Our founders
Dr. Danilo Perez
Co-founder/CTO
Danilo is the Vertus Energy Inventor, as a Biotechnology Engineer with a PhD, MSc, Chem. Eng. Danilo has been at the forefront of methane generating microbial research for the last 12 years. As our Chief Technology Officer and tech wizard, Danilo is in charge of developing new and existing technologies that pioneer the future of green energy innovation.
Freddy Gonzalez
Co-founder/Chief Engineer
Meet Freddy, our Chief Engineer - with an MSC in Mechanical Engineering, Freddy is highly experienced in hydrogen reactors and R&D engineering projects. Freddy plays the crucial role of transforming concepts into tangible forms, leading the Vertus Energy engineering team. Freddy brings with him 15 years research & development project delivery experience.
Benjamin Howard
Co-founder/COO
Benjamin, our Chief Operations Officer, has a BSc in Construction Engineering and Management, with experience in delivering over £250 million of complex construction projects in the UK and New Zealand. Benjamin leads the investment relations while developing and implementing the strategic planning required for growth, performance and profitability.
Santiago de los Reyes
Co-founder/CCO
Santiago is an entrepreneur with a history of scaling multiple businesses. As our Chief Commercial Officer, Santiago oversees the commercial strategies of Vertus Energy as well as developing key stakeholder alignment. Santiago holds 15+ years experience in business development and commercial agreements.
Advisory board
John Wood
Board Advisor & Investor
John brings with him a wealth of knowledge, establishing global businesses in emerging technology markets including cleantech. John aligns key stakeholders from all stages of commercialisation, from strategy, global operational mobilisation and breakthrough project execution. John’s career includes scaling Keycorp into a global leader, leading the reinvigoration of MULTOS as a leading global solution for smartcards and cryptographic tokens and leading the growth of Ecoult to where it attained recognition as an energy storage leader and Global Cleantech 100 company. John brings invaluable executive experience and guides the Vertus Energy team on key strategic exercises and development.
Mat Rowe
Board Member & Outset Founder
As a founding employee of LanzaTech, Mat helped drive and support the strategic direction, growth and expansion of the business, while leading the design and fit out of anaerobic fermentation facilities in both Auckland and Denver, USA. Now Founding Director of Outset, New Zealand's most successful innovation cluster which has been home to over two dozen startups, in fields as diverse as agritech, biotech, chemistry, cleantech and aerospace. Mat works to provide no-frills labs & workshops for deep tech startups wanting to prove their concepts. Mat provides indispensable knowledge about fostering the next generation of science entrepreneurs, while bringing a range of biotechnology contacts throughout the USA.
Simone Von Fircks
Board and Operations Advisor
A highly professional operations executive with more than 25 years experience in the international pharmaceutical and medical device industry, Simone is passionate about commercialising new technologies. With a focus on corporate organisation and strategic planning, Simone is an accomplished builder of high performing teams through transformational leadership. Bringing with her a proven record of successful implementation of quality systems which have been audited by the FDA, Simone offers proficient guidance and business acumen, with a strong knowledge of governing bylaws and how governance can successfully be implemented. Most recently appointed Board Observer with the OnBoard NZ 2022 program.
Alex Veiga
Board and Strategy Advisor
Alex is an active entrepreneurship advocate and mentor globally, having advised and analysed more than 200 startups in Brazil, USA and New Zealand. Having been a significant member of the innovation and early stage-space for the last 13 years, Alex has been.a part of 29 different deals to date, in founder, C suite, investor and board member capacities. He led Basico.com from conception to an eight-digit revenue, raised 100M+ in combined seed, series A and B for different startups and was involved in 6 exits. Most recently, he was the Global Director of Business Innovation at Whirlpool’s Compressor division, where he led the creation and growth of 6 new companies, from AI to Retail Intelligence and Circular Economy.