Managing Members and Senior Advisors
Petter Kleppan, Managing Member (Founding Member)
Mr. Kleppan founded NORROC in March 2005. Previously, Mr. Kleppan was Director of Offsets and Industrial Participation at Fast Search & Transfer (subsequently acquired by Microsoft). Mr. Kleppan also brings experience from the public growth equity space, having advised GARP profile hedge funds on proprietary investment theses. At NORROC, Mr. Kleppan architected the equity build-up transaction and advised the Chairman and CEO (the acquirer) on the mergers of Rocketplane Limited Corporation and Kistler Aerospace Corporation. Today Mr. Kleppan serves as Adviser to several technology, aerospace and solar companies. Mr. Kleppan is serving as a Vice Chairman at Ardour Capital in NYC, a clean technology investment bank and Director of Resource Development at National Space Society. Mr. Kleppan is also a founding managing member of Rocklove Capital Partners LLC, NORROC's principal investment arm. Mr. Kleppan holds degrees from the Norwegian School of Management (BI) and the Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) in Germany. He is also an alum of the Cornell University Silicon Valley program, organized by The Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship.
Contact: petter@norroc.com
Stig Ørnvall, Special Advisor
Mr. Ørnvall s a growth investor, a facilitator of both public and private financing for growth companies and has successfully started multiple companies and non for profit organizations. The first company he founded was an ICT Education Center that he grew that into a viable business before ICT Education Center and sold in 2001. Currently
Mr. Ørnvall is Chairman of the Board at iSimpleTouch, a company headquartered in Las Vegas, and oversees the company's international operations. He has also been retained by Norsk Navigasjon AS, another Scandinavian growth company, to oversee and grow all R&D initiatives in EU markets. Mr. Ørnvall has been closely involved in formulating the strategy of Steinkjer Science Park in Norway. Additionally, he is Director of the Board of the Soccer Club in Steinkjer, which has been turned into a profitable enterprise during his tenure. Mr. Ørnvall has one mantra: He strongly believes in reaching goals trough collaboration.
Larry DiBattista, Special Advisor, M&A and Small Business Exit and Succession Planning
Mr. DiBattista is a senior executive and experienced business leader with proven success implementing innovative programs in complex organizations. He brings years of hands-on and executive management experience from semiconductor capital equipment companies in areas including test systems, data automation and material handling. As Vice President and General Manager of the Mixed Signal and Wireless Division for Credence Systems Corporation he led several international and domestic acquisitions. After full operational integration into the division, combined product sales exceeded $200M/yr within three years, generating over $95M in pre-tax profit. Prior to this position, Mr. DiBattista held various executive marketing, sales and management positions at Schlumberger and Advantest where several domestic and international acquisitions were successfully integrated and managed with profitable results. His 30-year career in the electronics industry began with degrees in Engineering and Management from Purdue University and several years of basic research and development.
Theo Armour, Special Advisor, Digital Media, Internet and Voice
Mr. Armour is an architect educated at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He practiced architecture in London and Hong Kong before becoming a computer-aided design consultant at CAD-Asia. He was a founder of PC Plus, an IBM PC dealership specializing in Computer Aided Design, the Hong Kong Macintosh User Group and the Asian Venture Capital Journal. In the 1990’s he was Program Manager at Autodesk for AutoCAD Releases 13, 14 and the beginning of Release 2000. Subsequently he has implemented web sites for a number of artists, start-ups and various worthy organizations and has made angel investments in a number of start-ups. From June 2001 to June 2008 he was a member of the Board of Advisers of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and was Designer and Webmaster of the institution's web site from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Armour was awarded the English Channel Swimming Association’s Van Audernaerde Prize for Best Disabled Swim in 1980. In 2006 he was awarded First Place for fastest swim in the annual “Escape from Alcatraz” competition.
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Mr. Kleppan founded NORROC in March 2005. Previously, Mr. Kleppan was Director of Offsets and Industrial Participation at Fast Search & Transfer (subsequently acquired by Microsoft). Mr. Kleppan also brings experience from the public growth equity space, having advised GARP profile hedge funds on proprietary investment theses. At NORROC, Mr. Kleppan architected the equity build-up transaction and advised the Chairman and CEO (the acquirer) on the mergers of Rocketplane Limited Corporation and Kistler Aerospace Corporation. Today Mr. Kleppan serves as Adviser to several technology, aerospace and solar companies. Mr. Kleppan is serving as a Vice Chairman at Ardour Capital in NYC, a clean technology investment bank and Director of Resource Development at National Space Society. Mr. Kleppan is also a founding managing member of Rocklove Capital Partners LLC, NORROC's principal investment arm. Mr. Kleppan holds degrees from the Norwegian School of Management (BI) and the Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) in Germany. He is also an alum of the Cornell University Silicon Valley program, organized by The Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship.
Contact: petter@norroc.com
Stig Ørnvall, Special Advisor
Mr. Ørnvall s a growth investor, a facilitator of both public and private financing for growth companies and has successfully started multiple companies and non for profit organizations. The first company he founded was an ICT Education Center that he grew that into a viable business before ICT Education Center and sold in 2001. Currently
Mr. Ørnvall is Chairman of the Board at iSimpleTouch, a company headquartered in Las Vegas, and oversees the company's international operations. He has also been retained by Norsk Navigasjon AS, another Scandinavian growth company, to oversee and grow all R&D initiatives in EU markets. Mr. Ørnvall has been closely involved in formulating the strategy of Steinkjer Science Park in Norway. Additionally, he is Director of the Board of the Soccer Club in Steinkjer, which has been turned into a profitable enterprise during his tenure. Mr. Ørnvall has one mantra: He strongly believes in reaching goals trough collaboration.
Larry DiBattista, Special Advisor, M&A and Small Business Exit and Succession Planning
Mr. DiBattista is a senior executive and experienced business leader with proven success implementing innovative programs in complex organizations. He brings years of hands-on and executive management experience from semiconductor capital equipment companies in areas including test systems, data automation and material handling. As Vice President and General Manager of the Mixed Signal and Wireless Division for Credence Systems Corporation he led several international and domestic acquisitions. After full operational integration into the division, combined product sales exceeded $200M/yr within three years, generating over $95M in pre-tax profit. Prior to this position, Mr. DiBattista held various executive marketing, sales and management positions at Schlumberger and Advantest where several domestic and international acquisitions were successfully integrated and managed with profitable results. His 30-year career in the electronics industry began with degrees in Engineering and Management from Purdue University and several years of basic research and development.
Theo Armour, Special Advisor, Digital Media, Internet and Voice
Mr. Armour is an architect educated at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He practiced architecture in London and Hong Kong before becoming a computer-aided design consultant at CAD-Asia. He was a founder of PC Plus, an IBM PC dealership specializing in Computer Aided Design, the Hong Kong Macintosh User Group and the Asian Venture Capital Journal. In the 1990’s he was Program Manager at Autodesk for AutoCAD Releases 13, 14 and the beginning of Release 2000. Subsequently he has implemented web sites for a number of artists, start-ups and various worthy organizations and has made angel investments in a number of start-ups. From June 2001 to June 2008 he was a member of the Board of Advisers of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and was Designer and Webmaster of the institution's web site from 2001 to 2004. Mr. Armour was awarded the English Channel Swimming Association’s Van Audernaerde Prize for Best Disabled Swim in 1980. In 2006 he was awarded First Place for fastest swim in the annual “Escape from Alcatraz” competition.
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