Avant Brands Inc., an award-winning leading producer of handcrafted, high quality cannabis products, announced the appointment of Matthew Whitt as Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), effective January 17, 2022. In addition, Avant has bolstered its Sales and Marketing team under the leadership of Chris Pearson who joined Avant as Director of Sales in November of 2021.
Mr. Whitt brings over two decades of domestic and global financial management experience in a wide variety of industries. He joins Avant from The Valens Company, a cannabis consumer company, where he served as Senior Director of Finance implementing key accounting procedures, reporting frameworks and internal controls and played an integral role in the Company’s acquisitions strategy. Mr. Whitt began his career at Deloitte and has since held senior finance roles at Nike, Fog Cutter Capital Group and Mark Anthony Group. Mr. Whitt holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).
Mr. Pearson joined Avant from Heritage Cannabis where he was Vice President of Customer Experience and, prior to that, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Pearson has over 20 years of commercial experience driving performance, revenue and profitability growth. Prior to joining Heritage Cannabis, he was both Chief Executive Officer of CDJ Consulting, a sports management firm, and Commercial Director (Canada) for Ducati, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer.
“We are excited to welcome Matt and Chris to the Avant Brands team,” said Norton Singhavon, Founder and CEO of Avant. “Matt’s experience in the cannabis industry, capital markets expertise and strategic leadership will be invaluable as we embark on Avant’s next chapter of growth.” He continued, “Chris’ extensive sales experience will be a key asset for the Company as we seek to monetize the output of 3PL Ventures, our newest and largest cultivation facility.”
“It’s exciting to join Avant Brands at this particular time because of the transformational change the Company has undergone over the past year,” said Matt Whitt. “In a competitive market at a challenging time, I have been impressed by the fiscal discipline and ambition of Avant. I look forward to working with Norton and the team to build upon the current momentum.”
“From Canada’s first pre-roll blunt, with BLNT by BLK MKT™, to Canada’s first craft tasting flight, Avant has staked its place as an industry leader,” said Chris Pearson. “One of Avant’s primary goals is to drive the industry forward through brand and product development and I am excited to get to work expanding our market reach, as we continue to innovate.”
About Avant Brands Inc.
Avant is an innovative, market-leading cannabis company. Avant has multiple licensed and operational production facilities across Canada, which produce high-quality, handcrafted cannabis products for our highly desired and award-winning consumer brands, sold across both recreational and medical channels. Avant’s recreational consumer brands include BLK MKT™, Tenzo™, Cognōscente™ and Treehugger™, all produced from rare and exceptional cultivars, and sold in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Yukon. The Company’s medical cannabis brand, GreenTec™, is distributed nationwide, directly to qualified patients through its GreenTec Medical portal, and through various medical cannabis partners. To learn more about Avant, to access the investor presentation, or learn more about its consumer brands, please visit www.avantbrands.ca.
