Test, Certification, Compliance
Granite River Labs Names TIC Veteran Holger Kunz President of Worldwide Services
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—August 10, 2021—Granite River Labs (“GRL”), a global leader in test and certification services and automated test solutions for digital connectivity and charging technologies, has appointed Holger Kunz as President of Worldwide Services. Kunz will continue to be based in Yokohama, Japan and lead the continued expansion of GRL’s worldwide services business.
Kunz will leverage his deep knowledge of global testing trends in key verticals, a passion for technology testing and market access, and his demonstrated skill as a leader for developing worldwide test organizations to help accelerate GRL’s growth. The addition follows GRL’s strategic growth investment from SFW Capital Partners in May 2021.
Originally from Germany, with much of his career based in Asia, including Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Kunz joins GRL after 25 years with TÜV Rheinland (TÜVR), a global leader in the Testing, Inspection, Certification (TIC) industry. Most recently, Kunz served as Group Executive Council member and Global Executive Vice President for Products at TÜVR, overseeing five business lines, more than €550 million revenue, and a rapidly growing global network of laboratories. During his tenure as EVP, Kunz oversaw tremendous growth and margin expansion through organic initiatives and strategic acquisitions. At TÜVR, Kunz focused on customers in a range of end-markets including consumer electronics, telecommunications, medical, automotive, and renewable energy.
“Holger is a proven world-class leader, and I am very excited to welcome him to GRL,” said Johnson Tan, Granite River Labs’ co-founder and CEO. “I’ve worked with Holger for many years and been consistently impressed by his success in building technology-driven businesses and teams around the world. Holger’s entrepreneurial drive and expertise in leading cross functional organizations supporting complex technical needs make him the perfect fit to expand our service capabilities and create more value for customers.”
“Granite River Labs has a sterling reputation for its testing expertise in digital connectivity and charging technologies, an impressive roster of globally-recognizable clients, and a strong leadership team,” said Kunz. “Following a fulfilling career with TÜVR, I am excited to partner with GRL and SFW Capital and take on a more entrepreneurial role. I look forward to helping the company serve its existing customers more effectively, enter new end-markets, pursue add-on acquisitions, and expand its technical capabilities.”
About SFW Capital Partners, LP
SFW Capital Partners is a specialized private equity firm that invests in leading Information, Software, Industrial and Healthcare Technology companies. These companies, which include providers of instrumentation, laboratory products, software/information and related solutions, provide a high return on investment to their customers and can serve a wide variety of end-markets. Our principals’ 25+ years of investing in and experience with relevant business models, technologies, competitive dynamics and service requirements gives us confidence in our ability to support management teams in growing their companies and building value. For more information, visit www.sfwcap.com.
About Granite River Labs
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2010, Granite River Labs (GRL) is a leading provider of end-to-end testing, certification and compliance services and related proprietary instrumentation and software solutions to support development and commercialization of sophisticated connected devices. GRL helps engineers solve tough design and validation challenges. GRL was founded with a vision to provide affordable test services to help hardware developers implement digital interface technologies as they become faster, more complex, and more challenging to test. Today, GRL has worked with hundreds of companies supporting the adoption of new and emerging technologies from their worldwide test facilities and R&D centers. GRL’s combination of market-leading technical expertise, broad capabilities across connectivity and charging technologies, and intense focus on quality and customer service excellence has led to rapid growth and recognition as the “go to” expert. For more information, visit graniteriverlabs.com.
