innovative engineering, automation, validation/compliance and clinical solutions to the healthcare industry. With the investment, Ruben Taborda, Altura executive operating partner and a former chief procurement officer and head of supplier diversity at Johnson & Johnson was appointed AVS’ new CEO.
“AVS has a great reputation and plays a critical role in helping in the development and approval of new drugs, vaccines and medical devices,” noted Jay Garcia, managing partner with Altura Capital. “We are very excited about this investment and Ruben’s leadership, as it opens new paths for diverse owners and talent to add value in high end solutions in the pharma and biomedical industries. We feel very confident in the continued opportunity for this company to grow while helping us to expand our relationships and bring great returns for our investors.”
Altura Capital believes in creating financial returns through economic empowerment and inclusive growth that can narrow the wealth gap. To accomplish this, Altura invests in scalable small businesses with a focus on those that can generate high quality jobs, are owned by women and diverse entrepreneurs, or are located in lower middle income areas, to build stronger, more resilient communities while generating commercial risk-adjusted returns. To date, the company and its affiliates have invested more than $225 million in 22 companies, supporting more than 1,400 high-quality jobs and providing 140 employees with equity ownership.
“We remain steadfast in being a results-driven social impact investment firm, working in close collaboration with corporate america and their supplier diversity programs in the categories of consumer, business services, manufacturing and healthcare, to build strong and scalable firms in value-add verticals in which diverse suppliers have frequently never been,” said Monika Mantilla, managing partner with Altura Capital. “AVS has built a unique business within the healthcare sector making them a perfect fit for our approach and our commitment to delivering returns and impact.”
About Altura Capital
Altura Capital is a results-driven, diverse impact investment firm, led by a team with 110+ years of collective experience in private equity, private debt, and company building. Our purpose is to transform societies through entrepreneurial success. We use an impact investing model to invest in businesses across the United States and in Puerto Rico, with a focus on diverse businesses and those located in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Altura aims to continue to expand the strategy successfully employed by Small Business Community Capital, which was founded by two of the founders of Altura.