NEXE Innovations Announces its First U.S. Purchase Order with Awaken Brands Ventures Ltd

NEXE Innovations partners with Awaken Brands to sell its fully-compostable single-serve pods through Awaken Brands North American ecosystem

VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - NEXE Innovations Inc. ("NEXE" or the "Company") (TSX.V: NEXE) (Frankfurt: NX5) (OTC: NEXNF) is pleased to announce it has received its first purchase order as part of a partnership with Awaken Brands Ventures Ltd. ("Awaken Brands") to distribute a private label coffee K-cup brand to leading providers of food and nutrition within the workplace including factories, offices, and healthcare facilities.

"We are pleased to have received the first purchase order from Awaken Brands and to provide them with our single-serve pods; this partnership allows NEXE an entry into the U.S. market through Awaken's strong distribution network across North America, starting with some of Awaken's notable Silicon Valley customers," says President Ash Guglani.

The partnership with Awaken Brands is the first entry point for NEXE to sell its proprietary technology of fully-compostable pods for the Keurig® Brewing Systems into Awaken's ecosystem and help companies to meet their sustainability goals. Awaken Brands creates innovative products featuring the highest quality organic medicinal mushrooms, adaptogens and superfoods. They oversee the entire process that goes into making their products, right from research and product development to sourcing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution. They are committed to reducing their environmental footprint and utilizing NEXE's fully-compostable pod contributes to their goals.

NEXE will be providing its fully compostable and proprietary pod for Awaken Brands' "ecobeans coffee" and "Urban Hippie" product lines. The partnership with Awaken Brands is expected to lead to additional co-packing superfood offerings and partnership arrangements for NEXE.

"At Awaken Brands, we strive to reduce our environmental footprint in all aspects of doing business. Our focus and vision with our products are to awaken people's relationship with self-care by providing plant-based functional products that support today's lifestyle at work, home, and play," says Alina Gogoescu, Co-Founder of Awaken Brands. "We are thrilled to have partnered with NEXE to work together to not only provide our clients with plant-based products, but we can now provide our products in NEXE fully compostable pods. We believe NEXE has developed one of the only fully-compostable plant-based pods that are able to sustain heat, water, and pressure without compromising the taste while providing one of the highest volumes per pod of our formulations in the industry."

NEXE is focused on growing its customer base by targeting the high-growth private label and co-manufacturing branded coffee segments, similar to this partnership with Awaken Brands. This market typically requires more specialized coffee and manufacturing expertise, which NEXE believes it can offer through its vertically integrated technology and new 54,000 square foot Windsor, Ontario facility. This new facility is expected to be key to NEXE providing the capacity for this segment of the market.

More than 56 billion single-serve capsules are discarded to the landfill every year, equivalent to over 400 pods per second. Virtually all of these pods end up in a landfill, with consumption of single-serve pods continuing to grow at an estimated 8.5% per year. With the launch of NEXE's compostable pod, the Company aims to provide a sustainable alternative to consumers while delivering a great cup of coffee.

To learn more about NEXE Innovations, please visit https://bit.ly/nexeinnovations.

*NEXE Innovations Inc. is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Keurig®. Keurig® is a registered trademark of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

**NEXE Innovations Inc. is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Nespresso®. Nespresso® is a registered trademark of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A

About NEXE Innovations Inc.

NEXE Innovations Inc. is a leader in innovative compostable materials technology based in British Columbia, Canada. The first product developed by NEXE is one of the only patented, fully-compostable, single-serve coffee pods for use in existing major single-serve coffee machines.

For more information about NEXE Innovations' compostable materials and how it is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for environmentally friendly and sustainable products, visit www.nexeinnovations.com and follow us on social media @nexeinnovations.

On behalf of the Company:
Ash Guglani
President & Director

For investor relations contact:
Kam Mangat
VP, Investor Relations & Corporate Strategy
invest@nexeinnovations.com
Office +1-604-359-4725
Mobile +1-604-359-4742

For media relations contact: media@nexeinnovations.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements or information, which include, but are not limited to, statements in respect of NEXE's partnership with Awaken Brands and related market opportunities, its focus on growing its customer base by targeting the high-growth private label and co-manufacturing branded coffee segments, its ability to provide specialized coffee and manufacturing expertise and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, the Company and Awaken successfully deploying their partnership, the Company's ability to execute on its business strategy and those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the year ended May 31, 2022 under the heading "Risk and Uncertainties". Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, receipt of necessary approvals and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Nexe Innovations Inc.