Ariel Lerer has a diverse background in business leadership, entrepreneurship and consulting. He has extensive experience in building technology-based businesses and leading multidisciplinary teams both in the service sector and in developing new products. He recently completed the primary material production phase of a large-scale Holistic Manufacturing™ project for a Consumer Goods Manufacturer in Asia.
Together with two partners, Ariel founded and served as Partner and VP of Business Development and Technology at Cardix S.A., a pioneer in South America in providing consulting and outsourcing services and IT solutions to the automotive and manufacturing industries. He led a team of 45 employees, opened 3 locations in Argentina and Brazil and grew the business at an average rate of 25% annually, achieving revenues of US$2.7 million in his final year. Ariel negotiated contracts with Ford and Peugeot valuing US$5 million and expanded the customer base to Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela. He also established a business and technological partnership with IBM across Latin America and a technological alliance with Dassault Systems. Ariel attracted strategic and venture investors and negotiated M&A deals with Structured Intelligence (USA) and Soditech (France).
Ariel served as Business Development Director of Edunexo, an entrepreneurial venture with the goal of being the leading internet supplier of ASP technologies and e-learning tools in Latin America and Spain. He restructured business operations from a vertical portal to an ASP provider. Ariel opened offices and recruited key personnel in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Spain and led the launch and implementation of company products in 3 pilot clients in 3 different countries. Within the first year of operations, Ariel acquired more than 50 customers and negotiated subsequent investment rounds with venture capital firms and banks.
As a Team Leader at IBM, Argentina, Ariel led a team in developing Special Solutions for customers, offering CIM, CAD/CAM/CAE, product data management and image recognition solutions. He developed the marketing and sales tools and products for this service and generated US$2 million in revenues in the first year, while also leading implementation team activities in consulting and training in a variety of technologies, including MRP, CAD/CAM, Workflow and Paperless Manufacturing Workplace.
Ariel founded and served as CEO of Flea Trap, Inc., a US based entrepreneurial venture to develop and manufacture a special device to remove fleas from pets. He negotiated the venture capital funding, hired and managed a multidisciplinary team of experts to successfully design the product on time and 25% below budget, issued a US Invention Patent and negotiated a Patent lease and royalty agreement with manufacturers.
Ariel holds an MBA from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland and a Licentiatura in Industrial Design from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He has worked throughout South and North America, in Europe and in Asia and is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Ariel is currently based in Buenos Aires.
Email: lerera@h-m-c.com
