Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today announced Chief Financial Officer Drew Hamer has been named a finalist in the Bay Area CFO of the Year Awards.

Hamer was recognized for his central role in Velodyne’s raising $70 million from strategic investors, leading the company through the COVID-19 economic downturn with a combination of loans and asset sales, and guiding the company through a SPAC merger that raised $419 million which fully capitalized its balance sheet. Velodyne is the world’s first public pure-play lidar company.

As a strategic leader, Hamer built Velodyne’s financial processes, systems, policies and corporate governance to support the company’s continued growth. Velodyne, the global leader in lidar, is known for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies that meets the needs of a wide range of industries. Velodyne sensor and software solutions transform lives by advancing safe mobility and smart communities.

The Bay Area CFO of the Year Awards are presented by Larkin Street Youth Services, in partnership with the San Francisco Business Times. The organization selects finalists based on its proprietary formula of quantitative, qualitative and unique positive impacts CFOs contribute to their organizations. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 23, 2021.

“Drew is a valued colleague whose expertise and dedication have contributed mightily to Velodyne’s growth,” said Anand Gopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Velodyne Lidar. “Drew’s track record of exceptional performance in business and innovation in his field make him an outstanding choice as a CFO of the Year Award finalist.”

“It is an honor to be named a finalist for the Bay Area CFO of the Year Award in the Public Company category,” said Hamer. “There are many talented CFOs in the Bay Area and I congratulate the other award finalists. The last year of helping Velodyne become and then manage as a public company presented many challenges and opportunities. It was a privilege to be part of the executive and financial teams that worked enormously hard to make Velodyne a successful, growing public company.”

As Velodyne’s CFO, Hamer works with the leadership team on financial strategy and leads the finance organization with forecasting, budgeting and accounting. He is a seasoned finance executive with over 25 years of financial leadership experience at public and pre-public technology companies. Before joining Velodyne, Hamer worked at companies including ON24, Keynote Systems, KnowNow, Intraspect Software, Excite@Home and Sybase. Hamer has managed investor relations, implemented financial efficiencies, raised capital and oversaw the expansion of financial and business operations throughout the world, both organically and through acquisitions.

About Velodyne Lidar

Velodyne Lidar (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) ushered in a new era of autonomous technology with the invention of real-time surround view lidar sensors. Velodyne, the global leader in lidar, is known for its broad portfolio of breakthrough lidar technologies. Velodyne’s revolutionary sensor and software solutions provide flexibility, quality and performance to meet the needs of a wide range of industries, including autonomous vehicles, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), smart cities and security. Through continuous innovation, Velodyne strives to transform lives and communities by advancing safer mobility for all. For more information, visit www.velodynelidar.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, all statements other than historical fact and include, without limitation, statements regarding Velodyne’s target markets, new products, development efforts, competition. When used in this press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," “can,” "should," "future," "propose" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Velodyne's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include uncertainties regarding government regulation and adoption of lidar, the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Velodyne's and its customers' businesses; Velodyne's ability to manage growth; Velodyne's ability to execute its business plan; uncertainties related to the ability of Velodyne's customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Velodyne's products; the success of other competing lidar and sensor-related products and services that exist or may become available; uncertainties related to Velodyne's current litigation and potential litigation involving Velodyne or the validity or enforceability of Velodyne's intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Velodyne's products and services. Velodyne undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.