Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- – Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: 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 today a closing of a private placement offering round in which it sold 1,258,996 shares of Common Stock to institutional and accredited investors at a fixed purchase price of $5.00 per share (the “Offering”), for aggregate gross proceeds of $6,294,980 before deducting expenses.

The closing announced today brings the aggregate gross proceeds of the Offering to approximately $10,000,000 before deducting expenses. The Company previously announced in December 2016 it had sold a total of 733,000 shares of Common Stock in the Offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $3,665,000 before deducting expenses.

The Offering was led by Akoustis Co-Chairman, Jerry Neal, as well as Steven Miller, the founder and former Chairman and CEO of Sawtek, Inc., which was sold to TriQuint Semiconductor in 2001. Akoustis Board and management also participated, including Co-Chairman, Art Geiss, CEO, Jeff Shealy, recently appointed VP Engineering, Rohan Houlden, and VP Operations, Mark Boomgarden.

Akoustis CEO, Jeff Shealy, commented, “I would like to thank all of the investors who participated in the Offering, including our Co-Chairmen, Jerry Neal and Art Geiss. This capital will be used to support operations and the continued development and qualification of our premium high-band BAW RF filters utilizing our patented single-crystal piezoelectric materials.”

Drexel Hamilton and Katalyst Securities are managing the Offering with Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC and Northland Securities, Inc. acting as co-placement agents.

The offer and sale of the foregoing securities was made in a transaction not involving a public offering and have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), or applicable state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities may not be reoffered or resold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws. As part of the transaction, the Company has agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for purposes of registering the resale by the investors of the shares of Common Stock purchased by such investors.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state.

About Akoustis

Akoustis™ (http://www.akoustis.com) is a high-tech RF filter solutions company that manufactures its unique, patent-pending BulkONE™ technology to produce single crystal bulk acoustic wave (BAW) RF filters for the mobile-wireless industry, which facilitate signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the antenna and the back end of mobile devices. 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 third party investments and existing manufacturing infrastructure in the semiconductor industry. Akoustis™ is located in the Piedmont technology corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.

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 future events and circumstances discussed in the forward-looking statements 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.