Akerna Corp. (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading cannabis compliance
technology provider and developer of the cannabis industry’s first
seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology
(MJ Platform®), announced today the appointment of Nina Simosko to
the new role of Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). As CRO of Akerna, Nina
will oversee all revenue generation and build strategies to drive
revenue growth in the following areas:
- Grow MJ Platform revenues across the U.S. and global cannabis
and hemp markets
- Increase enterprise clients, increasing average revenue per
client
- Form partnerships that bring additional value to products
- Pursue targeted accretive acquisitions
The company reaffirms revenue projections for fiscal year 2020
of approximately $17 million as published in October 2018 (the
projection does not include impact of any potential acquisitions).
“With ambitious growth goals this year, Nina is just the right
revenue leader for Akerna thanks to her deep track record of
driving enterprise SaaS growth,” stated Akerna CEO Jessica
Billingsley. “I know she’ll be an invaluable leader to the team and
a powerful partner to the C-Suite.”
Prior to joining Akerna, Nina served as President and CEO of NTT
Innovation Institute Inc. (NTT i3), the Silicon Valley-based
innovation center for NTT Group, one of the world’s largest
information and communications technology companies. Under her
leadership, NTT i3 focused on fostering strategic innovation and
evolving partners into technology-first, digitally-driven
businesses. NTT i3 also partnered with early stage,
digitally-native businesses looking to expand their presence.
“The cannabis market’s speed of scale, growth and change is only
surpassed by technology,” commented Nina. “In this unique
environment, Jessica and her team have driven innovation that
created the new sector of cannabis technology. As a fellow
innovator, I look forward to bringing my experiences and insights
to Akerna and helping to further propel growth.”
Nina’s experience also includes Senior Vice President of SAP’s
Global Premier Customer Network (PCN), leading both the PCN Center
of Excellence and SAP’s Global Executive Advisory Board. During her
eight-year tenure at SAP, Nina was part of the Global Ecosystem
& Partner Group, which was charged with continuing to build and
enable an open ecosystem of software, service and technology
partners together with SAP’s communities of innovation.
Additionally, she served as the Global Chief Operating Officer for
SAP’s worldwide Customer Education organization, responsible for
driving more than half a billion euros in global education software
and services revenue. In addition, at Nike, Nina led the creation
and execution of Nike Technology strategy, planning and operations
world-wide. Currently, Nina serves on the advisory boards of a few
early-to-mid stage technology companies including: AppOrchid,
DeepSense.ai, Reflektion, and Scanta Inc.
“Nina’s proven track record of success, depth of expertise and
scale of operations experience clearly affirms she possesses the
right combination of Silicon Valley skills to drive Akerna’s
revenue generation. As a member of Akerna’s Board of Directors, I
look forward to collaborating with her,” stated Mark D. Iwanowski,
Founder, CEO and President of Global Visions-SV, Inc. and former
Oracle CIO.
About Akerna Corp.
Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is a regulatory compliance technology
company in the cannabis space. The cornerstones of Akerna’s service
offerings are MJ Platform® and Leaf Data Systems®, which are
highly-versatile platforms that provide clients and government
entities with a central data management system for tracking
regulated cannabis products—from seed to product to shelf to
customer—through the complete supply chain. Since establishment in
2010, the company has tracked approximately $16 billion in cannabis
sales across 14 countries and has served clients in 29 states
across the U.S. As part of its business strategy, Akerna intends to
grow through targeted, strategic acquisitions that are
complementary to its current business and organically by
accelerating its product development efforts. Akerna is based in
Denver. More information is available online at www.akerna.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release and in any accompanying
statements by management are “forward looking statements” within
the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this
press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,”
“seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and
variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative
versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and
involve a number of significant known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of
which are outside Akerna’s control, that could cause actual results
or outcomes (including, without limitation, the results of Akerna’s
contracts, strategic initiatives and business plans as described
herein) to differ materially from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that
may affect actual results or outcomes include (i) Akerna’s ability
to recognize the anticipated benefits of being a public company,
(ii) competition, (iii) Akerna’s ability to grow and manage growth
profitably, (iv) Akerna’s ability to maintain relationships with
customers and suppliers and retain its management and key
employees, (v) costs related to being a public company, (vi)
changes in applicable laws or regulations, (vii) Akerna’s ability
to identify and integrate acquisitions and achieve expected
synergies and operating efficiencies in connection with acquired
businesses, (viii) and other risks and uncertainties disclosed from
time to time in Akerna’s filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including those under “Risk Factors”
therein. Actual results, performance or achievements may
differ materially, and potentially adversely, from any projections
and forward-looking statements and the assumptions on which those
vary from forward-looking statements are based. There can be no
assurance that the data contained herein is reflective of future
performance to any degree. You are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on forward-looking statements as a predictor of future
performance as projected financial and other information, are based
on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to various
significant risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which
are beyond Akerna’s control. All information herein speaks only as
of the date hereof, in the case of information about Akerna, or the
date of such information, in the case of information from persons
other than Akerna. Akerna undertakes no duty to update or revise
the information contained herein. Forecasts and estimates regarding
Akerna’s industry and end markets are based on sources believed to
be reliable, however there can be no assurance these forecasts and
estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part.
This press release contains information with respect to the
Company’s revenue for fiscal 2020. These unaudited financial
projections have been provided by the Company’s management and the
Company’s auditors have not audited, reviewed, compiled or
performed any procedures with respect to the unaudited projections
for purposes of inclusion in this press release and, accordingly,
do not express any opinion or provide any other form of assurances
for purposes of this press release. These unaudited financial
projections should not be relied upon as being necessarily
indicative of future results. The inclusion of the unaudited
financial projection in this press release is not an admission or
representation by the Company that such information is material.
The estimates and assumptions underlying the unaudited financial
are inherently uncertain and are subject to a wide variety of
significant business, economic and competitive risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contained in the unaudited financial projection. There
can be no assurance that the prospective results are indicative of
the future performance of the Company or that actual results will
not differ materially from those presented in the unaudited
financial projection.
Akerna Media ContactJeannette Horton / Kimberly
Brockpress@akerna.com
Investor Contact Jason Assad Akerna Investor
Relations IR@akerna.com (678) 570-6791
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