Our Team

TIM GELSTON

Drawing from a quarter-century of immersive engagement within global markets, Tim possesses a wealth of expertise acquired through collaborative endeavours with a spectrum of private enterprises, corporate entities, and governmental bodies, all characterized by their diverse cultures and distinct requisites. Tim's acumen shines particularly in the realm of market identification, adeptly discerning nascent opportunities, pivotal stakeholders, and strategic partners essential for the swift execution of plans. He’s consistently striving for pre-eminence, while his unwavering affability plays a pivotal role in persuading key stakeholders, facilitating ethically grounded deal closures. Infused with a measured dose of competitiveness, Tim's inclination towards sportsmanship finds expression in his extensive involvement as both a player and coach across various sports disciplines. Presently, he channels the lion's share of his leisure time into the pursuit of deep-sea fishing, indulging this passion across the scenic waters of New Zealand and the picturesque expanse of 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.

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.