Neato Appoints New CEO Matt Petersen

NEWARK, Calif., Dec. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neato Robotics, leader in smart robots for the home, today announced the appointment of new CEO Matt Petersen, effective January 1st, 2018. Petersen has sat on the Neato board since 2014. Petersen currently is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of JAFRA Cosmetics International, a Vorwerk owned subsidiary.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6271e9c8-ac52-402c-9245-9e05fcb4ca36

Current CEO, Giacomo Marini, will step down after five years. Under his tenure, Neato has grown substantially and has launched innovative products with cutting edge technology, including the full Botvac Connected product line of robot vacuums. The tremendous amount of success during this period led to the acquisition by Vorwerk. Marini has been a Director at Neato since 2006, Chairman since 2007, Executive Chairman 2011-2013, and Chairman and CEO since February 2013.

Marini comments on the appointment, "I'm pleased to hand over this position to Matt to lead the company into its next chapter. I have been thrilled to see the company grow over the last 11 years, and to have recently launched our most powerful, intuitive and connected robot vacuum yet at IFA 2017."

Petersen adds, "Giacomo has been an outstanding CEO and deserves a wealth of credit for his accomplishments. I'm honored to have been asked to lead this fantastic team at Neato. We will continue to innovate products, and push boundaries in the smart home space."

In Petersen's current position and as a member of JAFRA's Management Board, he leads the Worldwide Marketing and R&D teams in strengthening the JAFRA brand and optimizing business results. After receiving his B.A. degree from Boston College and beginning his career with the Walt Disney Company, Petersen gained extensive leadership experience through diverse marketing roles at Mattel and PepsiCo. Prior to joining JAFRA, Petersen held numerous high-level positions at Mattel and was most recently Vice President of U.S. Marketing, a role in which he was responsible for strategy and marketing programs. Previous roles proved his creativity and passion for marketing while demonstrating his strengths in global branding, consumer-focused creative, portfolio development and product packaging design. Petersen will step down from his roles at JAFRA as part of the transition to CEO at Neato.

This appointment follows the acquisition of Neato Robotics by Vorwerk in September 2017. The goal of the acquisition is to continue the company's focus on growth, innovation and market expansion. Neato will be attending CES 2018 in Las Vegas, hosting a Neato Smartlife Open House, to showcase the Neato Connected product line.

About Neato

Neato Robotics designs robots for the home to improve people's lives, allowing them to spend less time doing household chores and more time on the things they love. Neato drives innovation with intelligent laser navigation, smart home connectivity, and superior cleaning technologies. Neato was recently recognized for its leadership, culture and dedication to its employees by being named to the Bay Area News Group's 2017 list of the "Top 100 Workplaces" in the San Francisco area that is based on employee feedback. Most recently, at IFA Showstoppers 2017, Neato won the Innovation Award for Smart Home & Appliances for new flagship model - Neato Botvac D7tm Connected.

For more information, visit: www.neatorobotics.com.

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Aparna Aswani

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