Lotaris is held by its Founders, Mr. Robert Tibbs and Mr. David Keast, by private individuals, all of whom have global backgrounds and experience in successful technology startup companies, by Lotaris management and  by employees (through an Employee Share Option Scheme).  Additionally, in August 2011, the company completed its Series A investment round, bringing three major institutional investors into the shareholding.  The round was led by Vickers Capital based in Shanghai and SIngapore, with co-investors Credit Suisse and Lausanne-based Eurofin Capital.

 

 

 

Entrepreneur, investor and executive manager with two previous successfully existed startup ventures, Mr. Tibbs is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Lotaris.  Prior to Lotaris, he was Co-founder and CEO of Accelon (www.accelonafrica.com), an award winning and #1 rated regional satellite broadband company (acquired by Dimension Data), Co-founder and Chairman of Africa Venture Partners, a Venture Capital and Management firm based in South Africa (www.africaventurepartners.com), and one of the founding shareholders and Regional General Management Executive of Actel Ltd, a satellite telecommunications company (acquired by Inner City Broadcasting).  Mr. Tibbs is Swiss citizen and a Summa Cum Laude graduate in Behavioural Science from the Technology Institute of the State University of New York.   

 

 

co-founded Accelon Pty Ltd, a satellite-based broadband provider in West Africa, and Africa Venture Partners (AVP), a private equity advisory company in the TMT sector. Mr Keast was a strategic business development manager for Multichoice & M-Cell (now MTN Group). He developed and executed investment opportunities in the mobile cellular and satellite sectors, including the acquisition of cellular service providers into MTN, pioneering MTN's early African growth strategy. 

 

 

 

Vickers Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focusing on venture capital investments in Asia. Building on the track record and investment performance of its partners, which include hits such as Baidu.com, Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU), Focus Media Holding Ltd (NASDAQ: FMCN), Kongzhong Corp (NASDAQ: KONG) and Cambridge Real Estate Investment Trust (SGX: CREIT), the core management team has been working together since 2005. With offices in Shanghai and Singapore, Vickers focuses on covering Asia with people on the ground trawling for deal flow. Further information is available at www.vickersventure.com 

Credit Suisse (through their SVC-Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs)

Credit Suisse AG is one of the world's leading financial services providers and is part of the Credit Suisse group of companies. With up to CHF 100 million in capital at its disposal, SVC.Ltd. for Risk Capital for SME's examines applications for financing and invests in the form of equity and loans with a profit share. SVC – Ltd. for Risk Capital for SMEs invests in SMEs, thus helping to create new jobs or to secure existing ones. Capital that flows back in the form of realized earnings and repaid loans will be put into new projects rather than distributed.

Eurofin SA

Eurofin Capital is a European investment office based in Lausanne and London. Part of privately held Eurofin Group, we combine our Swiss heritage with the financial market expertise of our international executive team. The company’s mission is to provide independent investment solutions and support to family offices and institutions. 

 

Private Investors :

François Stieger (Swiss)

CEO of Intentional Software's international group. Prior to joining Intentional Software International, Mr. Stieger was senior vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa for Verisign,. Mr. Stieger was also personally involved in BroadVision's very successful initial public offering on NASDAQ in June 1996, and its public offering on the Neuer Markt in Frankfurt in November 1999. On a larger scale from 1987-1992, as vice president Mr. Stieger established and managed operations of Oracle Corporation for southern and central Europe. Mr Stieger serves on the board of BroadVision Corp ( USA) and on the advisory board of the Computer Science & Communication Faculty at EPFL in Lausanne (Switzerland) 

Fares Nassar (Lebanese) 

Is the founder and CEO of Lotier Group a business development consulting company in Latin America. In 1999, Lotier sold two of its subsidiaries, Lotier do Brasil and Lotier de México to Chello Broadband, Europe´s largest broadband ISP which is owned by United PanEuropean Communications (UPC). Mr. Nassar, now the CEO of C-Data Networks Group Holding, has held many key executive positions over the course of his career. He has worked as an engineering manager and has directed marketing, sales, and products at leading vendors such as IBM and Ericsson, where he was responsible for broadband access products worldwide. 

Martin Velasco (Spanish) 

Is an entrepreneur and Business Angel with extensive experience in the IT, medical and biotech areas. In the June 2000 Business Week special report "The Stars of Europe", he was selected as one of the leaders at the forefront of change in Europe. Mr. Velasco was also dubbed the leading "Business Angel" by the Wall Street Journal European edition in June 1999. On March 2004, Mr. Velasco was elected “Business Angel of the year 2004” by the ASBAN and Bilanz. He serves on the board/advisory board of several high-tech companies including: Anecova, ART - In Vivo Fertilization, World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2008, as Founder and Chairman; Sumerian, IT Analytics, as Founder and Board Member; AC-Immune, Alzheimer, World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer 2009, as Chairman; Cocomore, Digital Communications Agency & IT Services, as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Aridhia, Health Informatics, as Board Member.  Mr. Velasco is the Founder and Chairman of Infantia Foundation, a philanthropic organization aiding children in the developing world. He is member of the Board of BlueOrchard, the leading private microfinance investment advisory company. And he is also Vice President of the Board of the Foundation EPFL+ and Vice Chairman of the European Tech Tour Association.

Benoit Leleux (Belgian)

Is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at IMD. He also directs the CEO Seminars and the MBA Startup Projects. Professor Leleux was previously Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD and Director of the 3i VentureLab and Associate Professor and Zubillaga Chair in Finance and Entrepreneurship at Babson College, Wellesley, MA (USA) from 1994 to 1999. Mr. Leleux is a specialist in venture financing and management, combining expertise in entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity and growth management. His experience includes four years of corporate venturing in South East Asia for a major agribusiness conglomerate. He is active in a number of private equity funds, as well as numerous startup companies in Europe and the US, either as director, investor, and/or advisor.