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EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP 

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Matthew Williams Chief Executive Officer (Co-Founder) Matt has over 35 years of global experience in Private Equity, Infrastructure Funds Management and Corporate and Investment banking; including Chase Manhattan (now JP Morgan Chase), Bank of Montreal, Deutsche Bank, and Hastings Funds Management. Matt was the first executive appointed by Hastings Funds Management and ran its flagship fund Utilities Trust Australia from inception and established other investment vehicles including Hastings Hancock International Timberland. He has also been a director of major listed and unlisted companies including; Pacific Hydro (now Pacific Blue), Southern Hydro Partnership, Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP), Perth International Airport, Sydney Light Rail, AusPower, Epic Energy, and Interlink Roads. Matt has been an adviser to Australian and international governments including as a director at PWC and also as senior privatisation adviser to the UAE Ministry of Interior. Recently Matt enjoyed his role as a consultant to Stanford Seed and is currently a mentor under the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute's "Limitless" program designed to support ambitious early career finance professionals developing their leadership skills in sustainable finance.

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Eugene Kopp Group Chief Investment Officer and President AxleTree Capital USA (Co-Founder) With over 30 years of experience, Eugene has held senior executive and board roles across Australia, Europe and USA in venture capital, private equity and sustainable energy. Eugene worked in senior positions in the London and Moscow offices of global leaders in project finance, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. In 1998 he returned to Australia to lead the project finance advisory team at ANZ Investment Bank. Eugene brings extensive experience in the project finance of capital-intensive industries and in the project management of large multi-disciplinary teams for the delivery of complex projects.

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Dr Martin Hoogland Chief Technical Officer Martin is a highly experienced chemical process engineer specialising in water and wastewater treatment, initially in membrane technology and subsequently across all conventional technologies. Martin brings many years of design-build and consulting experience in all phases of project delivery, from feasibility and concept design through detail design to on-site project engineering, commissioning, process proving and troubleshooting.

Kate Gaffney Director Partnerships, Engagement and Research (Co-Founder) A current Investor in Residence at the Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship at Ormond College (The University of Melbourne), Kate enjoyed a 20+ year academic career across The University of Melbourne, Monash University and Federation University (Australia’s largest regional University). Highlights included teaching in and helping re-design a national award winning pathways program at Monash University, and TAFE/vocational education partnerships. Across 2020-2022 Kate pivoted her career towards investment banking and advisory with a focus on female founders, sustainability, education and (being farm born and bred), agriculture. Throughout 2024 Kate worked with global energy generators across brown coal, onshore and offshore wind, and solar to support the workforce transition in the Latrobe Valley (Vic) as Manager, Renewable Energy Transition at Federation University. In that role she was also national chair of the Clean Energy Council's University and Industry working group. Kate works at the nexus of universities, industries and investment and is heavily involved in developing the early stage and growth pipeline for the New Industries Fund.

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Fritz Greyvenstein Investment Director Fritz brings more than 15 years of experience spanning M&A, corporate finance, capital raising, valuations, strategy consulting, and corporate venturing; advising boards, governments and executive teams globally, to build, scale and invest in climate technology and clean energy, mining innovation and sustainable industrial transformation. As Investment Director, Fritz reports to Chief Investment Officer Eugene Kopp. In this role Fritz will have responsibilities across the full investment cycle, from identification of opportunities, through due diligence and transaction structuring, to ongoing management of these assets.

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Chris
Croker

NEW INDUSTRIES FUND
INDEPENDENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Manager applies a rigorous and challenging screening, due diligence, valuation and approval process before committing to investment on behalf of the Fund. That same rigour is applied to the duty of care and asset management throughout the life of the investment. The investment assessment process is multi-layered including review by an internal Investment Committee and the Board of Axletree Capital; and by an Independent Advisory Committee made up of leaders from across industry and investment.

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Dr Nick Birrell

Linda
Bleakley

(nee Romanovska)

Natalie Collard

Glenda 
McLoughlin

Darren Shipard

Drew 
Williams

Investors in the fund at any time contributing AUD25 M or more will have the option to appoint a member of the Independent Advisory Committee.

This website is for informational and educational purposes only. AxleTree Capital does not provide tax, legal, investment, or accounting advice, and nothing contained herein should be relied upon as such. Accessing or viewing this website does not create a client, advisory, or professional relationship between you and AxleTree Capital. The content on this website does not constitute an investment recommendation, endorsement, sponsorship, or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security, company, or fund. AxleTree Capital is not responsible for any investment decisions made by you; you are entirely responsible for your own investment research and financial choices. Unless attributed to others, all opinions expressed reflect our judgment at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. While we believe any third-party information presented on this site to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness.

 

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