Bluerush Media Group Corp announced the appointment of John Eckert, co-founder of Canadian venture capital firm Round13 Capital, to the company’s board of directors. The appointment follows Round13’s investment in Bluerush’s $1.3 million private offering in October. Eckert, a co-founder and former managing partner of McLean Watson Capital, helped launch Round13 in 2012. Earlier this year, the firm raised $95 million for its growth-stage technology fund. Bluerush, a Toronto-based digital solutions provider, also said it appointed Steve Taylor as CEO.
PRESS RELEASE
BLUERUSH Announces New CEO and Director
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Dec. 13, 2017) – BLUERUSH Media Group Corp. (the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:BTV) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Steve Taylor, a current director of the Company, as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and the appointment of John Eckert, a co-founder of Round 13 Capital, as a new director of the Company.
Mr. Eckert co-founded Round 13 Capital to focus on growth stage investing in information technology companies. In 1994, Mr. Eckert co-founded McLean Watson Capital, a technology venture capital firm in Canada. He is a past President and Chair of the Canadian Venture Capital Association.
Larry Lubin, will remain the President and a director of the Company. Jim Moriarty, a director of the Company since 2007, has graciously resigned to make room for Mr. Eckert.
Steve Taylor said, “Since getting involved in Bluerush I have become increasingly impressed with the team and the market opportunity for the Digital Reach and Individeo platforms. We are now beginning to put the sales, marketing and R&D elements in place to accelerate the transformation of Bluerush into a SaaS business.”
“I am very excited to have Steve Taylor on board as the CEO and John Eckert join our Board. Steve has been instrumental in helping us develop a roadmap that will help us grow our recurring revenues and he will be in an even better position to drive this as the CEO,” said Mr. Lubin.
“Round 13 looks for great businesses where we can add our experience and resources to accelerate growth. Bluerush fits this bill and we are ready to do everything we can to make this a great Canadian success story,” added John Eckert.
In addition, the board of directors of the Company has approved an option grant of 3,500,000 stock options, expiring in 5 years, to certain directors at an exercise price of $0.10. All options will be subject to a four month hold.
Mr. Taylor will receive 2,500,000 of the options representing 4.2% of the currently issued and outstanding common shares of the Company (assuming exercise of the options).
Immediately before the option issuance, Mr. Taylor held, directly or indirectly, beneficial ownership of, or the power to exercise control or direction over, 4,912,853 common shares and warrants exercisable for 4,700,853 common shares of the Company, representing 8.6% of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis and representing 15.6% of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company assuming full exercise of Mr. Taylor’s warrants.
Immediately after the option issuance, Mr. Taylor will hold, directly or indirectly, beneficial ownership of, or the power to exercise control or direction over, 4,912,853 common shares and convertible securities exercisable for 7,200,853 common shares of the Company, representing 8.6% of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis and representing 18.9% of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company assuming full exercise of Mr. Taylor’s convertible securities.
The options are being acquired for investment purposes. Mr. Taylor may increase or reduce his investment in the Company according to market conditions or other relevant factors.
The foregoing disclosure regarding Mr. Taylor’s holdings is being disseminated pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues (“NI 62-103”). A copy of the report to be filed with Canadian securities regulators in connection with the acquisition of these securities can be obtained upon its filing under the Company’s profile on the SEDAR website (www.SEDAR.com) or by contacting the Mr. Taylor at steve.taylor@bluerush.com.
About BLUERUSH Media Group Corp.
The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, BLUERUSH Digital Media Corp., offers a SaaS-based marketing and sales enablement platform that enables organizations to achieve greater engagement with their customers. Its flagship product, DIGITAL REACH, provides personalization, distribution and tracking of content to ensure control over what content is distributed to whom. BLUERUSH recently launched INDIVIDEO™, a highly scalable personalized video platform to provide AI-driven video content in an easy to understand, entertaining, and compelling manner. The Company’s suite of products is proven to improve marketing and sales performance and, generate greater client satisfaction and loyalty. The Company is publicly listed on the TSXV trading under the symbol “BTV”.