REG - Engage XR Holdings - Board and Committee Changes

ENGAGE XR HoldingsAnnouncement

28/05/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 9103P  Engage XR Holdings PLC  28 May 2024

28 May 2024

 

ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc

("ENGAGE XR" or the "Group")

 

Board and Committee Changes

 

Appointment of Chairman and new HTC representative

 

ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc, a leading spatial computing and metaverse technology
company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Karthik Manimozhi as the
Group's new non-Executive Chairman effective from 1 July 2024.

 

Karthik Manimozhi is a distinguished global executive renowned for
orchestrating three billion-dollar exits, securing over $250M in capital, and
scaling multi-billion-dollar SAAS software revenues. A proven rainmaker, he
has demonstrated exceptional skill in scaling tech ventures, driving
innovation, and fostering collaboration. He currently serves as Chief Growth
Officer for Mindbridge.ai, a top AI platform delivering Financial Risk
Intelligence for Enterprises. Backed by PSG (leading PE Firm), Forbes
recognized Mindbridge.ai as a Top 50 AI platform.

 

Previously, Manimozhi was Executive Vice President of Global Sales at Kyriba,
a leading Fintech company specializing in Liquidity Management for
Enterprises. Under his leadership, global revenues tripled, quintupling the
company's valuation within four years to $1.2B.

 

With over 20 years of international management experience, Manimozhi has held
key roles at SAP, managing vital businesses across Europe, the Americas, and
the Middle East. He also served as Chief of Ecosystem and Executive Director
of SAP Americas, contributing to deploying a diverse ecosystem that built a
billion-dollar channel business.

 

Manimozhi's executive experience extends to roles as President and COO at
1-Page and Chief of Worldwide Partner Sales at a DELL EMC division. He was
previously CEO and Board Director at LETUS (the trading name of Payslate
Inc.), a Canadian Financial Services Marketplace for Renters.

 

Manimozhi's innovative vision, strategic insight, and unwavering commitment to
excellence continue to shape the technology industry's future. Based in
California (USA), Manimozhi holds an MBA from Purdue, a master's in
international management from ESCP EAP Paris, and an Engineering degree from
India.

 

Further to the above, and as permitted by the shareholder agreement, Marc
Metis will join the Board as the representative of HTC which owns 11.96% of
the total issued share capital of ENGAGE XR. Marc replaces Praveen Gupta who
served as non-Executive director from 6 July 2020 to 8 December 2023, until he
retired from HTC.

 

Marc Metis is an experienced leader driving innovation in XR, software,
mobile, and consumer electronics, working in senior general management,
product, marketing, and investment roles.  He is Vice President at HTC where
he has held a variety of planning, operating, and investment roles, reporting
to the Chairwoman and CEO.  He previously held senior management roles in the
games and consumer electronics businesses, including CEO of venture funded
Digital Chocolate, VP of Global Brand Management at Activision, and VP,
Corporate Marketing at SanDisk.  He began his career in strategy at
management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.  Marc graduated from
Dartmouth College and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

 

As Chair, Karthik replaces Richard Cooper, who is stepping down from the role
after six years, having led the Board since the Group's IPO. Richard will
remain on the board as Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit
Committee.

Alongside his role as Chair of the ENGAGE XR Board, Karthik will also sit as
Chair of the Company's newly formed Nominations Committee, alongside Richard
Cooper and Marc Metis.

 

Furthermore, Kenny Jacobs, Non-executive director, who joined the Board in
2022, will replace Richard Cooper as Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Mr
Cooper will however remain on the Remuneration Committee.

 

Following the appointment of both Karthik and Marc, the ENGAGE XR board
comprises seven directors, of which Karthik Manimozhi, Richard Cooper and
Kenny Jacobs are considered to be independent.

 

 

Karthik Manimozhi, said: "I am deeply honored to join as Chairman and
collaborate with the talented team at ENGAGE XR. I extend my sincere gratitude
to Richard for his pivotal contributions throughout the IPO, capitalization,
and expansion phases. Congratulations to the Executive team for their strong
Q1 results under David's visionary leadership. I am enthusiastic about our
technology's potential to transform industries by reimagining customer
experiences for enterprises and bullish about the impact of our
well-established transformative ecosystem partnerships."

 

Richard Cooper, outgoing Chairman, said: "Some time ago, I identified the need
to add external commercial and technical skills to the Board as we look to
build our US presence.  Therefore, we are delighted to appoint Karthik as
Chair who will bring his energy, contacts, entrepreneurial spirit, and
experience of building US tech businesses to the Group. To ensure there is
continuity, I am pleased to remain on the Board, and excited to work with
Kartik. I am also pleased to welcome Marc to the board and look forward to
working with him"

 

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INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER RULE 17 AND SCHEDULE 2, PARAGRAPH (G) OF THE AIM
RULES FOR COMPANIES ("AIM RULES")

 Full name:                                                     Karthikeyan Manimozhi
 Age:                                                           45
 Shares held in the Company:                                    None
 Current directorships:                                         Tectonic Force Corp.

 Historic directorships and partnerships in previous 5 years:   Payslate Inc. (previously Rentmoola Payment Solutions Inc.)

On 5 December 2022, Payslate Inc. filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) to make a
proposal pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) due to
finanical difficulties, a process that was overseen by Grant Thornton as
Trustee and officer of the court. On 10 May 2023 the court approved the
acquisition of Payslate Inc. through a credit bid, and subsequently a reverse
vesting order process by one of its secured creditors, Ayrshire Real Estate
Management Inc.. This followed an unsuccessful Sale and Investment
Solicitation Process (SISP) through the court. The total loss to secured
creditors was CAD$3.4m and the total loss to unsecured creditors was
CAD$1.6m.There was nominal return to current shareholders. All court
application documentation and Trustee reports of the NOI proceedings can be
found on the Grant Thornton Limited website at Creditor updates | Grant
Thornton LLP.
https://www.grantthornton.ca/service/advisory/creditor-updates/#PaySlate-Inc
(https://www.grantthornton.ca/service/advisory/creditor-updates/#PaySlate-Inc)
.  Mr Manimozhi was a director of Payslate Inc. between November 2019 and
June 2022.

In addition, Mr Manimozhi is to be granted such share options in respect of
2,625,000 ordinary shares of €0.001 each in the capital of the Company

There is no further information to be disclosed in relation to Mr Manimozhi
pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.

INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER RULE 17 AND SCHEDULE 2, PARAGRAPH (G) OF THE AIM
RULES FOR COMPANIES ("AIM RULES")

 Full name:                                                     Marc Steven Metis
 Age:                                                           56
 Shares held in the Company:                                    None
 Current directorships:                                         XR Association
                                                                MOR Museum Inc.
                                                                Steel Wool Games Inc.
                                                                Surgical Theater Inc.
                                                                VRChat Inc.

 Historic directorships and partnerships in previous 5 years:

 

There is no further information to be disclosed in relation to Mr Metis
pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 ENGAGE XR Holdings Plc                                                    Tel: +353 87 665 6708

 David Whelan, CEO                                                         info@engagexr.co

 Séamus Larrissey, CFO

 Sandra Whelan, COO

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)      Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500

 Marc Milmo/ Seamus Fricker (Corporate finance)

 Sunila de Silva / Harriet Ward (ECM)

 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7186 9952

 Damon Heath / Erik Woolgar

 SEC Newgate (Financial Communications)                                    Tel: +44 (0)7540 106366

 Robin Tozer / Tom Carnegie / Naz Zandi                                    engage@secnewgate.co.uk

 

About ENGAGE XR

ENGAGE XR Holdings plc (AIM: EXR) is an extended reality (XR) technology
company focused on becoming a leading global provider of virtual
communications solutions through its new fully featured corporate metaverse,
ENGAGE Link. A demonstration of ENGAGE Link is
https://youtu.be/2OHtimtFY3M?si=Ng0-mwgUpTgU4wtl
(https://youtu.be/2OHtimtFY3M?si=Ng0-mwgUpTgU4wtl)

The Company also has a proprietary software platform, ENGAGE. ENGAGE provides
users with a platform for creating, sharing, and delivering VR content for
education, training, and online events through its three solutions: Virtual
Campus, Virtual Office, and Virtual Events.

For further information, please visit: www.engagexrholdings.com (LinkedIn:
@Engage XR Holdings plc Twitter: @engage_xr)

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based
on the Group's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its
industry; its beliefs; and assumptions. Words such as 'anticipates,'
'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond
the Group's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results
to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking
statements.

The Group cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the
view of the Group only as of the date of this announcement. The
forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as
of the date on which the statements are made. The Group will not undertake any
obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these
forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated
events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law
or by any appropriate regulatory authority.

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