Standard Lithium Appoints Dr. Volker Berl to Board of Directors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV: SLI) (NYSE American: SLI) (FRA: S5L), an innovative technology and lithium project development company, announces that effective immediately Dr. Volker Berl has been appointed as an independent director of the Company.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Berl to the board at this significant juncture in the Company’s evolution,” said Robert Cross, Chair of Standard Lithium’s board of directors. “Dr. Berl’s deep knowledge of the chemical industry coupled with his experience in institutional capital markets and an outstanding track record of investments in technology companies will be extremely valuable as we advance our goal of bringing the first new US lithium project into production in over 50 years.”

“I am excited to expand my involvement with Standard Lithium on the heels of the recent NYSE American listing and technological achievements”, Dr. Berl stated. “I look forward to representing shareholders and working closely with the board and team as they continue to execute on their strategic developments plans”.

Dr. Berl has been a venture builder and an avid serial investor since 2009. He is the Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of New Age Ventures, a venture studio with a portfolio of earlier stage and actively managed investments across healthcare, medical devices, digital health, cleantech, consumer tech, deep tech, applied artificial intelligence, and more. Mr. Berl is well connected in the New York technology investment community, and currently serves as a director for Gaussin S.A. (EPA:ALGAU) (since 2006), Leaderlease S.A. (since 2015), OrthogenRx, Inc. (since 2015), Venock, Inc. (since 2017), Emoshape, Inc. (since 2020), and Artract Medical, Inc. (since 2021).

Dr. Berl has held positions with BASF AG in Germany, from 2002 to 2005 in chemical manufacturing and process engineering, and in global new business development for chemical intermediates. In 2006, he was Vice President Equity Research Pharmaceuticals for Deutsche Bank, and Chief Technology Officer for bioscience company Zymes LLC from 2007 to 2009. Dr. Berl holds an M.B.A. in General Management from Concordia University (Canada), a post-doctoral chemistry fellowship from Stanford University (USA), a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg (France), a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (France), and an M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (Switzerland).

In connection with the appointment, Dr. Berl has been granted 22,500 performance share units (the “PSUs”), 7,500 restricted share units (the “RSUs”) and 200,000 incentive stock options (the “Options”). Each PSU and RSU represents the right to receive, once vested, one common share in the capital of the Company. The PSUs will vest upon the achievement of the performance milestones set forth in the Company’s news release of January 18, 2021. The RSUs vest quarterly in four equal parts over a twelve-month period, with the first part vesting on September 30, 2021. The Options vest immediately and are exercisable at a price of $6.08 until July 19, 2026.

The RSUs and PSUs were granted pursuant to the long-term incentive plan (the “LTIP”) previously adopted by the board of directors of the Company. Implementation of the LTIP remains subject to ratification by disinterested shareholders of the Company and approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. No PSUs or RSUs will vest, and no common shares of the Company will be issued in connection with any outstanding PSUs or RSUs, until such time as the LTIP as received approval of disinterested shareholders and the TSX Venture Exchange. In the event such approvals are not received prior to December 31, 2021, all PSUs and RSUs will be automatically cancelled without any further right or entitlement.