Our Team

Colm Kavanagh

Managing Director & Co-Founder

Colm is primarily focussed on Project development and Commercial project delivery. Maintains a background in food processing and infrastructure development projects in both domestic and overseas jurisdictions. Postgraduate qualifications in Engineering and Natural Sciences with experience in capital projects exceeding $70B on both the client and contractor sides of development.

Chris Freney

Director & Co-Founder

Chris' role in C-Loop is primarily focussed on Business Development. He is a Poultry farmer with operating farms in Victoria growing 4.4M chickens annually with long term growing agreements with Ingham's. Past poultry operations held in New South Wales and Queensland. Hold business tertiary qualifications and maintains a strong interest in farm technology and automation. Ventures include Sunnybrand Chickens acquired by Ingham's in 2011.

Dr. Hajar Shayesteh

Lead Scientist

Hajar has extensive experience culturing and growing micro algae species including research and development activities performed for Harvest Road, C-Loop, and primary industry sites across Western Australia. Competent cultivating, maintaining, and harvesting high value micro algae species such as Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Spirulina. Hajar is responsible for the execution of the micro algae scale up strategy for Gippsland and R&D activities.

Wayne Stuchbery

GM – Biomass

Wayne is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in leading complex operations, strategic growth initiatives, and cross-functional teams across global food ingredient and colorant markets. As the previous General Manager at Sensient Technologies, a global leader in specialty ingredients and colour solutions, Wayne played a pivotal role in driving innovation, operational performance, and customer-centric strategies. With over 40 years of industry experience, Wayne has built a strong reputation for delivering measurable results through a combination of strategic vision, commercial acumen, and people-focused leadership. Wayne is an advocate for leadership development and community involvement. He is dedicated to mentoring emerging leaders and delivering commercial outcomes.

Jason Briffa

Permitting & Compliance Manager

Jason brings over two decades of experience across the infrastructure, energy, water, resources, and manufacturing sectors. He combines technical depth with a practical, solution-oriented mindset—which has underpinned his delivery of environmental management, sustainability, and regulatory approvals for complex, high-profile projects throughout Australia. He has held senior roles with organisations including AusNet Services, EPA Victoria, Great Ocean Road Coast & Parks Authority, Lion Dairy & Drinks, and Barwon Water. A collaborative leader and mentor, Jason builds capable teams and fosters constructive partnerships with Traditional Owners, government bodies, and industry stakeholders. His expertise includes environmental impact assessment, risk management, and sustainability strategy aligned with ISO 14001:2015 frameworks across C-Loop's Biorefineries.

James Hurren

CTO

With over 17 years experience specialising in biogas and bioenergy, James' focus has been on supporting Australia's renewable markets across these sectors. His expertise in anaerobic digestion has been instrumental in guiding biogas developers across domestic and international projects. With postgraduate qualifications in Engineering Management his areas of expertise include delivering, commissioning, and operating biogas projects, process engineering, project management, feasibility assessments, and compliance standards. James' focus is project deployment and process engineering and will lead the Australian C-Loop engineering effort.

Georgette Godbolt

Chief Operating Officer

Georgette has over twenty years of expertise in optimising organisational processes and driving strategic sales and marketing initiatives, with a particular focus on the sustainability and financial services sectors. In her capacity as COO, Georgette brings a wealth of experience to C-Loop, where she oversees operational functions alongside strategic partnerships sales and marketing. Beyond her corporate endeavours, Georgette is deeply committed to nurturing emerging talent in sustainability, serving on multiple advisory boards to mentor young entrepreneurs in the sector to accelerate and flourish.

Michael Spencer

CCO

Michael has spent much of his career working for two international investment banks in listed equity and capital markets, working with high growth companies. He also was a Director of Private Wealth for a leading domestic Private Bank and more recently was the CCO for Australia's first large scale fully automated indoor farming company, who have recently been awarded by the Australian Financial Review as Australia's most sustainable company in the Agriculture and Environment category, along with the country's most innovative company. He played a pivotal role in setting the commercial strategy and unlocking the company's valuation by aligning the group with strategic partners and investors.