MONTREAL, Feb. 3, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ -EXO U
Inc. ("EXO U") (TSXV: EXO) the developer of the 'ormi'
Mobile Engagement Platform, provides a business update to inform
shareholders, investors, and the market of changes that have taken
place in the business since the appointment of the new CEO, Mr.
Kevin Pawsey, in October 2015.
Organization
A new senior management was recruited in October and November
with significant industry experience to accelerate the acquisition
of distribution channels and improve the go to market strategy.
Two new board members were appointed at the last AGM.
Matt Cooper who brings significant
education business experience operating as CFO in large education
businesses, and Sean Maniaci who
brings significant capital markets and legal experience.
Since November 2015, we have been
working to review all aspects of the business to improve customer
and operational success.
Product
We are seeing a significant opportunity to be the platform of
choice to bridge the requirements of whole class teaching and
'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD) initiatives employed by school
districts. BYOD is whereby students are able to bring in their own
tablets, phones, Chromebooks and laptops to use for school based
lessons and activities.
In the last 3 months we have reviewed both the User Interface
and User Experience of the EXO U Platform to be much more focused
on addressing the needs of education end users. As a result of
significant market research, we have focused the product
development and go to market strategy around addressing these needs
in a BYOD environment, resulting in a focused iteration of the
Platform to initially target K-12 market. This product, known as
'ormi' (meaning momentum in Greek), was successfully launched in
January 2016 at BETT, the world's
largest educational technology conference held each year in
London.
Ormi allows teachers to teach from the front of the class using
large screen interactive screens and then share and push content,
activities, assessments, assignments to students directly from the
screen or the teacher device. BYOD initiatives in education are
gaining popularity as over 50% of districts are now encouraging the
use of personal devices in the classroom, yet it is one of the most
important challenges to manage. Ormi offers the tools to give
educators an easy to use, easy to manage and affordable platform
that makes teaching with technology and managing the classroom's
device ecosystem simple and painless.
We will be formally launching the 'ormi' BYOD platform in the US
at TCEA (one of the largest dedicated Educational Technology
Conferences in the US) from February
3rd to 5th in Austin, Texas. There, we will be working with
both QOMO and Panasonic and their distribution channels.
In order to address the needs of Higher Education, EXO U will be
releasing a focused Higher Education product to the market in April
with features specifically targeted at addressing a market which is
currently US$130millon in the US, which the management team has
significant experience operating within. We will provide an
additional update on the Higher Education Strategy in March 2016.
We recently held our first Product Advisory board meeting with
leading CTO's from K-12 Districts and experienced staff from our
distribution and reseller network. This is an important step to
work to further refine and develop future development within the
EXO U platform to ensure everything we build follows our strategy
of being easy to implement, easy to use and provide educators with
the right tools for the right tasks.
Business Development
The Company's new strategy has been to target known and proven
distribution and reseller channels selling into Education in
North America, Europe and the Middle East. We are anticipating 60% of EXO
U's business to originate in the US, although there are also
focused initiatives in Europe
where the company's technology is very well aligned.
To date, we have agreements with:
- QOMO, a manufacturer of high technology electronic products
located in Wixom, Michigan, USA.
The agreement stipulates that an 'ormi' classroom license will be
bundled with everyone of their large format, interactive screens
sold into the US. We have completed significant training with
QOMO's team and have been presenting to districts across the US in
association with them. We are actively engaged in growing the
pipeline for installations during the summer holidays, which is
when most school districts refresh and implement new solutions
ready for when the students return from summer break.
- Panasonic Corporation of North
America (Panasonic). With this agreement, Panasonic and
their extensive network of distribution channels and resellers are
licensed to bundle EXO U's technology with their technology
devices. We are co-presenting with Panasonic at many of their
roadshows to districts across the US and are actively engaged in
pipeline generation with them.
Between QOMO and Panasonic there over 800 resellers that now
have access to EXO U across the US.
- Genee World, a provider of
advanced display technology and interactive presentation tools. In
February 2016, we signed Genee World as our European distribution partner
following BETT 2016. Genee World has
been selling education technology into UK and European schools and
universities for over 15 years. As part of our channel engagement
strategy, we are proactively identifying known and established
channels that have existing relationships with key decision makers
in educational institutions. Genee
World will be bundling 'ormi' with every large format
interactive screen that they ship and also with their own student
devices that they ship into education institutions across
Europe.
During April 2016, we expect to
launch our Higher Education offering into North American
universities and colleges. This is a defined market opportunity
with an understood revenue potential and EXO U is well placed to
develop market share with a competitive offering into known
channels.
Revenues and Contracts
Education revenues are more seasonal in nature than other
verticals. The new management team understands that most revenues
in education are recognized during the third calendar year quarter.
This is a consequence of the buying cycle that sees education
evaluate potential tools from December to June and with purchase
orders being generally sent to vendors by districts from April to
July. The contracts that we signed with QOMO, Panasonic and
Genee World now give us reach into
the right education markets for EXO U and we are working hard with
these partners to build our respective pipelines ready for the
purchasing cycle from April to July, and then to collect cash on
those contracts from July to October.
Outlook
- Our K-12 product are available for sale and is being sold and
shipped with 3 distribution partners
- We anticipate to launch our Higher Education Solution in
April 2016
- EXO U is expected to have revenue growth with strong margins in
2016
- EXOU is expected to continue to refine operational costs to
improve margins and cashflow
Financing
The Company had previously announced on November 27, 2015, in conjunction with the
issuance of Quarter 2, 2016 Financial Statements, that it had
expected to close the second tranche of the financing it had
undertaken earlier in the year.
The Company had closed the first tranche of the financing on
October 23, 2015, for gross proceeds
of $2,444,750 (CAD), and had
reasonable expectations to close the second tranche by the end of
Quarter 3 which ended December 31,
2015.
Market Seasonality, coupled with the recent market dynamics, has
resulted in not closing the second tranche as planned, and as a
result the Company is cancelling this financing. The Company is
actively pursuing a number of other financing options.
Stock option grants
The Board of Directors of the Company has approved the grant of
an aggregate of 150,000 stock options to two directors of the
Company. The grant is subject to regulatory and TSX Venture
Exchange approval.
The stock options were granted pursuant to the terms of the
Corporation's stock option plan, are exercisable at $0.11 per share and have a 10 year term. One
third of the options will vest every six months from the date of
the grant.
About EXO U
EXO U's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
ticker symbol EXO. EXO U develops an innovative software platform
that enables businesses and educational institutions to securely
mobilize and manage their mobile workforce and students by
delivering engaging experiences spanning desktop and mobile
applications. At the core of EXO U's platform is the smart and
agnostic EXO engine that unifies multiple software platforms,
allowing devices to interact and communicate seamlessly together.
For more information, visit EXOU.com or follow us on Twitter
@exo_u.
Disclaimer in Regards to Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included herein, including those that express
management's expectations or estimates of EXO U's future
performance or future events, constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by
management at this time, are inherently subject to significant
business, economic, regulator and competitive uncertainties and
contingencies that could cause actual results or events to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. EXO U disclaims any intention and
assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. For
additional information with respect to certain of these and other
assumptions and risk factors, please refer to EXO U's management's
discussion and analysis for the year ended March 31, 2015, available under the Company's
profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
SOURCE EXO U Inc