Charlotte, N.C., March 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKTS) (“Akoustis” or the “Company”), a manufacturer of patented single-crystal BulkONE® bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications, announced that in order to support and motivate Akoustis’ expansion into Upstate New York, Empire State Development (“ESD”) has offered the Company up to $8 million in performance-based incentives under the Excelsior Jobs Program.

On March 24, 2017, Akoustis announced it had entered into definitive agreements to acquire a 120,000 Sq. Ft. Wafer Manufacturing Facility and STC-MEMS, a semiconductor wafer manufacturing operation with associated 150-mm wafer production tools and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) business, as well as 57-acres of  real estate associated with the facility located in Canandaigua, New York.

As part of the incentive package, Akoustis plans to create 214 new jobs in Canandaigua, N.Y., in addition to retaining the 31 existing employees currently working in the STC-MEMS facility. Furthermore, Akoustis plans to invest up to $20 million in the project over the next 5 years, including the initial real estate acquisition, construction and renovations, plant infrastructure enhancements, semiconductor manufacturing equipment purchases, employee training and software investments.

Jeff Shealy, CEO of Akoustis, commented “We would like to thank Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Howard Zemsky and his entire staff for their effort and support in attracting Akoustis to New York State.”  Mr. Shealy continued “Since announcing the definitive agreements to acquire the facility, operations and real estate in Canandaigua, Ontario County officials and the local community have been incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic about our expansion plans into Upstate New York.”     

Akoustis plans to maintain the existing customer engagements related to STC-MEMS.  Since announcing the definitive agreements on March 24th, the Company has started recruiting efforts for additional employees for the Canandaigua operation as well as planning capital equipment purchases for manufacturing consolidation.  Furthermore, Akoustis has scheduled its first meeting with a local community college near STC-MEMS, where it plans to explore internships and job placement opportunities.

About Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Akoustis® (http://www.akoustis.com) is a high-tech RF filter solutions company that manufactures its unique, patented BulkONE® technology to produce single-crystal bulk acoustic wave (BAW) RF filters for mobile and other wireless markets, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and digital back end.  Its BulkONE® technology will service the fast growing multi-billion dollar market of device OEMs, network providers, and consumers to diminish Front End phone heat, battery drain and signal loss -- all considered to be directly related to current RF polycrystalline filter technologies' limitations.  Akoustis’ capital-efficient business model leverages new and existing investments in manufacturing infrastructure within the semiconductor industry.  Akoustis® is located in the Piedmont technology corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

About STC-MEMS

Smart Systems Technology & Commercialization Center (STC-MEMS) was created in 2010 to form a vertically integrated “one-stop-shop” and positioned as a leader in smart system and smart-device innovation and manufacturing.  Such capabilities provide its customers the capacity, infrastructure and operational capabilities in all areas of semiconductor and advanced manufacturing, while covering a diverse number of markets including aerospace, biomedical, communications, defense, and energy.  Located just outside of Rochester, New York, STC-MEMS’s state-of-the-art facility includes certified cleanroom manufacturing, advanced test and metrology, which is complemented by a MEMS and optoelectronic packaging facility. STC-MEMS’s experienced team is focused on meeting customer demands for timely and high-quality production of MEMS solutions.  STC-MEMS operates an ISO-9001 Quality Management System certified for the design, development, fabrication and packaging of MEMS and semiconductor devices.

About Empire State Development (ESD)

Empire State Development is the umbrella organization for New York's two principal economic development public-benefit corporations, the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Job Development Authority (JDA).  The New York State Department of Economic Development (DED) is a department of the New York government that has been operationally merged into ESD.  ESD gives its mission as promoting the state economy, encouraging business investment and job creation, and supporting local economies through loans, grants, tax credits, real estate development, marketing and other forms of assistance.

About Excelsior Jobs Program

The Excelsior Jobs Program provides job creation and investment incentives to firms in such targeted industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceutical, high-tech, clean-technology, green technology, financial services, agriculture and manufacturing. Firms in these industries that create and maintain new jobs or make significant financial investment are eligible to apply for tax credits. The Program encourages businesses to expand in and relocate to New York while maintaining strict accountability standards to guarantee that businesses deliver on job and investment commitments. Program costs are capped to maintain fiscal affordability and ensure that New Yorkers realize a positive return on their investment

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology including “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without limitation,

• risks relating to the results of our research and development activities, including uncertainties relating to semiconductor process manufacturing;
• the early stage of our BulkONE^® technology presently under development;
• our need for substantial additional funds in order to continue our operations and the uncertainty of whether we will be able to obtain the funding we need;
• our ability to retain or hire key scientific, engineering or management personnel; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights that are valuable to our business, including patent and other intellectual property rights;
• our dependence on third-party manufacturers, suppliers, research organizations, testing laboratories and other potential collaborators;
• our ability to successfully market and sell our technologies;
• the size and growth of the potential markets for any of our technologies, and the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our technologies;
• competition in our industry; and
• regulatory developments in the U.S. and foreign countries.

In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking statements regarding future events and circumstances discussed in this press release may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.  You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.  The forward-looking statements included in this presentation speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this presentation to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations. The materials do not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of any offer to buy, any securities of Akoustis, or any other entity whatsoever.  Any representation to the contrary by any party should be ignored.

Akoustis Contact Information:

COMPANY:
Dave Aichele
Akoustis Technologies, Inc.
VP of Business Development
Main: 704-997-5735, ext. 106
Email: daichele@akoustis.com

INVESTORS:

The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.

Robert B. Prag, President

858-794-9500

bprag@delmarconsulting.com