MONTREAL, Jan. 26, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - EXO U Inc.
("EXO U" or the "Corporation")") (TSX Venture EXO) today announces
the results of its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held
in Montreal, Quebec (the
"Meeting") EXO U , the developer of the Ormiboard Mobile Engagement
Platform, is also providing a business update to inform
shareholders, investors, and the market of changes that have taken
place in the business since the appointment of the new CEO, Mr.
Jim Kirchner, in July 2016.
RESULTS OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
At the Meeting shareholders of the Corporation (the
"Shareholders") voted in favour of all items of business on the
agenda. In particular, all nominees for election to the board of
directors of the Corporation (the "Board") were elected by the
Shareholders including Mr. Jim
Kirchner, the Corporation's Chief Executive Officer and Mr.
George Hendy, who was nominated for
the first time. Also elected were Messrs. Claude Delage and Nicolas Beauchamp who will serve effective on
the completion date of the Secured Loan Transaction described in
the Management Information Circular (the "Circular"). Messrs.
Kevin Pawsey, Matthew Cooper, and Sean
Maniaci did not stand for re-election to the Board for the
upcoming year and the Corporation would like to thank them for
their service. The full biographies of all the Board members can be
found in the Circular for the Meeting on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com.
In addition, at the Meeting the shareholders approved the
creation of a control person, the full text of which can be found
in the Circular.
BUSINESS UPDATE
In July, given the cash issues facing the corporation, the first
order of business was to significantly reduce the expenses and cash
burn rate, Cash expenses decreased from $460,000 per month in the quarter ended
June 30, 2016 to $199,000 in the quarter ended September 30, 2016. During this period of limited
resources, we were able to successfully develop version 2 of
Ormiboard and initiate a plan to take it to market.
Since July, 2016, we have been working to review all aspects of
the business to improve customer and operational success.
Product
With the coming release of version 2 of Ormiboard, we will be
positioning our product, with our manufacturer partners, Panasonic,
Genee World and Samsung, as the
instructional any device collaboration learning solution. We
continue to see a significant opportunity to be the platform of
choice to bridge the requirements of whole class teaching and
"Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) initiatives employed by school
districts. BYOD is the term which describes when students are able
to bring in their own tablets, phones, Chromebooks and laptops to
use for school based lessons and activities.
Our newest version will provide an upgraded user interface,
enhanced editing and creation tools, and significant
interoperability with software such as Microsoft Powerpoint, Smart
Notebook Google Classroom and Google slides.
Business Development
The Company's new strategy has been to target known and proven
distribution and reseller channels selling into Education in
North America, Europe and the Middle East. We are anticipating 60% of EXO
U's business to originate in the US, although there are also
focused initiatives in Europe
where the Company's technology is very well aligned. We have
developed a plan to engage dozens of education Resellers that will
want to sell Ormiboard to provide additional value to the hardware
they are currently selling to schools and colleges.
Samsung has agreed to partner with EXO U to offer our software
bundled with Samsung Mobile devices for the coming school year. Our
team will partner with Samsung Resellers to develop business and
demonstrate the value of our combined solution for engaged
learning.
Panasonic Corporation of North
America ("Panasonic") is another key partner. With this
agreement, Panasonic and their extensive network of distribution
channels and resellers are licensed to bundle EXO U's technology
with their technology devices. We are co-presenting with Panasonic
at many of their roadshows to districts across the US and are
actively engaged in pipeline generation with them.
Genee World is a provider of
advanced display technology and interactive presentation tools. In
February 2016, following BETT , we
signed Genee World as our European
distribution partner. Genee World
has been selling education technology into the UK and European
schools and universities for over 15 years. We are exposing Version
2 of Ormiboard at BETT 2017 this week. Genee World currently bundles Ormiboard with
every large format interactive screen and with their own student
devices that they ship into education institutions across
Europe.
The revenues expected from our agreement from QOMO have not
materialized. Yazmi has also cancelled their contract and no longer
has the right to sell EXO U products.
Revenues and Contracts
We were able to initiate limited sales revenues from our
partners in the past year. However, education revenues are more
seasonal in nature than other market verticals. The new management
team understands that most revenues in education are recognized
during the third calendar year quarter. This is a consequence of
the buying cycle that sees education buyers evaluate potential
tools from December to June and with purchase orders being
generally sent to vendors from April to July. Thus, we expect the
core revenues to occur in the July to October timeframe.
Outlook
Our K-12 product is available for sale and is being sold and
marketed with four distribution partners. EXO U is expected to have
revenue growth with strong margins in 2017. EXO U will continue to
refine operational costs to improve margins and cash flow.
The Company had previously announced on November 21, 2016, a financing through a Loan
Agreement with Alternative Capital Group Inc. The shareholders
approved this loan at the Annual General Meeting and we expect to
close the agreement with initial financing in late January or early
February. The proceeds from the financing will be used to enhance
our product development, marketing and sales efforts with a focus
on engaging Resellers.
About EXO U
At EXO U, we believe that people learn best with instructional
technologies that support and do not interrupt the momentum of
teaching, learning and collaboration-whether they are learning in
person, remotely, or across an evolving device landscape. That is
why our web-based whiteboarding and classroom management solutions
for educational institutions and corporations work on any device
with any operating system, anytime and anywhere, solving important
mobility issues such as security, privacy, real-time collaboration,
and management of application and content. EXO U's shares trade on
the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol EXO.V. For more
information, visit http://www.exou.com and follow us on Twitter
@exo u. For ore information on Ormiboard, visit
https://www.ormiboard.com and follow us on Twitter @ormiboard.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
Certain statements included herein, including those that express
management's expectations or estimates of EXO U's future
performance or future events, constitute "forward looking
information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such
forward-looking information and statements are often, but not
always, identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects",
"estimates", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes", or variations
of such words and phrases (or the negative form thereof) or
statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could",
"would", "might", or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward
-looking information is necessarily based on a number of estimates
and assumptions that , while considered reasonable by management at
the time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic,
regulator and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that
could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the
Company to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking information, including, but not limited to, risks
related to whether or not the Company will enter the loan
arrangement, and risks related to the Company's incapacity to
execute on its business plan. For additional information with
respect to certain of these and other assumptions and risk factors,
please refer to EXO U's management's discussion and analysis for
the year ended March 31, 2016,
available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Forward-looking information contained herein is presented as of the
date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation
to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or results, except as may be
required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance
that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as
actual results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements.
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.
SOURCE EXO U Inc