- Effective business strategy with demonstrated focus and
execution
- Valued partnerships have delivered a platform to demonstrate
proof of concepts and validate product technologies
- Strong and committed leadership with a very positive
outlook
CALGARY, AB, March 4, 2021
/CNW/ - Exro Technologies Inc. (TSXV: EXRO) (OTCQB:
EXROF) (the "Company" or "Exro"), a leading clean technology
company which has developed a new class of power electronics for
electric motors and batteries, is issuing the following statement
in response to the false and defamatory report (the "report") from
Mariner Group.
The Company believes the report was intended to manipulate the
stock price downward in support of short sellers. Exro is reviewing
all available legal recourses to hold the author(s) responsible for
this baseless attack, which has, as of this press release, caused
the stock price to decrease. Shareholders are cautioned against
reacting to the false statements being made, demonstrating a lack
of understanding of the Company and its partners.
A detailed summary to fact-check the report has been prepared
and laid out by the following categories:
- Business strategy
- Partnerships
- Leadership
- Technology
Business strategy
In response to inaccurate claims addressing the move to EV,
operating spend, position to execute with automotive, and
manufacturing facilities and compliances.
In 2019, when the new Chief Executive Officer Sue Ozdemir joined the Company, there was a deep
dive into eliminating barriers to commercialization. Because of the
value Exro Technologies could bring to electric motors, and with
the rise in the electrification of mobility applications, a shift
in focus began to form. The Company began to bring on management
with expertise in electric motors and automotive power
electronics.
In 2020, the Company executed and out delivered on all the
milestones set out at the onset of the year, including bringing on
partners with the goal of demonstrating versatility in operating
applications. Operational validation of Exro technology through
partnerships across the electric mobility industry is positioning
the Company for potential revenue generation with electric vehicle
("EV") manufacturers, although revenue has not yet generated
through any of the Company's purchase orders and licencing
agreements, which remain at the validation stage.
In October 2020, the Company
opened a new 10,000 square foot facility in Calgary, AB to deliver commercial products
with in-house design, testing, and assembly. This was the first
step for Exro in developing low volume manufacturing facilities
with qualification for standard automotive compliances. At that
time, we started our quality management program with a targeted
completion date of Q3 2021.
The Company remains intensely focused on innovation through
research and development ("R&D") of power electronics across
multiple segments and shows this with the more than $12M USD dedicated budget toward R&D
from the recent $42M financing
raised. With a strong balance sheet, focused strategy, and robust
pipeline, Exro is positioned for success.
Partnerships
In response to false claims and outright distortions
regarding Exro partners, their legitimate value, and quotes from
the companies that were attacked.
The initial intention of Exro's partnerships was to
demonstrate versatility in operating applications. Some
partnerships like Motorino Electric have already achieved this
goal, and other partnerships like Potencia Industrial continue
development in reaching this goal. Partnerships like SEA
Electric, have even announced expanded strategy beyond initial
operating application validation scope.
- Motorino Electric ("Motorino") is more than a single
storefront, with dealers across Canada that distribute Motorino products.
Motorino was instrumental in Exro validation of the e-bike
controller. Founder and CEO of Motorino, Steve Miloshev, previously stated that
Exro-enhanced electric bike performed dramatically better in field
tests.
- Aurora Powertrains ("Aurora") continues to work alongside the
Exro team in validating the Coil Driver with their innovative
snowmobile. This validation would open the door to the recreational
mobility segment for Exro and shed light on commercialization with
Aurora in a growing electric snowmobile market.
- The partnership with Clean Seed Capital Group ("Clean Seed") is
a collaboration to begin development in advancing electrification
of agricultural equipment. Exro continues to work toward this
alongside the Clean Seed team, who continue to push the throttle
toward innovative farming. "Years of R&D have resulted in a
vast portfolio of intellectual property that sets new benchmarks in
seeding and planting technologies", stated Graeme Lempriere, Chief Executive Officer of
Clean Seed. "Spring 2021 Clean Seed is commercializing its Smart
Seeder MAX in Canada with a strong
commitment to rapid growth."
- Templar Electric Boats ("Templar") owner Mark Fry quickly responded to the false claims
of the report with a full statement. "I fully stand behind Exro and
its management team. The Company is on the right track and has huge
potential for growth. Exro has been very supportive and has worked
consistently with us to develop integration of their technology for
marine applications. The report falsely claims we are operating out
of a UPS store, when in fact, we operate out of our factory where
we develop our boats and our marina location where we demo them. If
we had been contacted at all prior to the false report, we could've
simply communicated that."
- Potencia Industrial ("Potencia") is a longstanding business
that has been in operation for more than 50 years with experience
in custom applications for electric motors. Most recently, Potencia
has begun to focus on electric motors in automotive applications
and have in-house electric vehicles for testing that have traveled
more than 1 Million miles. "When we entered into a partnership with
Exro, we knew it would be a long-term commitment, and Exro has
worked with us every step of the way", said Roberto Goffried, Chief
Executive Officer of Potencia. "Due to this unwarranted attack
against Exro and my company, we felt it necessary to express the
great relationship we have with Exro and how delighted we are about
the progress we have made together. We have crossed many milestones
in integration of their technology with our electric vehicle
testing. Since Sue joining there has been an elevated focus to
delivering on the objectives we had set for the electric vehicles.
Had an investigator actually contacted us wanting to see our
facility, we would've happily hosted and demonstrated our products,
but we did not receive any such contact." Potencia has also
provided a full report in response that can be found here.
In second quarter of 2019, Potencia issued a 500K purchase order that represents the volume
supply of the Coil Driver after validation is completed. As per the
press release on February 3, the
Coil Driver has been shipped to Potencia for validation due to be
completed in third quarter 2021. After which point, we will begin
delivery against the purchase order issued from Potencia.
It is also worth mentioning that the false report is
misleadingly silent on key partnerships that may be further along
in the path to technology validation and revenue and like Zero
Motorcycles, Heinzmann, SEA Electric, and Exro's recently announced
LAND deal. Exro's partners range from smaller start-ups
to larger established businesses. Exro is eager to engage
with any partner wishing to validate its technology and potentially
purchasing its product - the more partnerships we have, the more
opportunities for growth we possess. The report misrepresents
Exro's business by cherry-picking a list of some of our smaller
partners. We value our relationships with all our partners
and hope to grow with them as we continue to add new partners to
the list.
Leadership
In response to the false attack regarding the Chairman of the
Board Mark Godsy, innuendos on management positions, and
outlook.
The malicious attack on Exro Chairman of the Board Mark Godsy is
not substantiated with facts. Mark
Godsy, previously Exro CEO until 2019 when Sue Ozdemir joined, is one of Exro's largest
shareholders and has not sold a single share of Exro to date.
Mark is an upstanding businessman who still today is licensed to
practice law and has always conducted himself with the highest
integrity. "I can confirm that Mark
Godsy was one of my co-founders and that he was a senior
executive of ID Biomedical Corporation for several years," stated
Dr. Anthony Holler, previous CEO of
ID Biomedical Corporation. "Mark, myself, and others were also
co-founders of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, a medical device
company."
Current Chief Executive Officer of Exro, Sue Ozdemir, recently sold about 18% of her
share position. "My selling shares was in no way a reflection of my
belief in the Company," commented Sue. "It was a purely a personal
decision as my family and I went through the transition in moving
to Calgary. I could not be more
optimistic about our company outlook."
More recently, you will find the Exro management team is buying
into more Exro shares as they continue to execute the new business
strategy since Sue's onset.
Technology
In response to the inaccurate claims addressing marketing,
product technology, and intellectual property protection.
Today, Exro is focused on leading the way to intelligent
electrification. In other words, focused on being the brains of the
electric vehicles and energy storage solutions for the transition
to electrification. Exro technology provides solutions for
optimizing systems with smart power electronics, without adding
more equipment.
Accomplishing coil switching electronically, without
external mechanical gearboxes, is something that has not been done
before. There has not been a cost-effective solution, prior to the
Coil Driver, to bring this type of technology to mass market. Exro
has validated the Coil Driver for operating applications up to the
micro controller size today and continues to work with partners to
validate the product line through the range of mobility
applications.
The Coil Driver technology can impact a wide range of
applications, including drones, but the Company has not taken a
focused approach to this segment or has since reviewed the strategy
with prior project implementations since previous management had
paused that R&D.
The Company has 17 patents granted and 18 patents pending that
secure the intellectual property related to both the Coil Driver
and Battery Control System (formerly Battery Management System).
The Battery Control System takes battery management to the next
level by gaining cell-level control. It is worth noting, that many
of the patents protecting the battery control technology, are still
in pending phase and thus not available to the public yet.
Summary
The Company has tried to address all of the false claims made in
a report that were full of inaccuracies, innuendos, and outright
distortions. Exro has a focused business strategy with demonstrated
execution, valued and validated partners who are deeply invested in
the success of our development projects. As well as a strong
leadership team from the Board of Directors to the Management team
who hold integrity and continued execution to the upmost values
with a strong bank account of over $40M
USD to deliver on our commitments.
Exro has professional research analysts who cover
comprehensive due diligence with Raymond
James and Haywood Capital. The Company encourages
shareholders and engaged followers to reach out to these real
analysts and find out what they have to say about Exro and its
business.
"After seeing all the incredible support our company has
received from valued partners, employees, engaged followers, and
many more in reaction to this ruthless report– I could not be more
confident in our path ahead to success," commented Sue Ozdemir, Chief Executive Officer of Exro.
"Our focus will continue to remain on executing an outstanding
business strategy, delivering high quality products to the market,
and continuous innovation through R&D."
For more information about this response, please visit Exro news
at www.exro.com/news
About Exro Technologies Inc.
Exro is a clean technology company pioneering intelligent
control solutions in power electronics to help solve the most
challenging problems in electrification. Exro has developed a new
class of control technology that expands the capabilities of
electric motors, generators, and batteries. Exro enables the
application to achieve more with less energy consumed.
Exro's advanced motor control technology, the Coil Driver,
expands the capabilities of powertrains by enabling two separate
torque profiles within a given motor. A major advancement in the
sector, dynamic motor configuration enables efficiency optimization
for each operating mode resulting in reduction of energy
consumption. The controller automatically selects the appropriate
configuration in real time so that power and efficiency are
intelligently optimized.
For more information visit our website at www.exro.com.
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/exro-technologies-inc
Twitter https://twitter.com/exrotech
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/exrotech/
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sue Ozdemir, Chief Executive
Officer
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, are
forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements
can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans",
"expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or
variations of such words, or statements that certain actions,
events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be
taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking statements
involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the
heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's filings with
Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results,
performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used
in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based
upon the information currently available to management as of the
date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially
from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which
only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance
can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times
frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the
Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Targeting List: Technology
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/exro-response-to-false-and-defamatory-report-301241067.html
SOURCE Exro Technologies Inc.