Our Team

TIM GELSTON

With 25 years immersion experience in international markets, Tim has worked within numerous private, corporate and governments with diverse cultures and requirements. Tim is vastly experienced at identifying new markets, key stakeholders and partners to execute strategy quickly. Tim is a lateral thinker, working to be first or best in market, applying a persistent friendly manner to influence key stakeholders to close deals with integrity. Tim, a little competitive in nature, has enjoyed being involved in many sports over the years, both as a player and a coach. He now spends the majority of his spare time game fishing in New Zealand and French Polynesia.

ARRON PATTERSON

Advising innovative start-ups with funding, sales and growth strategies and decades of experience as a senior executive in technology and innovation have given Arron the experience and skills required to engage and accelerate enterprises across the Asia Pacific region. Arron has a particular strength building and sustaining high performance teams, leading with empathy, and a passion to protect, serve and make a positive difference in the lives of those around him. Whenever possible Arron likes to connect with nature and the outdoors - indulging in a variety of sports and activities.

BENGT VON SCHWERIN

Bengt has been providing advisory services and health and safety support to the public and private sector on major infrastructure projects across Asia Pacific for the past 30 years. Having led major MNC consulting teams across APAC, he has a comprehensive understanding of the government, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, power and resources sectors, as well as regional cultural and geopolitical considerations affecting distribution networks and channels, and major program delivery and rollout.  Bengt is an advisor and spends his leisure time relaxing with family, travelling to new places and trying to maintain a semblance of fitness.

Kate mckinlay

Kate has worked across a variety of industries in both product development and brand strategy roles. Kate has led product development projects applying learning first product development and LEAN methodology in various industries from consumer appliances through to food and beverage technology. Kate is passionate about building brands which have a human centered focus to the application of cutting edge technology. Kate is based in Auckland and enjoys spending time creating in the kitchen and loves to head to the mountains and hit the slopes during winter.

MARC VON SCHWERIN

Marc has been involved in the selling and market development of specialty products in the pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors since 1988. He has been an active participant on the boards of various international industry associations and focuses on enduring customer relationships, and product quality.  He spends his spare time following his passion for music and playing the guitar.

HATTAF Ansari

Hattaf has a diverse background spanning investments, advertising, academia and entrepreneurship. He is deeply involved with New Zealand’s innovation and early stage venture capital ecosystem as part of the sovereign venture capital fund and also the leading angel network over the past couple of years. Hattaf led 40+ early-stage investments across ecommerce, software, biotech, pharmaceuticals and life science industries and has supported 220+ portfolio companies on behalf of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF). Hattaf is a published researcher in the Australasian Journal of Applied Finance and  was a speaker at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival in the Middle East. In his spare time Hattaf enjoys gaming and New Zealand’s outdoors.

RICK DERVISEVIC

Rick Dervisevic, B.A, CHRP is an undergraduate of economics and psychology and holds industry-specific certifications in marine transportation, wood products manufacturing and electronic systems integration. Rick has held senior strategic and advisory roles in multinational organizations and GM roles in smaller organizations in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Rick has worked in industries as diverse as marine logistics, forestry, healthcare support services and electronic systems integration. In his spare time, Rick and his family enjoy the outdoors in the Canadian Pacific Northwest where they ski, mountain bike, paddleboard and go boating.