Balex Marine appoints Alan Bougen and Richard Shirtcliffe

Balex Marine appoints Alan Bougen and Richard Shirtcliffe to board positions

TAURANGA, November 25 - Balex Marine, creator of the award-winning Automatic Boat Loader ABL2500 (ABL), today announced the appointment of Alan Bougen as a new Independent Director and Richard Shirtcliffe as Board Advisor.

Mr Bougen is the co-founder, Deputy Chairman and a director of NZX-listed honey and health products company Comvita. Mr Shirtcliffe is Chief Executive of Tuatara Breweries and the former head ofglobal marketing at phil&teds.

Both appointees have deep experience in taking startup companies through the growth cycle, and in setting up successful international distribution networks, said Balex Marine Chairman Daryl French.

“We were looking for people with strong governance experience who had grown significant companies from small startups,” said Mr French.

“Alan is an ideal fit. He has experience in taking Comvita from a startup all the way to it becoming a significant large public listed entity. He brings governance experience and will add to our capabilities, including if we decide to look to an IPO as part of a future exit strategy. Richard has experience in taking a number of companies from startups through to medium size, great marketing expertise and real passion and enthusiasm. Together, they will really strengthen the board.”

The hydraulically powered ABL is installed on trailers and lets users launch and retrieve their boat without getting their feet wet, using a remote control that allows boaties to start, stop or pause the process at the touch of a button. The first production model is aimed at boats in the 5-9 metre range with a boat weight of up to 2500kg, and is suitable for both alloy and fibreglass hulls.

“The ABL makes launching so stress-free we believe it will become an automatic add-on for trailer boat owners,” said Paul Symes, Balex Marine’s Managing Director.

Balex Marine recently successfully closed its second fundraising round on $1.2 million. The total included a strong commitment from first round investors, as well as several substantial new investors. A number of the investors are members of the Bay of Plenty’s Enterprise Angels and the startup funding group’s sidecar fund EA 1 made a follow-on investment of $50,000. In addition, the government’s Seed Capital Investment Fund came in with a $175,000 follow-on commitment, which was in the top quarter in size of follow-on investments for the New Zealand Investment Fund’s portfolio.

Mr Bougen, who invested in the second round prior to being named a director, is a long-time Bay of Plenty resident and a member of Enterprise Angels. The fact that Balex Marine was a local company was a key element in his decision to become involved, he said.

“I’ve been a boatie for years and when I first saw the ABL, I thought it was a great idea with tremendous potential. What got it over the line for me though was seeing the work they had done on developing their IP and assessing market opportunities. Balex has a strong, creative team under the leadership of Paul Symes and I feel they have a good chance of creating substantial future value.”

Mr Shirtcliffe previously worked at export success story phil&teds with Balex Marine’s sales director Paul Yarrall.

“I’m attracted to smart people who are very committed, very passionate and very forward thinking,” said Mr Shirtcliffe. “And I’m attracted to very smart ideas that can fundamentally change elements of the world. Balex has a wonderful intersection of those elements.”

ENDS

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