Namaste Technologies Provides Corporate Update with Respect to new Board of Director, New Advisory Board Member, Executive Team Addition, and Health Canada Regulations
Namaste Technologies Inc. (“Namaste” or the “Company”) (TSXV:N.V) (M5BQ.F) (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.
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
