MARSS, a leading defence technology company that develops intelligent turnkey solutions to protect lives and assets, is further strengthening its management team with the appointment of Nabil Alnoor Borhanu to Chair of the Board and Group Managing Director, with Founder Johannes Pinl moving into the role of Chief Technology Officer.
Nabil Borhanu is a successful entrepreneur and investor who brings 22 years of experience in technology, finance and corporate governance. Throughout his career, he established several companies in Telecom, Sports, and Media and grew their revenue significantly, coupled with creating over 700 jobs.
In 2015, Nabil Borhanu founded Graphene Ventures, a Silicon Valley Venture Capital firm and an early investor in Snapchat and Lyft, which has deployed over $290M of capital and secured 50+ startups in its portfolio across the US, Europe, MENA, and Brazil.
Nabil – a long-term backer of MARSS – is now moving into an active leadership role within the company to enable MARSS to improve its product offerings and reinforce its activities within Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East – alongside Managing Director of MARSS’ KSA Office, Andy Forbes – together with strengthening the company’s corporate governance efforts and relations with current and prospective investors. Under its defined long-term development strategy, MARSS recognises the key role of the Middle Eastern market, and its growth potential, while strong ties of Nabil Borhanu in the region create new opportunities for strategic partnerships in the region.
MARSS has been working in the Middle East and Saudi Arabian markets for more than a decade, and has long seen the region as a key area of strategic growth — leading to the Group opening the doors to its first office in Riyadh in 2021. Since then, the number of projects MARSS has worked on in the region has grown exponentially, providing defence and security solutions for critical infrastructure across the Middle East. Alongside this, MARSS’ presence in Saudi Arabia has grown significantly, with over 30 personnel based out of its Riyadh headquarters — nearly half of which are Saudi nationals.
On assuming his new role as Chairman of the Board and Group Managing Director of MARSS Group, Nabil Borhanu commented: “I am thrilled and honoured to have been appointed to lead the MARSS Group as the new Managing Director. I have been a partner of MARSS’ for several years, watching it grow into a world leader in safety and security technology, with projects across the globe. Now, with a strong foundation and an exceptionally talented team, we are poised to achieve even greater results, while maintaining our tradition of excellence and our values of protecting what matters most to our customers.”
Johannes Pinl, MARSS’ Founder, has taken over new responsibilities as Chief Technology Officer, with oversight of new and existing products, and expanding the NiDAR product range and capabilities. Among other changes to the Group leadership, Rob Balloch has been made Chief Revenue Officer and Josh Harman is now Vice President of Business Development, with a core focus on KSA opportunities and the delivery of CUAS solutions.
