One person rarely replaces everything a founder does.
A founder may be the owner, chief executive, senior salesperson, recruiter, capital allocator, technical decision-maker and cultural reference point all at once. Finding a successor means more than transferring shares. Someone needs to take responsibility for running the company.
We built Graculus to do that. We bring complementary experience in building businesses, managing operations, developing products, finance and working with people. We take over responsibility for the company, working alongside those who already know it and bringing in additional expertise where needed.
Responsibility passes to us at completion. The founder helps transfer important knowledge and relationships during an agreed handover, but doesn't need to remain in charge for several years.
A transition needs more than one kind of capability.
A founder's responsibilities rarely fit neatly into one job description. Some relate to customers and employees, others to products, finance, investment and the decisions that have shaped the company over many years.
One incoming manager would have to learn all of this while keeping the business running. We can work on different parts of the transition at the same time, drawing on the experience of the existing employees and adding capability where it is missing.
Our backgrounds complement one another.
Tristan has founded and led businesses, recruited teams and worked directly with operating companies. He brings experience in customers, sales, commercial development and the practical decisions involved in running a business.
Gerhard has built businesses and software products, alongside more than twenty years in finance and transactions. He brings experience in strategy, product development, financial management, acquisitions and capital allocation.
Hannes has spent nearly two decades working with entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses. He brings experience in organisational development, leadership, innovation and relationships across the Alpine industrial community.
We don't expect the three of us to replace every function the founder performed. We take responsibility for the business and work with its existing management and employees, recruiting specialist industrial, engineering or other expertise where required.
The objective is not to replace one indispensable person with three. It is to help build an organisation that no longer depends on one.
Different responsibilities. One direction.
We came to Graculus through different routes. Between us, we've founded and developed businesses, built products, led teams, worked with operating companies and completed complex transactions.
We bring those experiences together to take responsibility for an established industrial company and help develop it for the long term.
Tristan Louette
Tristan has spent more than ten years building businesses and working directly with operating companies across Europe, Asia and the United States.
He co-founded Refetrust, a B2B marketplace in Singapore, and led it as chief executive for three years from incorporation. His responsibilities included strategy, operations, finance, sales and marketing, as well as recruiting and managing a team of nine people.
Before Refetrust, Tristan spent nearly nine years with Gaw Capital's hospitality platform, working with businesses representing more than US$2.5 billion of assets. He directly oversaw four hotels and worked closely with management teams, operators and lenders on budgets, business plans, costs and capital investment.
His work included the US$30 million renovation of Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, for which he secured US$8 million of French state incentives. He also prepared financial plans for four hotels before opening.
Tristan also co-founded Pample, a software business in Bangkok, where he recruited and managed the sales team and generated its first revenue within five months.
At Graculus, Tristan focuses on customers, sales, commercial development and operations. He works with the company's existing management to strengthen customer relationships, improve pricing and sales execution, develop new markets and identify the people and operating capabilities the business needs for its next stage.
He holds a Master of Science in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and studied hospitality management and real estate at Glion in Switzerland.
Gerhard Botha
Gerhard grew up on a farm in the South African mountains, where repairing machinery, rebuilding engines and constructing buildings were part of everyday life. His grandfather was a diesel mechanic who taught Gerhard's father, who in turn taught him. He also taught himself to program by taking computers apart and learning how they worked.
He subsequently spent more than twenty years in professional services, investment banking, private capital, restructuring and entrepreneurship. A Chartered Accountant and CFA Charterholder, he has completed more than €7 billion of acquisitions, listings, restructurings and financings across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
After four years at PwC, Gerhard spent twelve years at Rand Merchant Bank, where he established and led its Private Capital Advisory business. His work included advising founders, investment companies and private equity firms, as well as co-leading the sales of industrial businesses Idwala Industrial Holdings and Scaw Metals.
He has also built businesses himself. Gerhard co-founded Gyzer, personally developed its initial software product and helped take the company from concept through launch to acquisition by Bakkt, a NYSE-listed company.
He was also the first executive hire and chief operating officer of Return.Finance, where he worked on operations, product development, compliance, partnerships and commercial development.
At Graculus, Gerhard focuses on strategy, product development and finance. He leads financial analysis, acquisitions, financing and capital allocation, while also contributing directly to software and digital product development. His programming and product-building experience is particularly relevant where software, data or diagnostics can make an established industrial product more useful.
Gerhard combines financial and transaction experience with the practical work of building products, developing companies and making decisions as an entrepreneur. He brings that experience to the business we acquire, working alongside its existing management and technical teams.
Hannes Offenbacher
Hannes has spent nearly two decades working with entrepreneurs and owner-managed businesses on innovation, organisational development and growth.
In 2007, he co-founded Wemorrow in Vienna, bringing together entrepreneurs, executives and experts from industry, research and public policy. He later founded Studio Innomare, where his work has centred on helping companies turn ideas and organisational challenges into practical action.
Much of his work has involved helping leadership teams clarify priorities, strengthen collaboration and develop the people and capabilities needed to carry out their plans.
Hannes has also served on the board of TechnoGate Tyrol and developed longstanding relationships across Austria and the wider Alpine region's entrepreneurial, industrial and innovation communities. He knows many of the businesses and communities in which Graculus is interested.
At Graculus, Hannes contributes experience in people, organisational development and innovation, alongside regional relationships and knowledge of owner-managed businesses. His work supports our understanding of companies and the development of their teams and capabilities.
His approach is to build on what makes a business successful rather than impose change for its own sake.
We chose the same place to build.
Tristan studied and lived here. Hannes has spent his life in the Alpine region. Gerhard grew up on a farm in the South African mountains, where machinery, practical work and local communities were part of everyday life.
We came to the region through different paths, but we share the same conviction: this is an exceptional place to build enduring industrial businesses.
The people you meet are the people who remain involved.
We are building Graculus around one industrial business, not adding another company to an existing investment portfolio. We will take responsibility for running the business, working closely with its employees and strengthening the management and technical capabilities it needs.
We remain personally committed to the company's development. The roles we perform will differ, but our objective is shared: to build a stronger business from the products, people and customer relationships already there.
The company we acquire will be the starting point for Graculus. That makes the relationship especially important.