Mr. Makavy led growth at Lyft and later ran its core platform through the 2019 IPO. He also founded Snaptu, which was acquired by Facebook in 2011.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cyngn (Nasdaq: CYN) today announced the appointment of Ran Makavy to its Board of Directors. He brings senior growth and platform leadership experience from Lyft and Facebook, where he helped scale large technology businesses through high-growth phases.
At Lyft, Makavy built the growth team which was responsible for getting more drivers and riders to use Lyft and getting them to use it more at the right time, so the company always had a balanced marketplace. This included running performance marketing teams and budget, as well as the operations of running markets efficiently. After the company went public, Makavy managed Lyft’s sales and partnership teams, and the healthcare team that were selling Lyft services to healthcare providers.
At Facebook, he led growth initiatives in emerging markets after the company acquired his startup, Snaptu. His work focused on user expansion and product localization across high-growth regions.
Cyngn is expanding commercial deployments and utilization of its autonomous vehicle solutions. Makavy’s experience scaling software platforms and operationalizing growth systems aligns with the company’s current stage of execution and expansion.
“Ran has scaled growth and platform teams at global technology companies and knows how to convert product strength into adoption,” said Lior Tal, CEO of Cyngn. “As we expand deployments and increase utilization, his perspective and operating rigor will be mission-critical for Cyngn.”
Makavy is also an active early-stage investor and has backed more than 60 startups. Mr. Makavy replaces Colleen Cunningham who departed at the end of last year.
About Cyngn
Cyngn develops and deploys autonomous vehicle technology for industrial organizations like manufacturers and logistics companies. The Company addresses significant challenges facing industrial organizations today, such as labor shortages and costly safety incidents.
Cyngn’s DriveMod technology empowers customers to seamlessly bring self-driving technology to their operations without high upfront costs or infrastructure installations. DriveMod is currently available on Motrec MT-160 Tuggers and BYD Forklifts.
The DriveMod Tugger hauls up to 12,000 lbs, travels inside and out, and targets a typical payback period of less than 2 years. The DriveMod Forklift lifts heavy loads that use non-standard pallets and is currently available to select customers.
Investor Contact:
Natalie Russell
CFO
investors@cyngn.com
Media Contact:
Luke Renner
Head of Marketing
media@cyngn.com
Where to Find Cyngn:
- Website: https://cyngn.com
- X: https://x.com/cyngn
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyngn
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cyngnhq
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any statement that is not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be identified by the use of words and phrases such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “will,” “will likely result,” “will continue,” “plans to,” “potential,” “promising,” and similar expressions. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including the risk factors described from time to time in the Company’s reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including, without limitation the risk factors discussed in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on November 14, 2025. Readers are cautioned that it is not possible to predict or identify all the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect future results. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Cyngn undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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