Meet the Team

Kerry has full responsibility for establishing long term sustainable growth for Qualus.  Kerry has specialized in growing businesses and teams over his 30 year career in the leather industry; 26 of those years in executive leadership positions.  Kerry currently serves as President of Leather and Hide Council of America and previously Vice President and General Manager for Wolverine Worldwide.  Kerry holds an Executive MBA from Davenport University.

Having led the management buyout of Qualus from Xeros Technologies, between 2019 and 2024 Vikrant led the business from technology validation to commercialisation in Mexico, Brazil, India and France. He has extensive experience in commercialising disruptive technology businesses across diverse industries such as banking and education and previously worked as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. He holds a BEng in Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and an MBA from INSEAD.

Richard leads on financial planning, controls, and investor liaison. Though now focused on finance, he brings significant experience in growth-stage investment and sustainability from his role as a Partner at Earth Capital, following an early career in engineering and operations and then strategy consulting. Richard holds an MA and MEng in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from INSEAD.

Jo leads Qualus’ Operations Team and works hand in hand with the Engineering Team to deliver effective Sfere management solutions into Tannery production workflows. She led the redesign of Qualus’ Sfere Cleaning Station, reducing both costs and footprint by 70% while increasing throughput by 50%. She holds a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Plymouth.

Velan leads all commercial and operational activities for Qualus in India. He brings over 30 years of leather industry experience in India, China, Thailand and South East Asia, having worked at leading tanneries such as Chintehua and Shanghai Richina Leathers and in Leather Chemical Sales for Clariant. He is fluent in several Asian languages. He holds a Diploma in Leather Technology from the Institute of Leather Technology, Chennai.

Alireza conducted the initial research that forms the core of the patents on which the Qualus technology is based. He now leads all sustainability-related activities for Qualus in addition to working closely with suppliers and service providers to ensure Qualus delivers its projects in different geographies within a set budget and timeframe. Alireza holds a PhD in Biomimetic Engineering of Micro- and Nanoparticles from the University of Sheffield.