John Robinson

John Robinson

About

Mazarine Partners – Managing Principal : An early stage private equity fund investing in water/wastewater technologies  |  Mandarin Environment – Principal Consultant :  A water/wastewater technology consultancy providing advice on China strategy and operations  |  China BlueTech Awards – Co-Organizer : An annual awards platform offering Chinese corporates and investors a look at international technologies  |  WEFTEC China Connections – Co-Organizer : Overseeing the China-related programming at the North America’s largest annual water-tech event  |  Current Water – Investment Committee, Co-Chair : The City of Chicago’s water-industry cluster

 

John is a recognized entrepreneur, consultant, investor, and thought-leader in the global water-tech industry.  Over the last 10 years, John has built a reputation as the leading authority on doing business in China’s water and wastewater sectors. Through editorial contributions to industry publications, keynotes, workshops, and panel discussions, John’s China water industry insights and China water-tech connections are highly regarded.    

 

With experience across nearly every water-tech subsector and contacts in most of China’s provinces, Mandarin Environment has been offering international water-tech executives insights on success in China and access to opportunities since 2008. More recently established investment firm Mazarine Partners, which John is a General Partner in, is capital partner to growth-stage North American, European, and Israeli water and wastewater technology companies. Increasingly the path to growth is in China, a market which Mazarine’s portfolio of companies succeed in thanks to John’s guidance. 

 

Beyond China, John’s work as a strategy and operations consultant and investor has provided him with a global network of contacts across industrial, municipal, and residential water sub-sectors. He has demonstrated his collaborative nature by forging a wide range of strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions, industry associations, other consultancies and government ministries. John regularly co-hosts webinars with the US Dept. of Commerce on China’s water/wastewater business.

 

Prior to entering the water-tech industry, John held various sales, marketing, and consulting roles in Motorola, DTZ, and Deloitte. John completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science at Denison University, then went on to complete his graduate work on China’s macro economy and environment at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).  A Chicago native and consummate China hand, John has been in the China trade for 18 years, 10 years in water-tech, 7 years living in China, and is fluent in Mandarin. 

Information

Industry experience

Education: Masters

Seniority: Board director, CEO, COO, CFO, President, Provost

Years of experience: 5 to 10 years

Work experience

Taxonomy