UNCO Industries
From Software Exit to Worm Castings
The Business
UNCO Industries has made organic worm castings in Racine, Wisconsin since 1977, selling under the Wiggle Worm brand from an owned 55,000-plus square foot facility into more than 1,300 Walmart stores, garden centers, and grow shops. Its proprietary production system turned worm farming into controlled manufacturing, and demand chronically outruns supply: at one point Walmart asked for over a thousand more stores than the worms could serve.
Tom Chapman built UNCO from nothing, starting fresh out of high school, and spent nearly five decades perfecting the process. At 65, with his son and daughter running day-to-day operations and no appetite left for chasing the growth he could see on the table, he wanted the company in the hands of someone hungry for it.
Transaction Timeline
How the Deal Happened
Tom connected with Marc Summe on Rejigg in May 2025, signed an LOI in June, and closed in the fall of 2025. The fit was straightforward: an owner with untapped demand and a buyer with operating energy and capital, backed by an SBA loan and his own funds.
Deal Highlights
Walmart Shelf Space
Wiggle Worm products stocked in more than 1,300 Walmart stores.
Proprietary Process
The UNCO system turned worm farming into controlled manufacturing.
Demand to Spare
The company has turned away retail expansion for lack of supply.
Software to Soil
Bought by a searcher fresh off the sale of his own software company.
The Buyer
Marc Summe sold his B2B software company in December 2024 and went looking for a durable business to own and operate for the long term. He found it in soil rather than software: a category leader with a proprietary process, national retail distribution, and more demand than product.
Coverage
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