Evolucia Shareholder Update
CEO of Evolucia provides update to shareholders.
Sarasota, FL, June 29, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Evolucia Inc., (OTCBB & 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 or at www.evolucialighting.com.
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.
"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 or at www.evolucialighting.com.
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.
Contact
Evolucia, Inc.
Tom Seifert
941-343-2455
evolucia.com
Tom Seifert
941-343-2455
evolucia.com
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