New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards

Simon Bunn

"Simon has taken an innovative software product from its inception as a small project to an internationally successful and award winning venture. His company Dercerto is a world leader in the development of pump scheduling optimisation software."
– Dr Bas Walker, Chief Judge

Simon has specialised in industrial processes and controls, and was instrumental in establishing Beca Applied Technologies to leverage the collective expertise of the Beca engineering group into software products for a diverse range of industries.

In 1996, he was asked to help New Plymouth District Council balance water demand with treatment capacity. The outcome was an innovative real-time solution to smooth production and optimise storage. This was the beginning of the Derceto story.

Since that time, Simon and his team have applied their skills to solving similar problems for a wide range of clients. The Derceto product has undergone continuous development and is now being used in the United States where sales are forecast to grow to in excess of US$15 million per year.

New Zealand-based Endeavour Capital has recently invested $3 million in Derceto to fund US growth. The transfer from a professional services contract to an international product based company has involved many changes to Simon’s roles and responsibilities. In building Derceto from scratch he has successfully applied himself to management, marketing, sales and technical roles.

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