PowerUp Acquisition Corp. announced that on the Effective Date, in connection with the Purchase Agreement, (i) Bruce Hack, Jack Tretton, Peter Blacklow, Julie Uhrman, and Kyle Campbell (the Resigning Directors") tendered their resignations as members of the board of directors of the Company (the Board"), (ii) Jack Tretton, Michael Olson, and Gabriel Schillinger resigned as officers of the Company, (iii) Surendra Ajjarapu, Michael L. Peterson, Donald G. Fell, Mayur Doshi, and Avinash Wadhwani were appointed as members of the Board (each, a New Director"), (iv) Surendra Ajjarapu was appointed Chairman of the Board, and (v) Surendra Ajjarapu and Howard Doss were appointed as the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively (each, a New Officer"). Suren Ajjarapu (age: 53) has served as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary of TrXADE HEALTH, INC and its predecessor company since July 2010.

He is also currently a director of Oceantech Acquisition I Corp., traded on Nasdaq under the symbol OTECU", serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Kernel Group Holdings Inc. and Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company. Beginning in 2021, Mr. Ajjarapu served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company that consummated its initial business combination in February 2023. Mr. Ajjarapu is currently serving as a director of the merged company, Ocean Biomedical Inc. Since March 2018, Mr. Ajjarapu has served as Executive Chairman of the Board of Kano Energy Corp., a company involved in the development of renewable natural gas sites in the United States.

Mr. Ajjarapu was a Founder and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Sansur Renewable Energy Inc., a company involved in developing wind power sites in the Midwest of the United States, from March 2009 to December 2012. Mr. Ajjarapu was also a Founder, President and Director of Aemetis Inc. and a Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International Biofuels, a subsidiary of Aemetis Inc., from January 2006 to March 2009. Mr. Ajjarapu was Co-Founder, Chief Operations Officer, and Director of Global Information Technology Inc., an IT outsourcing and systems design company, headquartered in Tampa, Florida with major operations in India.

Mr. Ajjarapu graduated from South Dakota State University with a M.S. in Environmental Engineering, and from the University of South Florida with an M.B.A., specializing in International Finance and Management. Mr. Ajjarapu is also a graduate of the Venture Capital and Private Equity program at Harvard University. Michael Peterson (age: 61) commenced serving as President, Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Lafayette Energy Corp.

in April 2022. Beginning in September 2021, Mr. Peterson served as a member of the Board of Directors, Audit Committee (Chair), Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Aesther Healthcare Acquisition Corp. Mr. Peterson is currently serving as a director of the merged company, Ocean Biomedical Inc. In addition, Mr. Peterson commenced serving as an independent director of Oceantech Acquisition I Corp., in March 2023, began serving as an independent director of KRNL in December 2022 and as an independent director of Semper Paratus Acquisition Corporation in June 2023.

Mr. Peterson has served as the president of Nevo Motors Inc. since December 2020, which was established to commercialize a range extender generator technology for the heavy-duty electric vehicle market but is currently non-operational. Since May 2022, Mr. Peterson has served as a member of the Board of Directors and as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee of Trio Petroleum Corp., an oil and gas exploration and development company which is in the process of going public. Since February 2021, Mr. Peterson has served on the board of directors and as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of Indonesia Energy Corporation Limited (NYSE American: INDO).

Mr. Peterson previously served as the president of the Taipei Taiwan Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Taipei, Taiwan from June 2018 to June 2021. Mr. Peterson served as an independent member of the Board of Directors of TRxADE HEALTH, INC from August 2016 to May 2021. Mr. Peterson served as the Chief Executive Officer of PEDEVCO Corp.Mr. Peterson served as Chief Financial Officer of PEDEVCO between July 2012 and May 2016, and as Executive Vice President of Pacific Energy Development (PEDEVCO's predecessor) from July 2012 to October 2014, and as PEDEVCO's President from October 2014 to May 2018.

Mr. Peterson joined Pacific Energy Development as its Executive Vice President in September 2011, assumed the additional office of Chief Financial Officer in June 2012, and served as a member of its board of directors from July 2012 to September 2013. Mr. Peterson formerly served as Interim President and CEO (from June 2009 to December 2011) and as director (from May 2008 to December 2011) of Pacific Energy Development, as a director (from May 2006 to July 2012) of Aemetis Inc. and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nevo Energy Inc. From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Peterson served as a managing partner of American Institutional Partners, a venture investment fund based in Salt Lake City. From 2000 to 2004, he served as a First Vice President at Merrill Lynch, where he helped establish a new private client services division to work exclusively with high-net-worth investors.

From September 1989 to January 2000, Mr. Peterson was employed by Goldman Sachs & Co. in a variety of positions and roles, including as a Vice President. Mr. Peterson received his MBA at the Marriott School of Management and a BS in statistics/computer science from Brigham Young University.