In Conversation Introducing Ms Merril Gray Non Executive...

In Conversation Introducing Ms Merril Gray Non Executive Director AnteoTech.

Welcome to another episode of In Conversations.

#FG#
I'm Frederica Grasser, Manager, Corporate Affairs.

I'm joined by Meryl Gray, our new non-executive director.

Meryl, you've had a very interesting career spanning energy and manufacturing.

What drew you to AntioTech at this part of your journey?

$MG$
I basically thought that I would be able to add value through some of my experience base in energy and energy transitioning, as well as manufacturing from a cathode powder, from a lithium ion battery cathode powder perspective, and my involvement in lithium ion battery recycling.

So yeah, I'm really excited to be here and bring insights, particularly around what it's like to go through commercial scale up, as well as what it takes to enter new markets, which is another aspect of what I've been doing with other companies, which is the business development side of things and securing sales and helping with marketing and really getting the message out to multiple stakeholders, what it is that Anteo Tech does.

So on the Anteo X side, as well as on the Anteo buying side, I'm really looking forward to working with the team to sort of provide those insights around what it really takes to engage and construct for customers, in particular, where the value proposition lies.


#FG#
Your career has also looked at supply chains and you've worked with sourcing and supply chain management.

We know that in the battery industry, having a stable supply chain for your raw materials and inputs like silicon is very important.

And with the geopolitical situations that are currently playing out, having a stable supply chain is more critical than ever.

What are your thoughts as to how the silicon supply chain is looking and how Anteotec's battery technology complements that?

$MG$
The facts are 70% of all materials that go into batteries come through China, whether they go to China as raw materials and then are processed, or they're actually produced in China and come out of China within a fully constructed battery.

There's a lot to that, not only around supply chains, but also about know-how and technology. So specifically around the silicon and the high silicon anodes, the understanding, the technology that goes into what it takes for graphite to be replaced.

Of course, for me, I work across the entire supply chain, so whether it's mines and raw materials and what the cost is of starting new mines and to supply into demand, the foreseen demand, through all of the chemical processing and into the final format of the battery, which for different uses.

Now, in the supply chain, there are people who are, or there are parties who are driving the technology change. And then, of course, there's the actual manufacturers who have, obviously, production lines that they've set up for specific raw material and ingredients to go into it. And they try to standardize that as much as possible and keep it as low a cost as possible.

So it's really important to understand that supply chain and understand where Antio X and Ultranode fit into that and what the sort of partnerships are and where the sales opportunities. You need to be very clear about the channels and how you actually get into those channels.


#FG#
So Meryl, you've been part of many startups and have led companies through growth.

How do you think that experience is going to add value to what you're doing here at Anteotech?

$MG$
Yes, well, the one thing I have learned, there's a few, but one in particular is timing is everything.

And actually, it's really important for AnteoTech in terms of where it's going, not only in the life sciences side of things, which is point of care diagnostics.

There's been, obviously, through COVID, everybody knows how to do an in-home rat test.

So that's really taking off and there's huge, I see some huge potential for the company there.

In terms of clean energy technology, new energy technologies, timing is everything. Timing is really, really important.

Obviously, everyone's concerned about the uptake of electric vehicles and how things are going in terms of batteries and the transition from other fossil fuels and other types of energy.

Yes, it's taking time, but the fundamentals are there.

If cost goes down, and that's another thing that AnteoTech is contributing to, which is looking at how to use less resources to get performance of high performance.

So pushing the cost down will generate demand.

So the things that I've seen is timing makes a big difference.

Cash, cash is king.

So being able to do what you need to do when you need to do it.

And obviously, execution focus.

So very focused on the customer, being very focused on the customer and making sure that you understand how value is added for that customer.

Really understand the problems they've got and how you're going to solve them.

And people, of course. People that have got the skills and capabilities to do what needs to be done. And, you know, it's not always easy in a startup. It's not the environment that everybody wants. But a startup can be very dynamic. There's a lot of opportunities to learn.

There's a lot of opportunities to try new things within boundaries with, you know, people of various experience that are part of the team.

Those are the sorts of things that you learn having gone through ups and downs that come with new technologies and startup companies.


#FG#
Earlier this month you spent a couple of days with us and got to know all the team.

What were some of the first impressions of how set up here and what we're working on?

$MG$
Well, obviously, early days for me to get up to speed on what's going on in the company.

But no, I was most impressed around the focus there is on execution.

There's some very clear pathways that the company is seeking to deliver on, and that's very well known in the marketplace.

I got a very good introduction to the technology, of course, being outside the company and trying to work that out, as opposed to interacting with quite a multidisciplinary team, very experienced people, understanding just what differentiates AntioTech's technologies and how it can actually be superior.


#FG#
And you've also done some work in India, and we've obviously got our Indian strategy in the Life Sciences.

What are your thoughts on the Indian market and the opportunity?

$MG$
I am very positive on the Indian market across both the life sciences and the energy side of things. I was very fortunate to go on a delegation through the South Australian government up to India some years ago now. It's a very interesting place to do business, an interesting landscape, but at the same time, it's a huge population, which creates an enormous customer base if you can get into the right products and in a timely fashion and a very commercial fashion. Well, obviously with life sciences and where India has positioned itself in terms of the global pharmaceutical markets and developments, new developments there, and obviously the Serum Institute, which I was surprised to find out 65% of all children have been vaccinated by vaccines that have come out of the Serum Institute. That's globally.

#fG#
An important supplier for our global vaccine.

$MG$
Very important. Yeah. And it's wonderful that Anteotech is now working with this calibre of client and I'm still getting up to speed, but I'm privy to some of the other customer, potential customer conversations that are going on. And, you know, it would be wonderful if a few more of those were able to get to commercial position.


#FG#
And of course, India's healthcare strategy for all, healthcare for all is going to be a very interesting point for the market and see how we can get our product in there.

$MG$
But even on the energy side, too, of course, e-mobility is a massive opportunity. It's not a focus at this point in time. But again, sometimes in markets, you know, you need to go where the opportunity lies. So obviously, there's some very clear strategies around on the EV side that are currently being brought to fruition.


#FG#
Meryl, thank you for taking the time to talk to me today.

As we wrap up, are there any final thoughts for our shareholders that you would like to share?

$MG$
It's been my pleasure speaking with you today.

I'm really looking forward to contributing on the board and looking forward to working with the entire