Meta Materials Appoints Manos Spanos as Chief Business Officer

July 26, 2022 at 07:00 AM EDT

The J&J and PepsiCo veteran will run the Company's business development functions

HALIFAX, NS / ACCESSWIRE / July 26, 2022 / Meta Materials Inc. (the "Company" or "META®") (NASDAQ: MMAT),(FSE:MMAT), a developer of high-performance functional materials and nanocomposites, today announced that Mr. Manos Spanos has joined the Company as its first Chief Business Officer. Mr. Spanos brings 22 years of experience, including global businesses, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and Danone, as well as startup experience with L-Nutra, a high-growth biotech company. Mr. Spanos brings extensive experience building commercial and product operations and leading go-to-market teams to his new role. He will oversee business development for META, building scale partnerships and accelerating revenue growth, to establish a global leadership position in the rapidly emerging metamaterials industry.

"I am happy to welcome Manos Spanos as our Chief Business Officer. He brings extensive expertise in launching breakthrough innovations, marketing, and business development, that will help META accelerate its next stage of growth," said George Palikaras, President and CEO. "He is a strategic and ambitious leader with a track record for successfully growing global businesses, and we are excited to have him join us on our journey."

Mr. Spanos joins META from L-Nutra, Inc., a biotech company leading the discovery, design, and commercialization of novel, breakthrough nutrition technology and therapeutic solutions. In 2021, as President for the consumer division, he led the team to deliver 30% growth. Recently, he enabled triple digit growth in international business through reshaping partnerships in Italy, Germany, and the UK, expanding business in the Middle East and completing distribution deals in Japan and China.

"I am thrilled and honored to join the family of Meta Materials," said Manos Spanos, META's new Chief Business Officer. "The spirit of a true trailblazer is something that I always aspired to, and at META, we are taking that spirit to the next level. Together, we will help customers grow significantly by helping them unlock the full value of unique, next generation products with META's world-leading solutions and devices. I am looking forward to working with our amazing global team to forge the strong partnerships that will bring to market these proprietary solutions in the fields of Aerospace & Defense, Communications, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Energy and Medical."

Previously, Mr. Spanos was leading the marketing and business development efforts for the largest business unit of Danone globally, where he fueled a turnaround that drove sustained growth in retail sales as Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to Danone, Mr. Spanos spent ten years with PepsiCo, with his last role being Vice President Marketing. For one of the largest PepsiCo brands with $10 billion in retail sales, he led the programs that helped the business unit become the fastest revenue growing carbonated soft drink line in the PepsiCo portfolio. Mr. Spanos began his career in product management with Johnson & Johnson.

Since 2018, Mr. Spanos has been a Board member of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) and has won numerous industry accolades including the International Marketer of the Year Award from the Internationalist/ANA. Mr. Spanos is an alumnus of Hartwick College of New York, with a bachelor's degree in Management. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Miami (UM), where he currently serves as Member of the Marketing Board for the UM School of Business.

About Meta Materials Inc.
META® delivers previously unachievable performance, across a range of applications, by inventing, designing, developing, and manufacturing sustainable, highly functional materials. Our extensive technology platform enables leading global brands to deliver breakthrough products to their customers in consumer electronics, 5G communications, health and wellness, aerospace, automotive, and clean energy. Our nano-optic technology provides anti-counterfeiting security features for government documents and currencies and authentication for brands. Our achievements have been widely recognized, including being named a Lux Research Innovator of the Year in 2021. Learn more at www.metamaterial.com.

Forward-Looking Information
This press release includes forward-looking information or statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company, which may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the business strategies, product development, expansion plans and operational activities of the Company. Often but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "pursuing", "potential", "predicts", "projects", "seeks", "plans", "expect", "intends", "anticipated", "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of the management of the Company and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Company, the capabilities of our facilities and the expansion thereof, research and development projects of the Company, the market potential of the products of the Company , the market position of the Company, the need to raise more capital and the ability to do so, the scalability of the Company's production ability, capacity for new customer engagements, material selection programs timeframes, the ability to reduce production costs, enhance metamaterials manufacturing capabilities and extend market reach into new applications and industries, the ability to accelerate commercialization plans, the possibility of new customer contracts, the continued engagement of our employees, the technology industry, market strategic and operational activities, and management's ability to manage and to operate the business. More details about these and other risks that may impact the Company's businesses are described under the heading "Forward-Looking Information" and under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022, with an SEC filing date of March 2, in the Company's Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 10, 2022, and in subsequent filings made by Meta Materials with the SEC, which are available on SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.