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Cyngn Names Don Alvarez New CFO and Adds Karen Macleod to the Board

Finance veteran, Don Alvarez, named CFO and Aréte founder, Karen Macleod, to join the Board of Directors.

Cyngn |

MENLO PARK, CA. - August 12, 2021 — Cyngn, the industrial autonomous vehicle technology developer, today announced the addition of Don Alvarez as Chief Financial Officer, and Aréte founder, Karen Macleod, to Cyngn's Board of Directors. 

"I am pleased to welcome Don to the Cyngn team," said Lior Tal, Chief Executive Officer of Cyngn. "With more than 20 years of experience as a senior financial executive, in both private and public companies, he is a great fit for his new role. Don's extensive experience will be invaluable and I am confident that he will not only provide strong financial leadership but also help fuel our growth trajectory." 

Mr. Alvarez is a seasoned finance expert and joins Cyngn from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) where he served as Vice President of Finance for three years. Mr. Alvarez joined ICSC in 2017 from his VP of Finance role at QuVa Pharma, Inc. Prior to this, he was Regional Managing Director at Resources Global Professionals (RGP) where he oversaw all aspects of operations for 12 practice offices that generated approximately $225M of revenue. Mr. Alvarez also served as CFO of FatBrain.com and successfully led and completed the company's IPO and sale to Barnes and Noble. 

"I am very excited to step into the CFO role at Cyngn", said Alvarez. "Autonomous vehicles are developing at an impressive rate, and the near-term opportunity for industrial AV adoption is huge. I look forward to working closely with the Cyngn team to help advance the company's priorities and accelerate growth."

The addition of Karen Macleod to the Board of Directors also brings valuable expertise. Ms. Macleod founded Areté Group, a management consulting firm, in 2015. She has over 20 years of experience partnering with clients to develop optimal alignment of talent with the company's strategy, culture, and business environment. Ms. Macleod was also a founding member and President of U.S. Operations at RGP for more than 12 years, along with President at Tatum LLC.

"I am excited to join the Board and for the opportunity to participate in the early stages of the AV industry", said Ms. Macleod. "I am looking forward to playing an integral role on the Board to help management and the company achieve their strategic and operational goals."

About Cyngn

Cyngn develops and deploys autonomous vehicle technology for industrial organizations like manufacturers and logistics companies. The Company addresses significant challenges facing industrial organizations today, such as labor shortages and costly safety incidents.

Cyngn's DriveMod technology empowers customers to seamlessly bring self-driving technology to their operations without high upfront costs or infrastructure installations. DriveMod is currently available on Motrec MT-160 Tuggers and BYD Forklifts.

The DriveMod Tugger hauls up to 12,000 lbs, travels inside and out, and targets a typical payback period of less than 2 years. The DriveMod Forklift lifts heavy loads that use non-standard pallets and is currently available to select customers. For all terms referenced within, please refer to the Company's annual report on Form 10-K with the SEC filed on March 6, 2025.

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Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any statement that is not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "will," "will likely result," "will continue," "plans to," "potential," "promising," and similar expressions. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including the risk factors described from time to time in the Company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including, without limitation the risk factors discussed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2025. Readers are cautioned that it is not possible to predict or identify all the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Cyngn undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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