Michael Ellenbogen, Co-Founder, Chief
Innovation Officer and Board Member, Named Interim President and
CEO
Board Continues Ongoing Search for New CEO
Evolv Technology (“Evolv” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: EVLV), a
leading security technology company pioneering AI-based screening
designed to create safer experiences, today announced that on
October 30, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”)
terminated Peter George, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Evolv, without cause, effective immediately.
The Board has appointed Michael Ellenbogen, Evolv’s Chief
Innovation Officer and a member of the Board, as Interim President
and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Ellenbogen is a seasoned security
technology industry veteran who has been a critical part of Evolv’s
leadership team since he co-founded the Company in 2013. Prior to
assuming his current role as Chief Innovation Officer in 2021, Mike
served as the Company’s CEO for approximately seven years. Mr.
Ellenbogen will serve in this interim role until a successor to Mr.
George is appointed.
Today’s announcement follows months of careful planning and
deliberation by the Board. In May 2024, the Board formed a
succession planning committee (the “committee”) of independent
directors of the Board to evaluate leadership performance and
effectiveness and plan for an orderly CEO transition. With the
assistance of a nationally recognized executive search firm, the
committee has been actively recruiting and interviewing CEO
candidates. Following yesterday’s decision, the committee will
continue these efforts, and the Board intends to announce a new CEO
expeditiously.
The Board commented:
“We appreciate Peter’s years of dedication to
our Company and his significant contributions to the Company’s
mission. We wish him well in his future endeavors. That said, we
have determined that a change in leadership is needed to improve
the Company’s culture as we prepare for the next phase of
growth.
We continue to believe that the fundamentals
of our business remain strong. But we are also convinced that the
Company can do even better.
The Board and leadership team are committed
to ensuring a smooth transition, and we are grateful that we’ll be
able to benefit from Mike’s experience and perspective at this
time. The Board will remain actively engaged with Mike and the rest
of the leadership team to ensure the Company remains on the right
path.”
Michael Ellenbogen commented, “As a co-founder, I care deeply
for this Company and its customers, employees, and shareholders. I
look forward to working closely with the Board and our senior
leadership team to advance our mission of creating a safer world
while also driving the business forward.”
The Board concluded by commenting on the previously announced
internal investigation: “The Board has been evaluating leadership
and performance for several months – long before we became aware of
any potential issues relating to the Company’s sales practices and
financial reporting. With respect to that ongoing investigation,
the Board remains committed to completing a thorough investigation
as expeditiously as possible. Our goal is to ensure the Company’s
financial reports are always current and reliable and that our
organizational culture reflects our values of integrity and
honesty. That is the only way we can regain the trust and
confidence of our investors.”
The Company will provide a further update on the internal
investigation once it is complete.
About Michael Ellenbogen
Prior to serving as Chief Innovation Officer at Evolv, Michael
Ellenbogen co-founded Evolv Technologies, Inc., which became a
wholly owned subsidiary of Evolv, with Anil Chitkara in July 2013
and served as its Head of Advanced Technology since January 2020.
Mr. Ellenbogen served as Chief Executive Officer of Evolv
Technologies, Inc. from August 2013 to January 2020. Mr. Ellenbogen
has also served on the Board of Directors of Evolv Technologies
Holdings, Inc. since July 2021. Prior to co-founding Evolv
Technologies, Inc., Mr. Ellenbogen was the Founder, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Reveal Imaging Technologies, an X-ray
imaging systems company focusing on automated explosives detection,
from 2002 to 2010. Prior to joining Reveal, Mr. Ellenbogen was the
Vice President of Research & Development and Business
Development of PerkinElmer Detection Systems, a provider of
X-ray-based security technologies, from 1994 to 2002. During his
25-plus year career in the security industry, Mr. Ellenbogen has
proven his expertise in product and business development, as well
as stakeholder value creation. In addition, Mr. Ellenbogen is an
inventor with over 20 awarded patents. Mr. Ellenbogen received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from Colgate University.
About Evolv Technology
Evolv Technology (NASDAQ: EVLV) is designed to transform human
security to make a safer, faster, and better experience for the
world’s most iconic venues and companies as well as schools,
hospitals, and public spaces, using industry leading artificial
intelligence (AI)-powered screening and analytics. Its mission is
to transform security to create a safer world to live, work, learn,
and play. Evolv has digitally transformed the gateways in many
places where people gather by enabling seamless integration
combined with powerful analytics and insights. Evolv’s advanced
systems have scanned more than a billion people since 2019. Evolv
has been awarded the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
SAFETY Act Designation as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology
(QATT) as well as the Security Industry Association (SIA) New
Products and Solutions (NPS) Award in the Law Enforcement/Public
Safety/Guarding Systems category, as well as Sport Business
Journal’s (SBJ) awards for “Best In Fan Experience Technology” and
“Best In Sports Technology”. Evolv®, Evolv Express®, Evolv
Insights®, Evolv Visual Gun Detection™, Evolv eXpedite™, and Evolv
Eva™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of Evolv Technologies,
Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. For more
information, visit evolv.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We intend for such forward-looking statements to be covered
by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements
contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
All statements other than statements of historical fact are
statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements,
including statements made in the quotes, statements regarding the
timing of Evolv’s CEO search, our prospects and performance, the
timing of the internal investigation, the timing and reliability of
our financial reports, and future actions by our Board.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual
results and actions to be materially different from any future
results or actions expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed
under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 29, 2024, as any such
factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with
the SEC, including the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2024, as well as risks related to our
leadership transition. The forward-looking statements in this press
release are based upon information available to us as of the date
hereof, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable
basis for such statements, it may be limited or incomplete, and our
statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an
exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available
relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain,
and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these
statements.
Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this
press release, whether as a result of any new information, future
events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241031125254/en/
Media: Alexandra Smith Ozerkis
aozerkis@evolvtechnology.com Investor: Brian Norris
bnorris@evolvtechnology.com
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