New Board Member brings bench strength and
oversight; Advisory Board Member brings deep experience in
Operations; VP Marketing & Strategy increases company's focus
on increasing brand recognition and revenue
VANCOUVER, May 24, 2019 /CNW/ - Namaste Technologies Inc.
("Namaste" or the "Company") (TSXV: N) (FRANKFURT: M5BQ) (OTCMKTS:
NXTTF) is pleased to provide the following corporate update with
respect to Andy Wilczynski joining
the Company's Board of Directors; Andrew
Buckman being appointed to Namaste's Advisory Board, along
with the hiring of Faraaz Jamal as
the Company's Vice President of Marketing & Strategy. Lastly,
the Company provides insight into Health Canada's recent
announcement regarding licensing requirements.
Board of Directors Update
The Company announces that
Andrew "Andy" Wilczynski has joined
the Namaste's Board of Directors. In 2011, Andy retired as Partner
of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC"). For the past 38 years,
Andy has worked with a wide range of organizations, including
start-ups, and multinational corporations to raise capital and to
advise on national, international and cross border restructuring
initiatives. He has also worked with organizations across a
broad spectrum of industries to develop and take advantage of
growth prospects and strategic opportunities and to design
refinancing and exit strategies. Andy has extensive expertise with
developing approaches for raising capital to implement new
technologies, formulating and implementing growth strategies
including mergers and acquisitions, managing corporate takeovers,
refinancing and corporate restructuring and providing advice on a
range of financial and operational initiatives. In his long and
distinguished career, Andy has succeeded in numerous leadership and
Board positions.
Advisory Board Update
The Company announces that
Andrew Buckman will become the
Company's inaugural Advisory Board member. Mr. Buckman brings more
than two decades of experience in international internet
environments and expertise in ad-tech, search, start-up creations,
and turnaround management in e-commerce and digital advertising.
Andrew joined Sublime in 2017 as EMEA Managing Director and became
Global Chief Operations Officer in April
2019, adding APAC and the Americas to his responsibilities.
In his role as COO at Sublime, Andrew is instrumental in meeting
growing global demand, forming strategic partnerships and promoting
the adoption of new high-impact and non-intrusive ad solutions and
technologies. One of his main missions will be to drive future
developments in key European markets such as Spain, Italy,
Germany as well as in APAC and the
Americas. Previously, Andrew was EMEA MD at OpenX, where he was
responsible for accelerating adoption of the advertising platform
throughout the EMEA region. Prior to that time, Andrew gained
extensive experience in ad-tech included high-profile roles at
Yahoo, and at public company Tradedoubler, where he advanced scale
and profitability of the company as COO.
New Vice President, Marketing & Strategy
Namaste
has strengthened its overall marketing efforts with the appointment
of Faraaz Jamal to Vice President,
Marketing & Strategy. Faraaz brings over 12 years of experience
in data-driven strategy to both eCommerce and marketing
disciplines. At Bulletproof 360, Faraaz shifted the marketing
department to a custom multi-touch attribution model, optimized
advertising spend to 2.2X ROI across all channels, doubling new
acquisition results in the process. Furthermore, led the
development, execution and measurement of a highly successful
influencer initiative positioning Bulletproof 360 as a category
thought leader while increasing revenue by 97%. As a futurist and
analytical heavyweight, Faraaz has forged a unique path in his
current and previous roles, developing exceptional teams of
performance marketers, brand managers, and eCommerce experts that
expand the relationship between brands and consumers. Prior to
Namaste, Faraaz had experience with major brands such as Under
Armour and Intiveo, leading teams of data-driven marketers across
North America and Europe, driving business results through data,
MarTech, and innovation.
"We have added strength, oversight, experience, and vision to
increase our capacity to achieve our corporate milestones and
regain our focus on growth," said Meni
Morim, Interim CEO of Namaste. "These three individuals each
bring a wealth of history and operational excellence with proven
results. Andy provides keen financial strength and brings vast
experience with large scale turnaround situations. Andrew's
experience is a great asset in our process to improve efficiencies
as we build the organization for growth. I am truly excited to have
Faraaz join Namaste and help us build a true data-driven marketing
organization. Faraaz will lead the resurgence of our focus on
Namaste's brands and their related revenue growth. These
individuals bring new energy and will be instrumental in
reinvigorating and reshaping Namaste's future."
Health Canada Regulations Update
By way of background,
Health Canada recently introduced new licensing requirements. As
noted in Health Canada's Press
Release, "Health Canada will require new applicants for licences to
cultivate cannabis, process cannabis, or sell cannabis for medical
purposes to have a fully built site that meets all the requirements
of the Cannabis Regulations at the time of their application, as
well as satisfying other application criteria." Further to
this additional guidance, Namaste is pleased to report that Choklat
Inc. (in which Namaste acquired a 49% interest in March of this
year) had already submitted their license application for edibles
manufacturing, Cannmart Labz Inc. (in which Namaste owns a 51%
controlling interest) had already submitted their license
application for oils sales and extraction and Cannmart had already
submitted their applications. Namaste is still in the process of
reviewing the full scope of the regulatory changes but believes
that these changes in licensing requirements do not further affect
the above mentioned licensing applications. Namaste has invested
time and capital to ready these three operations and look forward
to working with Health Canada through the remaining steps.
About Namaste Technologies Inc.
Namaste Technologies
powers the ultimate online customer experience for medicinal
cannabis and related products. Beginning with NamasteMD.com, the
Company's integrated telemedicine application, Namaste connects
medical clients with health care practitioners to more readily
issue and renew cannabis prescriptions online. Featuring the first
Canadian Medical Sales-Only Licence, the Company's own Cannmart.com
is your 'everything cannabis store' offering clients a large
variety of strains to fill their prescription needs. Namaste's
unique artificial intelligence (AI) engine incorporated in its
platforms and related Uppy App, completes our ecosystem by
identifying the right product and pairing to address specific
medical cannabis requirements. Namaste also provides vaporizers and
accessories across several platforms operating in several
countries. Namaste's global technology addresses local needs in a
burgeoning cannabis industry requiring smart solutions. For further
information about Namaste, please log onto
www.Namastetechnologies.com
Information on the Company and its many products can be accessed
through the links below:
NamasteTechnologies.com
NamasteMD.com
Cannmart.com
NamasteVapes.ca
Everyonedoesit.ca
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION - This news release contains
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not
historical in nature contain forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases
such as "may", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan",
"anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate",
"believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words,
expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that
certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen. The
forward-looking information contained in this press release,
includes, but is not limited to, statements related to: the
expected benefit arising from the constitution of an advisory board
and other management appointments and the certain statements in
relation to recent amendments to licensing requirements from Health
Canada. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as
of the date of this press release and is based on assumptions
management believed to be reasonable at the time such statements
were made, including management's perceptions of future growth,
results of operations, operational matters, historical trends,
current conditions and expected future developments, as well as
other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the
circumstances. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable
based on information currently available to management, there is no
assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By their
nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks
and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give
rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions,
projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that
assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals
and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors,
including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our
control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking information in this press release. Such factors
include, without limitation: risks relating to the Company's
ability to execute its business strategy and the benefits
realizable therefrom, risks specifically related to the Company's
international operations, and risks relating to the market price of
the Common Shares. Additional risk factors can also be found in the
Company's current MD&A and annual information form, both of
which have been filed under the Company's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements contained in
this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary
statement.
Neither the 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 or has in any way approved or disapproved
of the contents of this press release.
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SOURCE Namaste Technologies Inc.