Karu NZ – Investment Opportunities
The ‘coalition of the willing’ is a well-used term that epitomises Karu’s approach to business relationships, commercial negotiations and investment partners. “You must be aligned with the values and vision of those you do business with. It’s not just about finding an income stream or equity position – it’s about ensuring they, the people you bring alongside, actually understand the opportunity and, more importantly how it all works in reality.”
On this basis Karu is a strong advocate of the front-end loading / fast fail approach to project management. Front end loading, typically applied to capital intensive engineering projects, requires robust information gathering early in a project’s life cycle so that a decision can be made more efficiently to either terminate (fast fail) or continue prior to major costs being incurred.
The commitment to front end loading is nothing new across various sectors but it is an important determinant in how it is implemented when applied to new asset classes and business models.
- Core Competencies
- High level business and market strategy
- Investment and financial analysis
- Investor facilitation and memoranda preparation
- Project management
- Research and development
- Feasibility and concept evaluation
- Government relations
Brief Bios
Francis Pauwels BSc, MBA
Francis was CEO of Grow Rotorua for 4 years. Prior to that he has held senior management roles in both private sector and local government. This included developing new markets and distribution channels for both an export manufacturing and tourism businesses. His early career was spent building a family owned horticulture business into one that consistently returned above the industry averages and led the sector in terms of spray-free management and quality control.
Mark Smith BEng, PhD
Mark was the commercial technology manager for Grow Rotorua for 4 years and was responsible for the analysis and data modeling of all potential investments that met the key criteria of the COO. His professional expertise as a chemical engineer was widely sought after by companies and the research sector. From activated carbon projects that held potential for sawmills residues, alternate land use projects that leveraged geothermal assets and engineered wood technologies that offered cost effective outcomes for New Zealand construction sector, Mark has demonstrated his ability for collaboration, innovative thinking and a focus on results.
