Our Investment Approach

Since 2010, Griffon Conseils has built-up a portfolio of investments in promising early–stage ventures. Some of this is “sweat equity” that we have accumulated in return for our consulting services, though typically these are direct investments we've made in companies that have impressed us.

We prefer businesses that have recognised a key social problem and developed an entrepreneurial solution to help achieve change, while turning a decent profit. This summary of our current investments describes (in a few words) what attracted us to each opportunity.

OUR EXISTING INVESTMENTS

DomoSafety SA provides a suite of monitoring solutions for the elderly. Using movement sensors, but no cameras, these allow fragile seniors to remain in their own homes long beyond the point at which they would previously have been checked into a care home. In addition to the dignity this preventative approach brings, its software allows ‘the home to take care of its elderly resident’. For example, it can detect mild changes in habit and communicate potential issues to the caregiver, and it can even recognise an emergency before the panic button is triggered.

CashSentinel SA is the first Swiss online payment service to bring security and confidence to buying and selling a used vehicle, without the need to carry cash. It is a disruptive solution because, unlike a bank cheque or a direct transfer, CashSentinel allows buyers to confirm their transaction as you they ownership of the vehicle, which is safer and facilitates any last-minute price negotiations. CashSentinel has been affiliated as a financial intermediary since August 2013. The company works closely with their strategic partners AutoScout24 and Swissquote Bank to deliver an optimal level of customer service.

ORPENS is a freshly pressed Craft Cider, that proudly sings of its Irish origins. Their cidermaker, Bruce Jack, has poured his winemaking skills and perfectionism into each new vintage. This means they only work with fresh apple juice, and they keep it as natural as possible, which gives their cider its zip, its smile and its sense of place. By choosing just the right combination of apple varieties, they are able to craft a cider that is not only balanced and crisp, but authentically delicious.

Kizy Tracking provides an online tracking platform and coordination center for manufacturers to track the global logistics of their shipments, based on reliable geo-location data. This allows them to make dramatic savings through more efficient inventory management. Since the Kizy hardware uses the GSM infrastructure, it requires little up front expenditure, consumes minimal energy and has ultra-low operating costs. Kizy operates worldwide and is even able to locate objects inside buildings and containers.

SwissVapour SA published the guidebook “Flitting - A Beautiful Choice”, which is the latest plan for smokers who want to reduce the harm of tobacco without having to break with cigarettes. Based on the wisdom that If you encounter an impossible obstacle, go round it!, Flitting changes the rules of the game by allowing readers to ‘keep the best and vape the rest’. This is particularly helpful for ‘trapped smokers’ — often those in their late thirties who have already made several quit attempts, and now live in a love-hate relationship with tobacco. The book is structured around 7 key insights that can help readers reduce their consumption from a pack-a-day to the two or so cigarettes that really matter, while enjoying the clean nicotine of ecigs for all the other ’pleasurable moments’ of their day.

CombaGroup is in the ‘aeroponics’ business. They have a revolutionary way of producing lettuce by suspending them on structures and spraying their roots, which absorb the necessary water, oxygen, and nutrients. Since they avoid contact with the soil there is no exposure to bugs or bacteria. CombaGroup’s proprietary monitoring systems control the climate, and instruct their irrigation robots to spray the right mix of water and mineral salts on the salad roots at controlled intervals. Whatever is not used by the plants is recovered, and recycled, so their process uses 10x less water than conventional methods. Nothing is left to chance, and nothing is wasted.

ESTEEM was a premium brand of electronic cigarettes which prospered in the early stages of this disruptive industry. Like other e-cigs, it offered ‘trapped smokers’ the chance to escape from smoking. ESTEEM offered a fresh alternative, both aesthetically and emotionally. “Your life. Your way.” emphasised the freedom that consumers could enjoy by making the switch to ESTEEM. Together with its strategic partners, the company made advances in the quality of its hardware and the purity of its liquid ingredients. All ESTEEM products were removed from the market by May 2015 in anticipation of the European Tobacco Products Directive, however we still list this business as an investment asset because it owns one of the best brand names in the business.

ON OUR WATCHLIST