Circa Group AS

Board/Management Information • Mar 31, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

DR SARAH HICKINGBOTTOM JOINS CIRCA GROUP AS GENERAL MANAGER OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

OSLO, NORWAY – 31 March 2021 – Sustainable biochemicals company Circa Group AS has announced that Dr Sarah Hickingbottom has joined the company as General Manager for New Product Development and Stakeholder Relations on 29 March 2021.

Dr Hickingbottom was previously CEO of BioVale, a bioeconomy innovation cluster based in Yorkshire, UK. She has extensive global consultancy experience from LMC International and Frost & Sullivan advising brand owners, chemical manufacturers and agricultural producers on oleochemicals, bio-based chemicals and fuels, including markets, feedstocks, economics, policy, innovation and scaleup. Her Organic Chemistry PhD is from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Following Circa's successful IPO in March 2021, this new role adds capabilities to deliver on Circa's strategy to develop and commercialise derivatives of Levoglucosenone (LGO). Dr Sarah Hickingbottom will work closely with customers across Circa's networks, including with the BBI JU and Consortium members involved in the H2020 Flagship project ReSolute plant in Eastern France.

Tony Duncan, CEO and co-founder of Circa Group, said, "We are delighted that Sarah is joining us – her considerable skills and experience in a wide range of sustainable chemistry markets considerably strengthen Circa's commercialisation objectives. Our sustainable Levoglucosenone platform offers considerable opportunity for industry to both replace current difficult petro-based molecules as well as consider molecules that until now have been prohibitively expensive to utilise in commercial applications."

About Circa

Established in 2006, Circa Group converts waste, non-food biomass into advanced bio-based chemicals with its proprietary Furacell™ process. Its developing product portfolio includes flavours, biopolymers, and bio-solvents including Cyrene™, an alternative to traditional polar aprotic solvents, which is produced in one step from platform biomolecule Levoglucosenone. By creating renewable chemicals from cellulose, Circa is extracting value from non-food, waste biomass and addressing a gap in the market by providing bio-based alternatives contributing to a more circular economy. In March 2021, Circa Group successfully listed on the Euronext Growth Market in Oslo, stock symbol CIRCA. www.circagroup.com.au

Media Contact

Barbara Mendes-Jorge Sustainability Consult bmj@sustainabilityconsult.com www.sustainabilityconsult.com