Bubs Australia founder ousted after board stoush

In a LinkedIn post shortly after Lin was removed from his role, Carr described the ousted chairman as “the smartest, most strategic person I’ve ever met” and “an inspiration”.

“He has not only been a mentor to me, but also to many younger budding team members … he has only ever acted with the highest level of integrity in the best interest of the business and all shareholders,” she wrote. “I 100 per cent stand by him.”

Carr founded Bubs in her kitchen in Sydney’s northern beaches almost two decades ago while on maternity leave from her communications job at a global firm. The mother of three was dismayed by the baby food on offer and began experimenting with making her own.

The infant formula maker, which produces products using goat’s milk, had its trading debut on the ASX in January 2017 at 10 cents a share and soared to $1.42 in early 2019 amid strong demand from the Chinese market.

It shot to global fame in May last year thanks to a tweet by US President Joe Biden thanking Bubs Australia for its assistance in patching the US infant formula crisis, which resulted in the Dandenong-based baby formula maker supplying millions of bottles to American families in a deal aided by former treasurer and ambassador to the US Joe Hockey.

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Its entry into the highly competitive and tightly held American infant formula market prompted the company to turn its focus on growing further in the US and China, which helped it turn a profit for the first time in the 2022 financial year.

In the company’s ASX statement on April 11, Rathie said it was important for the company to evolve from a founder-led business to a company with a “deeply experienced” board and chair who would “help guide and mentor management, oversee growth, exercise fiscal responsibility and help navigate financial and non-financial risks”.

“As a growing company now operating in three core markets, it is critically important that the newly reconstituted Bubs board under my leadership has strategic oversight over our expansion plans, as well as financial and non-financial risks as we look into rapidly changing economic circumstances and evolving markets.”