Digimarc Appoints Former Tide Cleaners CEO Katie Kool as Chairperson of its Board of Directors

Kool brings proven experience in leading major brands to exponential growth

Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC), the pioneer and global leader in digital watermarking technologies, is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Kool as the new Chairperson of the company’s Board of Directors, effective June 10, 2024. Kool succeeds Alicia Syrett, who has served as Chairperson since 2020.

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Digimarc has appointed Katie Kool as the new Chairperson of the company’s Board of Directors. Kool brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, having a distinguished career in leading major brands, including Tide Cleaners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble (P&G), and North America Fabric Care, P&G’s largest regional business unit, to exemplary growth. (Photo: Business Wire)

Kool brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, having a distinguished career in leading major brands including Tide Cleaners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Procter & Gamble (P&G), and North America Fabric Care, P&G’s largest regional business unit, to exemplary growth. She has been instrumental in driving strategic collaboration across leadership teams and business sectors and will now lead the board in guiding Digimarc through its next phase of transformative growth and innovation. Kool has served on the Digimarc Board of Directors since 2022.

"We are excited to welcome Katie as our new Chairperson," said Riley McCormack, President and Chief Executive Officer of Digimarc. "Katie's visionary leadership, financial acuity, and deep understanding of our industry and our customer’s needs make her the ideal person to steer our board as we continue to expand our market presence and accelerate growth. We also extend our sincere gratitude to Alicia Syrett for her outstanding contributions and leadership over the years."

"I am thrilled to be named Chair of Digimarc Corporation, a company at the forefront of addressing some of the world’s most pressing global issues, from ensuring content authenticity in the age of generative artificial intelligence to tackling plastic pollution. The potential applications for Digimarc’s revolutionary technology are limitless. I am excited to work with the board and the management team to help guide Digimarc’s transformative journey,” said Katie Kool, Board Chair.

While serving as Chief Executive Officer of Tide Cleaners, Kool grew the business from 35 dry cleaning and laundry service stores to 191 stores, earning an esteemed ranking among the top 100 in Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 for three consecutive years. As Chief Financial Officer of North America Fabric Care, she partnered with the company’s leadership team to profitably grow the business by $1.5 billion in sales. Kool was a co-founder and is currently President of Impact100 Genesee County. Impact100 empowers women as philanthropists to make transformational grants to non-profit organizations within local communities. Kool earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Kalamazoo College and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) is the pioneer and global leader in digital watermarking technologies. For nearly 30 years, Digimarc innovations and intellectual property in digital watermarking have been deployed at a massive scale for the identification and the authentication of physical and digital items. A notable example is our partnership with a consortium of the world’s central banks to deter counterfeiting of global currency. Digimarc is also instrumental in supporting global industry standards efforts spanning both the physical and digital worlds. In 2023, Digimarc was named to the Fortune 2023 Change the World list and honored as a 2023 Fast Company World Changing Ideas finalist. Learn more at Digimarc.com.

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