Mani Erfan Male • United States of America

Mani Erfan is a chemical engineer, international entrepreneur, and industrial executive with over 33 years of experience in the global catalyst industry. Based in Houston, Texas, he has built and led companies in catalyst manufacturing, purification technologies, and recycling. He founded a catalyst business from the ground up and grew it into a global operation, generating cumulative product sales of more than $700 million before its sale in 2020. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of a catalyst-recycling company with approximately $8 million in annual revenue.

Erfan was born in Iran in 1966. His father was a commercial pilot who logged nearly 38,000 flight hours during his aviation career. In 1983, at the age of 17, he immigrated to the United States and quickly adapted to a new language, culture, and education system. He began his studies at the University of Florida in 1984, where he pursued a degree in Chemical Engineering. He completed 157 credit hours in less than four years and graduated in August 1988 with high honors and a GPA of 3.88.

After graduating, he began his career in Texas as a Process Engineer, evaluating and improving chemical operations. In 1990, he joined a Danish catalyst company as a Sales Engineer, managing a 26-state territory. Over three years, he grew annual sales from $1.4 million to more than $6 million and was promoted to Sales Manager, becoming the youngest individual to hold the position at that time.

In 1993, Erfan joined a Houston-based recycling company as International Sales Manager. Under his leadership, international sales grew from $1 million to $11 million annually. In 2000, he launched a new catalyst company with $50,000 in seed funding and led it to peak annual revenues of $40 million before its $38 million sale. He also founded a consulting and industrial solutions company that operated in more than 10 countries and generated $7.5–$8 million in annual revenue by 2021.

Since 1992, he has been involved in ministry, founding a nonprofit organization, launching an online Bible college with 4,500 students, and managing recovery and training platforms serving thousands. His charitable giving totals several million dollars, with annual contributions ranging from $200,000 to $300,000. Mani Erfan continues to lead with purpose in both industry and ministry.