Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Appointment of Aaron Ratner
to the Board
On October 6, 2021, the Board of Directors of
Aries I Acquisition Corporation (the "Board") appointed Aaron Ratner to serve on the Board as a Class I director.
Mr. Ratner brings over 20 years of global investment
and development experience. From July 2020 to present, Mr. Ratner has been the President of Cross River Infrastructure Partners LLC, a
platform of development companies deploying climate technology into sustainable infrastructure projects across carbon capture, clean fuels,
clean energy and sustainable alternative protein. From November 2017 to present, Mr. Ratner has served as the ClimateTech Venture Partner
at Vectr Ventures, a Hong Kong-based venture capital investment fund manager. While at Vectr Ventures he has led investments in carbon
utilization and transformation, pollination technology and sustainable protein production. From June 2016 to April 2020, Mr. Ratner was
the Director and then the Managing Director, and Head of Origination, of Ultra Capital LLC, a sustainable infrastructure project finance
investment fund manager. During that time, he led the firm’s activity in renewable natural gas and agriculture waste-to-value. From
November 2014 to June 2016, Mr. Ratner was a Developer in Residence at Generate Capital, a sustainable infrastructure investment company
based in San Francisco, California. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Ratner was the President of i2 Capital Group, an impact investment merchant
bank, where he worked on land conservation and mitigation banking, including the Sweetwater River Conservancy, which was at the time one
of the largest mitigation banking projects in the United States. From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Ratner was a Managing Partner of Laguna Capital
Partners, a principal investment and advisory firm based in Los Angeles, California, where he focused on technology and consumer startups.
From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Ratner was an Associate with Simon Murray & Company, a multi-strategy investment firm based in Hong Kong, SAR.
Mr. Ratner began his career in 1999 as an analyst in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch in Palo Alto, California,
where he worked on financings for Internet Capital Group, homestore.com, Webvan and other early internet companies.
Mr. Ratner holds a B.A. in Economics from the University
of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s of Science in Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Ratner will serve as a director until the Company’s
first annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Ratner is not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any person pursuant to which
he was appointed as director nor is he a party to any transactions required to be disclosed under Item 404(a) of Regulation
S-K involving the Company.
Appointment of Paul Wolfe to the Board
On October 6, 2021, the Board appointed Paul Wolfe
to serve on the Board as a Class II director.
Mr. Wolfe has deep experience in both public and
private markets and in all phases of company growth including seed capital, growth capital, secondary markets, M&A, trade sales, PIPE
transactions, warrants, and public exits. As a Principal for over a decade at Ritchie Capital Management, a global multi-strategy alternative
investment platform, Mr. Wolfe managed its private equity / venture capital, real estate, energy, and insurance teams. Additionally, Mr.
Wolfe is the former COO of Mission Measurement, a leading strategy advisory firm recognized globally for its leadership in the design,
measurement, and evaluation of the investments of corporations, foundations, and governments targeting a social impact. Mr. Wolfe also
worked at GE Capital, where he served as Deal Manager for several GE investments in telecommunications in Latin America and Europe. Post-transaction
service included appointment as Board Director and the Integration Manager (Interim COO) for several GE investments in the region. At
Bain & Company, Mr. Wolfe served as a strategy consultant in the U.S. and Brazil. He holds a B.A. from Williams College and a M.B.A.
from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Wolfe is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Aries I Acquisition Corporation.
Mr. Wolfe will serve as a director until the
Company’s second annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Wolfe is not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any person
pursuant to which he was appointed as director nor is he a party to any transactions required to be disclosed under
Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K involving the Company.
A copy of the press release issued by the Company
announcing the appointments of Mr. Ratner and Mr. Wolfe is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.