Evolucia Shareholder Update
SARASOTA, FL--(Marketwired - Jun 30, 2014) - Evolucia
Inc., (OTCBB: ILED) (OTCQB: ILED), a leader in high
performance LED (light emitting diode) lighting systems, today
released the following update from its new Interim Chief Executive
Officer, Thomas Seifert:
My name is Thomas Seifert and I am the new Interim CEO of
Evolucia. My background is in corporate governance, business
efficiencies and finance with an emphasis on forensic accounting
and analytics. I was hired by the board of directors of
Evolucia to work with the operations team, to develop a path
forward and to analyze and investigate the actions of the past
executive team.
Since I was hired in April of this year, I have worked with the
board of directors, founders and remaining operations team to
determine what steps must be taken in order to stabilize the
company. I am pleased to report that there is a path to
success that is achievable and our partners to date have supported
this path.
Currently, Evolucia has $2.9 million in vendor and accrued debt
and I will be working with each vendor who is owed money to discuss
settlements of this debt. I am working with investors with the
goal of recapitalizing the company so that we can move forward in a
positive direction and to restore the name of
Evolucia. Evolucia products are recognized for performance and
quality and the company simply needs experienced management to do
its job in a fiscally responsible manner. My experience is
that bankruptcy is neither in the best interest of Evolucia nor its
creditors, so it is my hope that we can develop a plan that
services this debt on a schedule that allows for ongoing corporate
development, recovery and scaled growth.
We recently engaged the law firm of DLA Piper to represent
Evolucia with respect to intellectual property licensing and patent
infringement litigation. DLA Piper is the largest business law
firm in the world and works with many of the world's preeminent
technology companies, offering advice throughout a broad range of
areas. Our engineering team has already begun to work with the
IP team at DLA Piper to determine the value of the company's
patents and proprietary products. Our goal is to monetize
these assets both in the short and long term. Although we are
optimistic about the future of this channel, it is too early to
project what revenues Evolucia could realize from licensing and
enforcing its intellectual property rights.
We recently engaged the mechanical engineering team of ROBRADY
Design. ROBRADY is a multi-disciplinary product design and
development studio that provides Evolucia with progressive
industrial design, mechanical design and product engineering,
market research, complete rapid prototyping and production program
management. ROBRADY design stresses a comprehensive
speed-to-market plan by collaborating to identify the greatest
areas of opportunity and profitable product solutions. Our
electrical and photometric engineers are currently working with
Leader Electronics and ROBRADY engineers to redesign and reengineer
the Aimed Optics™ product platform. This is critical to the
future of Evolucia as competing in this industry requires
constantly reengineering products in order to reduce costs and
improve performance by keeping pace with the rapid advancement of
technologies and new optical, thermal and LED component
developments that continue to drive the industry forward.
Over the next 12 months, we will be working with our partners to
develop the next generation of Aimed Optics products. We have
started our next generation development which will be focused on
cost reduction. We expect to accomplish this by strategically
integrating the current aimed optics insert and fixture housing
into a single unit to minimize heat loss and eliminate redundant
system costs. Our patented Aimed Optics™ technology inherently
requires fewer LEDs, components and materials than light bar and
flat-plane products, so our bill-of-material costs should be lower
than our competitors.
With respect to growing Evolucia's sales, this is a challenge
for the short term, but we believe it is achievable. Our
partner, Leader Electronics, has committed resources and incentives
to assist our efforts to gain new business. Our warranties are
backed by Leader Electronics and we believe our pricing is
competitive. We are working with a small group of
representatives and distributors who specialize in the sale and
installation of high performance roadway and area lighting
products. Our goal is to focus on growing our distribution
channels by providing quality Aimed Optics™ products at competitive
prices. For the foreseeable future, Evolucia will only focus
its time and capital on the distribution of products that it
designs, engineers and manufactures with its partner, Leader
Electronics.
Our job over the next 12 months is to design and engineer Aimed
Optics™ products that meet performance requirements and cost
targets that are demanded by the markets. My expectations are
that our products will continue to be recognized for excellence by
the industry and that our proprietary Aimed Optics™ technology will
allow us to compete with any fixture in the industry on both cost
and performance metrics.
Although, I hope everyone will recognize this shareholder update
as optimistic, I would also caution everyone that we have serious
issues to manage. While I would categorize the vast majority
of Evolucia's note-holder debt as "friendly debt," there are other
liabilities that we will need to address. I am optimistic
about the future of Evolucia, but I am keenly aware that we must
move forward with a diligent focus on efficiency and performance
with little margin for error. I believe in this company, our
team, our partners and our patented technology, and am confident
that we can achieve success.
In closing, I would like to address a few questions that were
emailed to Evolucia by shareholders:
[1] To clear up any misinformation about my work history, please
be advised that I have no relationship with the Rocky Mountain Fund
and had never heard of it until a local Bradenton newspaper
erroneously printed my supposed affiliation. In addition, I
have no history of securities violations, however I have worked
with several distressed companies in the past and am proud of the
contributions that I have made to those companies.
[2] The company continues to operate from facilities located at
7040 Professional Parkway in Sarasota, Florida. Information
printed in local newspapers to the contrary was
false. Although we may be downsizing our office space and
relocating our facilities in the future, our landlord has, to this
point, been amenable to working with us to solve problems that were
created by past management.
[3] Evolucia is in the process of launching a new website at
www.evolucia.com. I understand the importance of our website,
and apologize that the site was compromised upon the departure of
prior management.
I would also like to announce at this time that Evolucia will
host a shareholders' meeting during the 4th quarter of this
year. Shareholders and investors will receive formal
notifications of this meeting as per SEC requirements and I would
like to encourage all of our shareholders to attend this
meeting.
The new team at Evolucia is already working diligently to regain
the trust of our shareholders, customers, investors, partners and
vendors and as Thomas Edison said, "Our greatest weakness lies in
giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just
one more time."
Thank you for your continued support of Evolucia, and I look
forward to seeing you at the shareholders' meeting.
Respectfully,
Thomas Seifert CEO - Evolucia, Inc.
About Evolucia Inc.
Evolucia is an innovator and creator of patented LED lighting
technologies and products that represent a new age of long-lasting
energy efficient lighting solutions. Using proprietary Aimed
Optics™, Evolucia's solutions have consistently topped all
competitors in U.S. Department of Energy testing, and represent the
best performing LED lighting systems in the world.
Our systems increase visibility while providing the highest
energy efficiencies available, resulting in unprecedented cost
savings. Our products light the way for military bases,
universities and cities around the world, requiring 50 to 80
percent less energy and lasting for approximately 12 years without
maintenance.
More information about Evolucia Inc. and its LED lighting
systems is available in the company's Securities and Exchange
filings, which can be found at www.sec.gov.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements made by Evolucia in this press release
are forward-looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially
from those projected in forward-looking statements. Evolucia
believes that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited
to: development and maintenance of strategic acquisitions; domestic
and international acceptance of our product lines; defending our
intellectual property and proprietary rights; development of new
products and services that meet customer demands and generate
acceptable margins; successfully completing commercial testing of
new technologies and systems to support new products and services;
and attracting and retaining qualified management and other
personnel. Additional information concerning these and other
important factors can be found within Evolucia's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press
release should be evaluated in light of these important
factors.
Evolucia, Inc. Email Contact