Board of Directors further strengthens WM
Technology’s expertise in cannabis technology, data analytics and
retail
WM Technology, Inc. (“WM Technology” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:
MAPS), a leading technology and software infrastructure provider to
the cannabis industry, today announced the Company’s Board of
Directors following its public debut on the Nasdaq on June 16,
2021.
“We have assembled a best-in-class Board of Directors with
highly experienced leaders in the technology, retail, and cannabis
sectors,” said Chris Beals, Chief Executive Officer of WM
Technology. “Their collective expertise will play a key role in
guiding WM Technology forward as we execute our growth strategy and
scale our technology platform globally. On behalf of the entire WM
Technology team, I’d like to welcome these seasoned veterans to our
company, mission and vision.”
WM Technology’s Board of Directors is comprised of nine (9)
members, including Scott Gordon, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Silver Spike Capital, Chris Beals, Chief Executive
Officer of WM Technology, Tony Aquila, Douglas Francis, Brenda
Freeman, Olga Gonzalez, Justin Hartfield and Fiona Tan. The
outstanding vacancy will be filled by an affirmative vote of a
majority of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Additional Information on Board Members
Tony Aquila has served as a member of WM Technology’s
board of directors since June 2021. In June 2019, Mr. Aquila
founded AFV Partners, an affirmative low-leverage capital vehicle
that invests in long-term mission critical software, data and
technology businesses and serves as its Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer since its founding. In 2005, Mr. Aquila founded
Solera Holdings Inc., and led it as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer to a $1 billion initial public offering in 2007, and in the
following years sourced and executed over 50 acquisitions
significantly expanding Solera’s total addressable market. Mr.
Aquila oversaw Solera’s $6.5 billion transaction from a
public-to-private business in 2016. Mr. Aquila currently serves as
the Chairman for Aircraft Performance Group, LLC, a global provider
of mission critical flight operations software, since January 2020,
RocketRoute Limited, global aviation services company, since March
2020, APG Avionics LLC, an aviation data and software company for
the general aviation market, since September 2020 and Canoo Inc., a
mobility technology company, since December 2020. From November
2018 to July 2020, Mr. Aquila served as the Global Chairman of
Sportradar Group, a sports data and content company.
Christopher Beals has served as WM Technology’s Chief
Executive Officer and as a member of its board of directors since
June 2021. Mr. Beals served as WM Holding Company, LLC’s (“Legacy
WMH”) Chief Executive Officer from March 2019 to June 2021 and as a
member of its board of managers since October 2015. Mr. Beals
previously served as Legacy WMH’s General Counsel from September
2015, and Legacy WMH’s President from February 2016 to March 2019.
Mr. Beals previously served as Senior Vice President of Colbeck
Capital Management from December 2014 to August 2015 and Senior
Corporate Counsel & Data Privacy Officer at T-Systems
International GmbH from February 2013 to December 2014. He also
previously worked as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
and Covington & Burling LLP. Mr. Beals holds a B.S. in Systems
Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from the University of
Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law
School.
Douglas Francis has served as a member of WM Technology’s
board of directors since June 2021. Mr. Francis is a co-founder of
Legacy WMH, and served as chairman of Legacy WMH’s board of
managers since March 2019 and as a member of Legacy WMH’s board of
managers prior to that. Mr. Francis previously served as Legacy
WMH’s Chief Executive Officer from February 2016 until March 2019
and as Legacy WMH’s President from January 2009 to February 2016.
Mr. Francis has served in management positions in each of Legacy
WMH’s current subsidiaries. Mr. Francis holds a B.S. in Business
Administration and Management from Chapman University.
Brenda Freeman has served as a member of WM Technology’s
board of directors since June 2021. Since February 2020, Ms.
Freeman has served as Chief Executive Officer for Arteza, Inc., a
direct-to-consumer arts and crafts manufacturing and supply
company. Ms. Freeman founded and has served as President of Joyeux
Advisory Group LLC, a firm providing advisory services to
early-stage startups and Fortune 500 companies, since January 2018.
From March 2016 to December 2018, Ms. Freeman was Chief Marketing
Officer of Magic Leap, Inc., a virtual reality technology company,
and from December 2018 to April 2019 was Senior Advisor to the
Chief Executive Officer. From March 2015 to March 2016, Ms. Freeman
served as Chief Marketing Officer of National Geographic Channel, a
television network and channel. Ms. Freeman has been a member of
the boards of directors of Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. since October
2020, of Caleres, Inc. since April 2017 and of Avnet, Inc. since
November 2018. Ms. Freeman previously served on the board of
directors of Herman Miller, Inc. from January 2016 to June 2019 and
on the board of directors of RTW Retailwinds, Inc. from April 2019
to April 2020. Previously, Ms. Freeman served as Chief Marketing
Officer at Turner Broadcasting Systems, Inc. and was Vice
President, television marketing at DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
Ms. Freeman holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and an
M.B.A degree from the University of Maryland.
Olga Gonzalez has served as a member of WM Technology’s
board of directors since June 2021. Since January 2021, Ms.
Gonzalez has served as Global Business Leader for Wild Fork Foods,
an online specialty food service. Prior to that, Ms. Gonzalez held
various leadership positions at Walmart Inc., including Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer at Walmart México y
Centroamérica from July 2017 to April 2020, Vice President
Commercial & Operations Finance at Walmart México y
Centroamérica from October 2014 to June 2017, Chief Financial
Officer at Walmart Chile from 2011 to 2014, and Vice President,
Internal Audit Services Latin America at Walmart US from 2010 to
2011. Prior to that, Ms. Gonzalez had served as Director, Internal
Audit at General Motors Company from 2006 to 2010 and from 1996 to
2004, Vice President, Enterprise Risk and Assurance Services at the
88 TABLE OF CONTENTS American Express Company from 2004 to 2006,
and Internal Audit at Banco Santander from 1989 to 1996. Ms.
Gonzalez holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico and an M.B.A. from
Florida International University.
Scott Gordon has served as a member of WM Technology’s
board of directors since June 2021. Mr. Gordon has been the
Chairman of Silver Spike’s board of directors and has served as its
Chief Executive Officer since its inception. Since 2016, Mr. Gordon
has been the co-founder and Chairman of Egg Rock Holdings, parent
company of the Papa & Barkley family of cannabis products with
related subsidiary assets in manufacturing, processing, and
logistics. Egg Rock Holdings also is the parent company of Papa
& Barkley Essentials, a hemp-derived CBD business based in
Colorado. From 2016 to 2018, Mr. Gordon was also President of
Fintech Advisory Inc., investment manager for a multibillion dollar
family office fund focused on long-term and opportunistic
investments in emerging markets. From late 2013 to 2016, Mr. Gordon
served as a Portfolio Manager at Taconic Capital Advisors, a
multi-strategy investment firm. Prior to joining Taconic, Mr.
Gordon was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Caxton Associates
from 2009 to 2012. He was also a Senior Managing Director and Head
of Emerging Markets at Marathon Asset Management from 2007 to 2009.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Gordon held leadership positions at Bank
of America and ING Capital. Mr. Gordon was a founding member of the
Emerging Markets business at JP Morgan where he worked upon
graduating from Bowdoin College in 1983.
Justin Hartfield has served as a member of WM
Technology’s board of directors since June 2021. Mr. Hartfield is a
co-founder of Legacy WMH, and served as a member of Legacy WMH’s
board of managers since inception and served as Legacy WMH’s
chairman of the board from February 2016 to March 2019. Previously,
Mr. Hartfield served as Legacy WMH’s Chief Executive Officer until
February 2016. Mr. Hartfield holds a B.S. in Computer and
Information Sciences and Supportive Services from the University of
California, Irvine.
Fiona Tan has served as a member of WM Technology’s board
of directors since June 2021. Since September 2020, Ms. Tan has
served as Global Head of Customer and Supplier Technology for
Wayfair LLC. Prior to that Ms. Tan held various leadership
positions at Walmart Inc., including Head of Technology, Walmart US
from March 2019 to September 2020, Senior Vice President,
Engineering, Customer Technology, WalmartLabs from January 2017 to
March 2019 and Vice President, Engineering, International Markets,
WalmartLabs Strategy, and Operations from April 2014 to January
2017. Prior to that Ms. Tan was Vice President, Engineering for
Ariba, Inc. Ms. Tan also previously worked for 16 years at TIBCO
Software, Inc., as well as for Oracle Corporation. Ms. Tan holds an
M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and a B.S. in
Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.
About WM Technology, Inc.
WM Technology, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MAPS) mission is to power a
transparent and inclusive global cannabis economy. Now in its
second decade, WM Technology has been a driving force behind much
of the legislative change we’ve seen in the past 10 years.
Founded in 2008, WM Technology, is a leading technology and
software infrastructure provider to the cannabis industry,
comprising a B2C platform, Weedmaps, and B2B software, WM Business.
The cloud-based SaaS solutions from WM Business provide an
end-to-end operating system for cannabis retailers. WM Business’
tools support compliance with the complex, disparate, and
constantly evolving regulations applicable to the cannabis
industry. Through its website and mobile apps, WM Technology
provides consumers with the latest information about cannabis
retailers, brands, and products, facilitating product discovery and
driving engagement with our retail and brand customers.
WM Technology holds a strong belief in the power of cannabis and
the importance of enabling safe, legal access to consumers
worldwide. Since inception, WM Technology has worked tirelessly,
not only to become the most comprehensive platform for consumers,
but to build the software solutions that power businesses
compliantly in the space, to advocate for legalization, social
equity, and licensing in many jurisdictions, and to facilitate
further learning through partnering with subject matter experts on
providing detailed, accurate information about the plant.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, WM Technology employs
approximately 430 professionals around the world. WM Technology
supports remote work for all eligible employees and has hubs in
Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; and Kitchener, Ontario.
Visit us at www.weedmaps.com.
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