Category: Exclusive

More Companies Lining Up to Get Their Hands on Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ Platform

Written by Ryan Allway on Aug 14, 2019



When you’ve got something great, it may take a little bit of time for people to learn about it, but once word starts getting around, it can yield a windfall of interest. That’s the case with Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) and its DehydraTECH™ technology that enhances qualities and uptake of all sorts of lipophilic (fat-based) molecules. As such, companies from diverse businesses have partnered with Lexaria recently, including Hill Street Beverage last week.

So What’s the Big Deal with DehydraTECH?

The human body has a natural digestive process that is quite proficient at filtering molecules to ensure safe delivery of only beneficial substances. In scientific nomenclature, a molecule (an oral medicine for example) actually reaching the human bloodstream is referred to as “bioavailability” and it can be a real challenge to do so.

Click on the Video for Education on Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ technology.

DehydraTECH™ is an efficient Trojan horse for getting molecules delivered in oral form around the filtering process of liver metabolism and into the bloodstream. Lexaria accomplishes this by joining the payload – albeit a vitamin, active pharmaceutical ingredient, nicotine, cannabinoid, etc. – with a microscopic particle of a special type of fat known as LCFA’s (long chain fatty acids). Upon ingestion, the body detects the LCFA, not the molecule hidden alongside. There are a multitude of positive results from this technology, which have been verified through lab and human studies.

Click Here to View Lexaria’s Investor Presentation

For starters, many beneficial molecules taste and smell horrible. DehydraTECH™ eliminates that problem, making them palatable without using sugar like most competitors do today. Even more importantly, the bioavailability profile changes dramatically. The time it takes to feel the effect can be shaved to as little as 10 minutes (as little as 2 minutes in animal testing) from the natural metabolic process that typically takes around 90 minutes. Furthermore, bioavailability can surge as much as 10-fold, meaning the consumer is getting more of what they want and need faster.

Opportunities Abound

The beauty of the DehydraTECH™ technology is that it is easily and cost-effectively implemented into existing manufacturing operations. It appeals to a diverse group of customers because of the many different types of molecules for endless applications. As detailed in the company’s presentation, from pills to coffee, DehydraTECH™ is a highly versatile drug delivery method.

Some of the initial targets being focused on are cannabinoids, NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), vitamins and nicotine. The opportunity to genuinely disrupt the nearly $1 trillion market with the world’s first ingestible nicotine product did not escape Marlboro owner Altria (NYSE: MO). In January, the international tobacco behemoth agreed to put up $12 million for R&D and product development for oral, reduced risk nicotine consumer products using DehydraTECH™ and agreed to pay Lexaria a royalty on products sold with DehydraTECH™ technology.

July Big Month for New Partners

The cannabis market is booming, as more health conscious consumers look to the plant for all of its therapeutic effects. In particular, people are looking to cannabidiol (CBD), a prominent cannabinoid found in hemp and cannabis trumpeted for its benefits for treating everything from dry skin to epileptic seizures.

The legalization of hemp at the start of the year thanks to the passage of the U.S. Farm Bill has the hemp market abuzz and Lexaria is in the thick of it. Early in July, the company’s subsidiary Lexaria Hemp Corp. entered a 5-year agreement to provide DehydraTECH™ technology to Nic’s Beverages Ltd for use in CBD-based beverages to be produced and sold throughout America.

Nic’s is the fourth company (3 in the U.S. and 1 in Canada) to license the technology for beverages. Nic’s plan is to begin making ready-to-drink cold brew coffees enhanced with CBD from multi-spectrum hemp oil.

“DehydraTECH™ technology is perfect in allowing us to deliver CBD from hemp oil with zero impact on our cold brewed coffee’s outstanding aroma or flavor,” commented Nic’s CEO John Goodpasture.

A day after the Nic’s deal was disclosed, Lexaria said it inked a 5-year deal to provide DehydraTECH™ to B2B manufacturing company Universal Hemp LLC. Universal Hemp will be using the technology for its hemp-derived CBD bulk ingredients it supplies to the nutraceutical and consumer packaged goods industries throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“In terms of bioavailability, shelf stability and taste, [DehydraTECH™] is the best performing technology in the market, hands down,” said Chad Kahunahana, CEO and Founder of Universal Hemp about the partnership.

Future royalties and other financial terms were kept confidential, but it was revealed that the deal has minimum down payments over the life of the contract of US$3.75 million.

Lexaria kept the momentum going all month, announcing a 10-year joint manufacturing partnership (JMP) with Hill Street Beverage Co. (TSX-V: BEER) to create commercial products utilizing DehydraTECH. Per the pact, the companies will work together to make THC cannabis and/or CBD hemp powder for all new (and yet unnamed) consumer products in the form of tablets, capsules and packets.

Click Here to View Lexaria’s Investor Presentation

The JMP will also produce similar powders as a bulk ingredient for manufacturing processes for sale to other licensed producers seeking to use Lexaria’s advanced infusion technologies to create their own wide variety of products for sale within Canada.

Hill Street is in the midst of completing the acquisition of OneLeaf Cannabis. Manufacturing of the new goods, which will be handled by Hill Street and utilize DehydraTECH™ in the process, is expected to be done at OneLeaf’s cultivation and processing facility in Regina, Saskatchewan, pending all Health Canada approvals.

For its part in bringing DehydraTECH™ to the table, Lexaria is entitled to 50% of the new company’s profits.

The companies are making the moves now to be properly positioned when cannabis-infused edibles become legal throughout Canada later this year.

The JMP may be new, but the relationship between Hill Street and Lexaria is not. Hill Street had previously licensed the DehydraTECH™ technology for CBD-infused beverage sales in Canada. Last week, a new 10-year agreement was forged giving Hill Street global rights on a semi-exclusive basis.

It seems that CEO’s of consumer product companies are enamored with DehydraTECH: “Lexaria has proven themselves time and again to be the ideal infusion platform for our products,” commented Hill Street’s Chairman and CEO, Terry Donnelly.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hill Street is paying Lexaria US$1.8 million in BEER stock, most up front, with the remainder owed upon meeting milestones for entering new international markets.

Lexaria announced in August that they’ve received a cannabis R&D license from Health Canada that does not expire until August 2023, allowing the company for the first time ever to place its state-of-the-art laboratory into operation and accelerate a truly impressive research program.

“Lexaria has evolved so rapidly and achieved so much in the past eight months, that we are nearly unrecognizable compared to the end of 2018,” said Chris Bunka, Chief Executive Officer of Lexaria. “We’re signing new customers at ten times the rate of previous years; we’ve partnered with one of the largest companies in North America; additionally, we’ve just completed construction of one of the most advanced labs in the industry. 2019 has been a fabulous year so far and we think it will only get better, and drive strong new revenues and advances into 2020 and far beyond.”

The most recent sign of those advances is the appointment of Mr. Brian Quigley to their board of directors. Mr. Quigley most recently spent 16 years at Altria Group, 7 of those years were spent as President and Chief Executive Officer for U.S. Smokeless Tobacco and Nu-Mark, Altria’s innovation company. It was during that period of time that the existing business relationship between Altria and Lexaria was negotiated.

“I am thrilled to be joining the already strong team at Lexaria Bioscience. From my first engagement with Chris, it was clear to me that Lexaria and its leadership team is positioned to create change through innovation in both the Cannabis and Nicotine space. It is an honor to join this team after forging such a strong partnership with them during my time with Altria.”

Consumer Products Company? Licensing Company? Try Both.

Because Lexaria has two brands of its own: ViPova (a beverage lineup of teas and coffee) and both TurboCBD capsules and ChrgD+ powdered drink mix, they sometimes get lumped in with other CBD consumer brands companies. Adding in the new venture with Hill Street adds to that assumption.

Fact is though, technology licensing is at the core of Lexaria’s business. Candidly, it is a far more lucrative business too, with margins generally 90+%. With a robust patent estate of about a dozen issued patents and more than 60 additional pending, management has built itself a strong position with a better solution than sweeteners and chemicals for any and all ingestible products by merely adding one step to the manufacturing process.

When more companies continue to learn that they can add DeyhydraTECH™ to their operations to make lipophilic compounds palatable with superior bioavailability for only a fraction of a penny per product serving, there is likely going to be more companies knocking on Lexaria’s door.

Click Here to View Lexaria’s Investor Presentation

Click Here For More Information on Lexaria Bioscience Corp.

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Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com (the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The post More Companies Lining Up to Get Their Hands on Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ Platform appeared first on CannabisFN.

The Yield Growth Corp.: Headed by a Team of Powerful Women Leaders

Written by Joy Crosby on Aug 09, 2019

 

As an emerging and relatively new line of business, cannabis has already proven itself to be a powerhouse of a market. The global cannabis industry’s revenue ballooned to US $12.2 billion in 2018, with predictions that it will reach $16.9 billion in 2019, according to BDS Analytics.

The burgeoning industry is setting trends in many ways, not the least of which is the role that women are playing across the cannabis landscape. A new report by Vangst surveyed 166 cannabis companies in the US, and found that women represent 38.5% of the employees, a much higher proportion than in other industries, such as tech, construction, and beverage and tobacco.

Of these women, 17.6% held the role of ‘Director’ or ‘Executive.’ 43% of all companies who took part in the survey had a majority of female employees, with seven of these companies being comprised of all-women teams.

For a new industry, this is an exciting trend. Having diversified leadership gives strength to any team, a fact that is illustrated by the culture at The Yield Growth Corp. (CNSX: BOSS) (OTCQB:BOSQF) (Frankfurt:YG3). Headed by CEO Penny Green and a strong team of women leaders, this fresh and innovative company has already had great success in the cannabis industry and, with the continued collaboration of this team of executives, the future looks bright.

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Leaders With Proven Expertise

With over two decades experience building companies, Penny Green is now the Director, President and CEO of The Yield Growth Corp. and CEO of Urban Juve. She has worked in many industries, ranging from music to pharmaceuticals, law to blockchain technology.

Her dossier of public successes is impressive. She was recognised on PROFIT Magazine’s W100 of top Canadian entrepreneurs. Bacchus Law Corporation was in the PROFIT 500 Fastest Growing Companies in 2015 and 2016, when it was under her leadership as CEO. Penny also has substantial experience in capital markets, and has been involved in over 100 private to public companies.

Amy Frankel is another key component of this flourishing company. She is Vice President Licensing & General Counsel to The Yield Growth Corp., and has over 15 years experience in this role building and expanding international brands.

Amy was Co-General Counsel of Aritzia LP (TSX: ATZ). During her time there, annual revenues increased around 100%, jumping from $400 million to $743 million. Amy was also Associate General Counsel of Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX), where annual revenues increased by approximately 50%. She has expertise in negotiating licensing deals, forming intellectual property strategies and managing international intellectual property portfolios.

Another leader who has a history with Aritzia is Tamara Melck, Chief Operating Officer for The Yield Growth Corp. Tamara has extensive experience in scaling operations. She was a key component in the growth of Aritzia, where she was Vice President, Corporate Operations and Executive Vice President. When she left the company in 2017, it had reached a market capitalization of over US $1 billion. Tamara was also a member and former chair of the Executive Committee of Aritzia.

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Urban Juve’s Impressive Line Up of Leaders

The Urban Juve line is built on ancient Indian Ayurvedic wisdom fused with advanced science, and the leaders at Yield Growth knew they would have to find someone with a commendable background in this discipline. This search led them to Bhavna Solecki.

With over 30 years of Ayurvedic practice, Bhavna is at the centre of Urban Juve’s new generation of products, and oversees its product research, development and production. In 2003, she launched Samadhi Mobile Services, where she led 25 Ayurvedic practitioners on high-profile contracts including George Michael and David Beckham, before developing Inner Evolution Healing Centre Ltd. in 2011 to teach and enable Ayurvedic practitioners.

In 2017, her lifelong experience in Ayurvedic techniques led to the foundation of Urban Juve, alongside Penny Green. As Ayurveda Senior Research Scientist, she ensures compliance with Health Canada regulations, develops educational literature for staff and customers, and incorporates new technology into the supply chain.

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With Bhavna set to oversee the development of Urban Juve products, Yield Growth needed to appoint a President of Urban Juve with a background in the health and beauty industry. Enter Sandi Lesueur, who has designed and launched several product lines for physicians and celebrities, including dermatologist Dr. Jason Rivers and Oprah Winfrey’s makeup artist, Derrick Rutledge at OOH Lifestyle. During her eight year tenure, Sandi played a huge role in the astronomical rise of M.A.C Cosmetics, where she helped the company grow from 3 stores to 88 across Canada.

Sandi also served as CEO of Riversol Skin Care Solutions Inc. where she collaborated with the Vice President of the Dermatology Association of Canada, Dr. Jason Rivers, to develop the company, and founded the second line of Riversol MD.

Her knowledge of the health and wellness industry led her to Urban Juve, where she is now President and on track to position the company as a globally successful brand.

Impressive Public and Investor Relations

Krystal Pineo is the Director of The Yield Growth Corp. She has over eight years experience as an early stage investor and fundraiser for venture capital projects. Krystal founded KP Capital Inc, a family office that invests in early stage startups, and she is also the chief financial officer and director.

Krystal has an impressive global network within the cannabis industry, which led to Urban Juve being included in this year’s pre-Oscar event.

Working alongside Krystal is Kristina Pillon, head of Investor Relations. Kristina joined the Yield Growth Corp. in November 2018. She has an extensive background in public relations and marketing, and nearly 10 years experience in capital markets, where she focussed on small cap metals and mining in a number of roles, including investor relations, marketing, and institutional equity sales. She also has six years experience at Red Cloud Klondike Strike, where she worked in investor relations and institutional equity sales.

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Women Set on Success

Yield Growth is a prime example of the refreshing trend toward diversity throughout the cannabis world. The company is driven by women from a multitude of backgrounds and disciplines, all successful in their own right, and all positioned to take the company to the next level. Keep an eye on this group of women as The Yield Growth Corp. continues to grow its product line and retail footprint across North America and internationally. They mean business, and business is good.

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Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com(the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies.  We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

 

The post The Yield Growth Corp.: Headed by a Team of Powerful Women Leaders appeared first on CannabisFN.

Hemptown Poised to Profit Following Passage of US Farm Bill

Written by Tony Deyes on Aug 08, 2019

 

Hemptown Poised to Profit Following Passage of US Farm Bill

Prior to the 2018 US Farm Bill, hemp – defined by the legislation as the cannabis plant containing less than 0.3% THC – carried the same legal classification as THC-rich cannabis, and aside from a handful of pilot projects, the mass production of industrial hemp was therefore illegal. The US was actually the last industrialized state with a ban on industrial hemp, placing US-based companies reliant on hemp at a distinct disadvantage.

However, the legislation did nothing to change the legal classification of non-THC cannabinoids produced by the hemp plant, at a time when demand for these cannabinoids, especially CBD, has skyrocketed. Meaning that while producers are free to grow hemp, the production of cannabinoids must still be done in the states where their production and sale have been legalized.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

The CBD market has seen much faster growth than any other aspect of the cannabis industry. In 2015, the market spiked in the hundreds of millions, nearly doubled in 2016, and was predicted by all industry analysts to become a multi-billion-dollar industry by 2020. US demand jumped following the passage of the Farm Bill, and the most recent report by BDS Analytics shows those initial estimates were far too low, and that the US CBD market alone is expected to surge from a $1.9 billion market in 2018 to $20 billion by 2024.

What was once a sub-category of the larger cannabis industry has evolved into a category of its own, buoyed by public awareness of CBD-rich products. Companies are developing all manner of health & wellness products to capitalize on this exploding interest.

This also means that what was once available in dispensaries will soon be sold mainly by the major retailers. The hemp-derived CBD market is forecast to be especially lucrative, and a 2017 report by Brightfield Group predicted a per annum increase of 55% over the next five years alone.

Enter Hemptown USA

One company that led the charge for reform, and now stands to benefit as a result, is Oregon’s Hemptown USA, a multi-state operator with farms and processing facilities in the so-called Emerald Triangle of their home state as well as Colorado and Kentucky, with plans to expand into California.

Hemptown USA CEO, John Cummings, expects the passage of the Farm Bill to enable a revitalization of the country’s farming economies, while the drying and processing facilities associated with the hemp industry will provide employment and revenue to rural communities.

Growing on 1500 acres across three states, Hemptown USA realized a first-year yield for 2018 of 110,000 pounds of feminized hemp biomass, with a projected average gross margin of 70%. The company plans to double its acreage in 2020, and is already predicting a 2019 yield of three million pounds. Its relationship with it’s genetics provider, enables the company to cultivate hemp with an exceptionally-high cannabinoid content – up to 20%.  Over 500 acres is currently focused on rare genetics, and Hemptown expects to control 40% of the total North American supply in 2019 Q4.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

The Mother of All Cannabinoids

While Hemptown certainly aims to be a leader in the CBD space, its focus on lesser-known cannabinoids like CBG, the precursor of both THC and CBD, is what truly sets it apart.

Like CBD, Cannabigerol (CBG) is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid, but unlike CBD, it occurs in very low levels (usually less than 1%) in most cannabis strains, making it rare and, due to its great potential for medical breakthroughs, much more valuable. On average, CBD currently demands $6-8,000 a kilogram, while CBG is upwards of $25,000 per kilo.

Early research has found CBG to be an effective anti-inflammatory, as well as an effective neuro-protector, offering hope for those afflicted with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinsons and Huntington’s, and a powerful antibacterial agent, especially against drug-resistant microbes like the Staphylococcus aureus superbug. CBG has proven an effective tool for treating eczema, psoriasis, and related skin conditions, and a recent study even found CBG inhibited the growth of colorectal cancer cells in mice. And because the research is really in its infancy, we’ve only begun scratching the surface.

Hemptown is positioning itself to be one of North America’s leading producers of CBG. Working with Oregon Seeds to develop strains high in CBG, the company expects up to 70% of its 2020 crop to come from these novel strains.

True Vertical Integration

But Hemptown is more than just a cultivator. It is a vertically-integrated company which aside from its contract and bulk wholesale supply agreements for dried hemp flower, is developing and producing its own range of in-house brands, as well as the manufacture of white-label products. It’s also investing in R&D designed to solve the problem of water solubility to increase the efficacy of cannabinoid-derivative health & wellness products.

The company recently announced the acquisition of Lake Oswego, Oregon-based Kirkman Group and its fully operational 25,000 sq. ft. FDA-licensed and cGMP-certified nutraceutical manufacturing facility, including its state-of-the-art formulations and equipment to facilitate precision dosage CBD & CBG liquid-fill tinctures, gel caps, edibles, creams, and topicals. The acquisition also fast-tracks Hemptown’s move into the consumer packaged goods market for retail and wholesale.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

It also allows Hemptown to leverage Kirkman’s proprietary Ultra Tested protocols to examine every raw ingredient used in its products, enabling the detection of over 950 environmental contaminants, while finished products are tested for 24 heavy metals as well as molds, bacteria, and common allergens.

No other supplement company in the world offers this degree of purity testing, and as a result, Hemptown will be one of the first companies to offer liability insurance on all packaged goods produced at the facility.

Investors looking to benefit from the Farm Bill as well as the red-hot CBD and emerging CBG markets should take a serious look at Hemptown USA.

For more information, keep watching this page, and visit https://hemptownusa.com/

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Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com(the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies.  We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

 

 

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ManifestSeven’s Cannabis Superhighway Aims to Provide a Consistent Experience

Written by Ryan Allway on Aug 07, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cannabis industry is projected to reach $5.1 billion by the end of the year, according to BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research, making it the largest single market in the world. Despite its massive size and growth, the industry faces many challenges when it comes to supply chain consistency. California has 70 counties and 480 municipalities that each have their own rules and regulations that make it difficult to connect products with consumers.

ManifestSeven aims to build California’s first Cannabis Superhighway, enabling operators to navigate these burdens and giving consumers access to the same products everywhere throughout the state.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

CFN Media recently sat down with CEO Sturges Karban in-studio to discuss how the company plans to scale into the market:

Similarities with Technology

ManifestSeven CEO Sturges Karban has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking in emerging markets and asset classes — including technology. Back then, ecommerce companies struggled with many of the same challenges with regards to interstate commerce and supply chain logistics. The solutions to these problems became the giants we know today — Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), PayPal Inc. (NYSE: PYPL), and others.

Karban believes that similar challenges exist in the legal cannabis industry. When you look at California’s market alone, there are enormous regulatory burdens, and a significant lack of infrastructure as a result. These constraints have led to a supply and demand imbalance that impacts both operators and consumers. There’s no easy way for operators to deliver regular, consistent and universal access to products across the state.

The company is building a Cannabis Superhighway, with statewide B2B and B2C infrastructure including distribution, ecommerce, delivery and retail. This network is bringing the cannabis industry up-to-speed with conventional commerce in the same way that Amazon.com or eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY)  can move products to customers in record time. In the end, the supply chain is what makes all the difference.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Targeting All Demographics

ManifestSeven recently acquired MyJane and M Delivers as part of expansion plans across its B2C, ecommerce and delivery channels throughout California. MyJane operates a subscription box model that appeals to the female demographic—an underserved demographic within the cannabis industry. M Delivers is one of the state’s first legal cannabis delivery services, founded in 2015 in San Diego.

At the same time, M7 has unveiled its new look retail arm – Weden – a one-stop shop which brings all the company’s B2C assets under one umbrella.

To cap this off, M7 has also acquired the phone number 1-800-CANNABIS, creating a unique customer portal.

“M7’s acquisition of M Delivers and the 1-800-Cannabis portal are foundational milestones in our expansion across California,” says Pierre Rouleau, Chief Operating Officer of ManifestSeven. “M Delivers’ robust customer base, spanning northern and southern California, will provide significant growth opportunities for M7’s retail and distribution operations. Delivery is a tentpole offering within ManifestSeven’s range of services, and we’re looking forward to integrating these new, highly-scalable assets across M7’s growing statewide portfolio of retail operations.”

Karban says that the company will continue to expand with these kinds of acquisitions, while simultaneously targeting unique and underserved demographics, such as seniors, true medical, entry-level and luxury markets. There’s a huge land grab taking place for these new adopters and the company hopes to gain a solid footprint in these critical markets, particularly as others compete for broader and more saturated consumer bases.

Looking Ahead 

ManifestSeven plans to expand its footprint across the United States, in state legal markets, next year after rolling out operations across California. At the same time, the company has already filed the paperwork to go public on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), and hopes to list in early-September. Investors interested in the space may want to keep an eye on the company as it builds California’s Cannabis Superhighway.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com (the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The post ManifestSeven’s Cannabis Superhighway Aims to Provide a Consistent Experience appeared first on CannabisFN.

XPhyto Therapeutics Debuts on CSE Under Ticker XPHY

Written by Ryan Allway on Aug 06, 2019

 

After about two years of building relationships with exceptional partners and positioning itself in Canada and Europe, XPhyto Therapeutics (CSE: XPHY) was ready to become a public company. That happened Tuesday morning, with trading beginning on the Canadian Securities Exchange, checking off one more box on management’s list of accomplishments.

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The company was founded in 2017 to pursue the next wave of business opportunities in cannabis, such as medical applications, proprietary formulas and emerging European markets. More precisely, XPhyto, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is developing a testing, manufacturing, and research business in Canada, as well as a cultivation, import, manufacturing, and distribution business in Germany.

To that end, the parent company has several subsidiaries, including XPhyto Labs in Canada and Bunker Pflanzenextrakte GmbH in Germany.

Jump Start on Canadian Expertise 

Thanks in large part to XPHY Director Dr. Raimar Löbenberg, XPhyto has two, separate 5-year agreements with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Löbenberg founded the Drug Development and Innovative Centre at the university and is now sharing his wealth of experience and impressive resources with XPhyto. In exchange for all he provided, Dr. Löbenberg is now one of XPHY’s largest shareholders.

XPhyto is immediately in a position to be a leading player in cannabis science in Canada, owing to UofA already being considered an authority. Management made a savvy decision to go the collaborative route in Canada to jump start operations, which saved tens of millions of dollars in capex to build the type of facilities at its disposal now, without mentioning the scientists and staff at UofA.

Per the one agreement, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will manufacture cannabis-based extracts and isolates in its ISO certified clean room for XPhyto for the purposes of research and clinical trials.

According to the other agreement, the university and XPhyto will work together to co-develop a commercial grade analytical lab at UoA for the purpose of testing cannabis and other plant-based medicines. XPhyto has fully funded the development and construction of the analytical testing facility.

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First Mover in Germany

Late in July, XPhyto’s Bunker announced that it received a licence for cannabis cultivation and extraction for scientific purposes in Germany, one of the first licenses of its type in the country.

Bunker’s name is quite appropriate given that it has a long-term lease on a former avionics station and nuclear bunker in Bavaria, previously used by the German Bundeswehr Tornado fighter bomber squadron. The nearly 11,000 square-foot facility (with room to expand) is located nearby Munich West airport.

The bunker was built to withstand a nuclear disaster, including radiation-proof doors, thick concrete double walls, back-up power, air filtration and a dedicated internal water well. To that end, some of the infrastructure is already in place for a cannabis business and the building certainly is secure.

XPhyto will need to put about $900,000 into a first phase of renovations to the Bunker facility in order to further additional cannabis licenses and opportunities for storage, import/export, manufacturing and other planned operations catering to the European markets.

Big Market Opportunities

XPhyto is a startup that is moving quickly and with focus as it sees opportunities in its home country in cannabis science rather than fighting for share in the congested cultivation space. Arcview Market Research and partner BDS Analytics estimate that the Canadian cannabis market will reach $5.2 billion within five years.

In Germany, the market is still young, but it is one of the fastest growing in the world on a year-over-year basis.  Arcview forecasts Germany’s cannabis market to grow at 77% compounding annual clip to reach $1.6 billion in the next three years. The market is the flattest of playing fields right now with the German health authority holding its first tender process for cultivation licenses late last year.

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Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com (the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

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XPhyto Therapeutics Ready to Be Cannabis’ Newest Public Entity

Written by Ryan Allway on Aug 02, 2019

Only days after announcing that its wholly owned subsidiary was awarded a German cannabis and cultivation and extraction licence, XPhyto Therapeutics is ready to enter the public domain. With a final prospectus filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission, XPhyto is ready to go public on the CSE under the ticker “XPHY”. The company will begin trading on the CSE on Tuesday, August 6, 2019.

Dual Market Focus: Germany

From its corporate headquarters in Vancouver, XPhyto is developing its business as a leader in formulation, processing, and clinical validation in two of the world’s most active markets, Canada and Germany. Germany, the largest economy in the European Union and second largest federally regulated medical cannabis market in the world (behind the U.S.), is seeing tremendous acceleration in cannabis demand, including importing nearly 2,500 kilograms for medical purposes in the first half of 2019. That’s almost as much as was imported in all of 2018 and more than twice as much as 2017.

Germany Flag on cannabis background. Drug policy. Legalization of marijuana

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Right now, Germany relies 100% on imports to supply is burgeoning medical cannabis market. Based upon some recently issued licenses, it will be until at least late in 2020 before any domestic cannabis will be available for medical purposes.

It is this growth that underscores Arcview Market Research forecasting Germany’s cannabis market to experience a whopping 76.8% compound annual growth rate to reach $1.6 billion by 2022.

Last Wednesday, the Company announced that its wholly owned German subsidiary, Bunker Pflanzenextrakte GmbH, was awarded a cannabis cultivation and extraction licence for scientific purposes from the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, better known as BfArM. Bunker still has to pass BfArM’s security requirements, which isn’t expected to be an issue considering the company operates from a monitored high-security area in Bavaria that previously served as a German air force command center and nuclear bunker.

Bunker has a long-term lease for the entire facility with 10,741 square feet for the initial buildout and nearby space available for expansion.

The new licence authorizes Bunker to cultivate and extract up to 70 different strains of cannabis sativa and indica for scientific R&D.

With the new licence in tow, Bunker is next applying for licenses that will allow for cannabis import, storage, distribution and manufacturing. The license estate is at the heart of Bunker’s plans to serve as a one-stop shop providing a bevy of products and services spanning genetic research and storage, cultivation, extraction, storage, processing, packaging, distribution and more.

Click here to receive an investor deck and going public alert

Dual Market Focus: Canada

Canada made history last year when it became the first G7 country to legalize adult-use marijuana. Supply shortages and regulatory challenges kept the industry from getting off to the rip-roaring start analysts expected, but that hasn’t stopped Arcview Market Research and partner BDS Analytics from forecasting the Canadian cannabis market reaching $5.2 billion by 2024.

XPhyto’s operations in Canada are centered on in-house production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-derived compounds, developing proprietary formulas and conducting modern clinical research for diseases and conditions with unmet medical need where cannabis could be a viable option. They also offer third-party commercial analytical testing for licensed producers, wholesalers, distributors and law enforcement.

Management is advancing these operations through strategic collaborations that accelerate the process with other collateral benefits. For instance, XPhyto has two five-year agreements with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. This partnership provides XPhyto with certified analytical testing capability, as well as a certified extraction, isolation, and formulation facility.

Click here to receive an investor deck and going public alert

This is a tremendous capital saver for XPhyto as its cost to entry pales in comparison to the value of the world-class infrastructure, not to mention potential maintenance costs in the future. Furthermore, The University of Alberta is well known for its expertise in biopharmaceutics, drug delivery quality control and regulatory sciences.  An authority like that as a strategic partner gives XPhyto immediate brand recognition as a high quality service provider and access to talent that other companies simply do not easily come by.

Public Soon

XPhyto is hitting the ground running when it comes public as it looks to fill a void between cannabis and modern medical science. They have secured a collaborative partner in the esteemed experts at the University of Alberta to capitalize on the opportunity with minimal capex while the Bunker acquisition – along with its assets – give XPhyto a first mover advantage in the burgeoning German market.

XPhyto will commence trading on the CSE on Tuesday, August 6, 2019, which should have investors keen to participate in the next wave of cannabis opportunities – medical formulations and emerging European markets.

Click here to receive an investor deck and going public alert

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com (the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

 

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Cannabis M&A Spree Continues with Supreme’s Merger with Blissco

Written by Ryan Allway on Aug 01, 2019

The cannabis industry is quickly moving through a well-known cycle for emerging markets. Like Google in the tech industry, early market entrants that have become successful in a given subset of the fragmented market are starting to look to mergers and acquisitions to expand their geographic and product footprint. The result is often a mature industry with two or three companies capturing 70 to 90 percent of the market share.

The most famous example is Canopy Growth Corp.’s (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED) $3.4 billion deal with Acreage Holdings Inc. (CSE: ACRG.U). In exchange for a $300 million upfront commitment, Canopy Growth bought the right to acquire the U.S. market leader when cannabis legalization occurs on a federal level. The combined company could become an overnight leading producer across all of North America.

Let’s take a look at how The Supreme Cannabis Co.’s (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1) recent merger with Blissco fits into this same model and what investors can look forward to next.

Expanding into Wellness

Supreme Cannabis’ merger with Blissco was more than a move to increase its revenue and market capitalization—it was a strategic acquisition that accelerates its entry into the lucrative wellness subset of the market with an established brand. Founded in 2013, Blissco has become Canada’s leading cannabis wellness brand with a 12,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art extraction, processing and cultivation facility located in Vancouver.

Prior to the merger, Blissco was awarded a comprehensive sales license from Health Canada to sell bulk cannabis and pre-packaged, labeled and tested cannabis products to medical patients and provinces. The company had signed supply agreements with British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Alberta, as well as Pharmadrug in Germany. It also submitted a license amendment to Health Canada to allow the sale of oil.

Blissco’s focus on ultra-premium cannabis products is well-aligned with Supreme’s similar focus on high-quality flower and pre-rolls, but unlike Supreme, it has been extracting cannabis oil since August of 2018. With its EU GMP-compliant facility, Supreme can immediately leverage its high-quality flower inputs to create near-term, large-scale extraction operations capable of serving multiple brands under its growing umbrella.

Focusing on Growth Ahead

Supreme Cannabis plans to acquire Truverra, a global medical cannabis brand, to further expand its footprint in the wellness space. Located in the Netherlands, Truverra sells a broad portfolio of hemp-based CBD products across select European markets. These products contain a carefully measured quantity of clean and pure CBD oil drawn from whole plant hemp extract that meets European standards.

In order to support this next phase of growth, the company appointed Ash Rajendra as Chief Information Officer and Valerie Rother as vice president of human capital and talent development. Both of these individuals bring a wealth of experience and knowledge necessary to help the company manage these two key acquisitions, as well as pave the way for growth in the nascent cannabis industry.

The company also continues to adopt governance best practices at the board level. Mr. John Fowler resigned from the Board of Directors in order to make room for more independent directors. Mr. Fowler will continue to serve as Chief Advocacy Officer & Managing Director of Flower and Concentrates while the board begins a search for a new independent board member that will bring diverse background, experience and operating knowledge.

Looking Ahead

Supreme Cannabis Co.’s (TSX: FIRE) (OTCQX: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1) acquisition of two wellness brands marks a move to stake out a key subset of the industry. In addition to adding scale to its operations, the acquisitions provide valuable new brands and extraction capabilities that could help drive long-term shareholder value. Investors interested in the wellness side of the industry may want to take a closer look at the company following these catalysts.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.supreme.ca.

The above article is sponsored content.

Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer.

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Ignite UK Launch Targets Red-Hot European CBD Market

Written by Tony Deyes on

In June of 2019, the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis produced Britain’s most comprehensive study to date on the UK’s CBD sector, one of Europe’s largest, and found that the market is worth at least three times more than previously estimated, with 1.3 million regular users already spending over 300 million pounds annually on CBD products. That number is expected to be just shy of a billion pounds annually ($1.2billion USD) by 2025, equivalent to the entire UK herbal supplement category at present.

The study also found that the industry is officially considered mainstream in the UK, despite cannabis being illegal, largely as a result of steadily-growing awareness of CBD and its health & wellness applications. 6 million people, roughly 11% of the population, have already used CBD products, and that number is expected to continue its steady rise.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

The European market, buoyed by a population twice the size of the US and Canada combined, has also surpassed all earlier market estimates, and is now expected to surpass $115 billion USD during this same period.

Ignite UK Launches in Style

With these lucrative emerging markets in mind, Ignite International Brands Ltd. (CSE: BILZ) organized a high-profile event at the famous Mandrake Hotel in central London, and an enormous presence at the inaugural Europe CBD Expo in London, to announce the launch of Ignite UK. This launch will serve as the hub of the company’s expansion into Europe’s emerging market, and its innovative “Ignited Kingdom” marketing campaign, where strategically-placed digital screens and billboards will extol the balanced, aspirational lifestyle Ignite encourages through CBD use.

Ignite is renowned for its use of engaging, intriguing marketing content, from its Unapologetic company Blog, to its Twitch TV channel, and backed up by the over 43 million-strong social media following of company founder and Chairman, Dan Bilzerian.

Ignite was a Gold sponsor of the Europe CBD Expo, and as a result, President of Ignite International Brands, Jim McCormick opened the event with a keynote speech in which he referred to the UK and European CBD markets as a “wide open space” that the company is well-placed to excel in. McCormick noted that Bilzerian’s social media presence has allowed the company to raise its brand profile despite the severe restrictions on advertising in the CBD space.

UK Launch a Precursor to European Expansion

Ignite UK is the beginning of the company’s European expansion, which introduces a line of lifestyle-based CBD products including tinctures, vapes, and topical, which are 100% natural and dosed to provide calming, lucid, and recharging effects. Five tincture and three vape flavours are currently available in the UK marketplace, with additional SKUs scheduled for release in the near future. New to the Ignite product line is a CBD lip balm, designed to serve as a reasonably-priced entry point for UK consumers curious about the Ignite brand and/or CBD topicals. Ignite UK sources the purest full-spectrum distillate and 99% pure CBD isolate and infuses them with fractionated coconut oil, natural flavour extracts, and terpenes, all of which are formulated to provide the holistic benefits of CBD.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

The European CBD market is still in its infancy compared to US and Canadian markets, and though there have been a number of campaigns targeting the market, none have been on a significant scale, nor has a dominant brand yet to emerge. Ignite UK intends to capitalize on this opportunity with its first mover advantage and already-massive social media reach. Through the integration of traditional and digital out-of-home marketing, combined with social influencer campaigns, Ignite aims to become the most recognizable CBD brand in the world.

McCormick added, “North American CBD companies are increasing their presence in the UK and Europe to gain entry into a market that is anticipated to reach £16.5 billion in the next decade. We are excited to have launched our Ignite CBD product line in Europe. The initial response has been tremendous, and we look forward to diversifying our business across the UK and EU member states with our trade partners in the UK.”

European consumers can now purchase Ignite CBD Drops, Rechargeable Vape Pens, Disposable Vape Pens, and Lip Balms at two London retail locations as well as online at https://uk.ignitecbd.co/.

Ignite intends to expand its branding, marketing, licensing, sales and distribution business, across the United States, Canada, and international jurisdictions like Europe, and leverage multiple product platforms through branding, product development, targeted marketing and strategic supply chain partnerships in each of the target jurisdictions.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

CEO and Chairman Dan Bilzerian, perhaps best known as one of the world’s most successful professional poker players, winning over $50 million in a single year, says “I’ve never half-assed anything I cared about. Everything I do, I do on the highest level and Ignite is going to top everything I’ve done before. I’ll spare no expense, cut no corners, and do whatever needs to be done in order to build Ignite into a world-renowned cannabis brand.”

For more information and updates, keep watching this page, or visit www.igniteinternational.co.

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com (the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies. We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

 

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Alternative Consumption Methods That Are Reshaping the Cannabis Industry

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 30, 2019

 

The cannabis industry is projected to reach $66.3 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research, representing a 23.9% compound annual growth rate. While cannabis flower began as the largest subset of the market, concentrates and edibles have quickly gained market share over the past several years. The medical cannabis industry has also seen a lot of interesting research and development designed to improve treatment options.

In this article, we will take a look at key trends in both recreational and medical cannabis consumption methods, and how companies like Cannova Medical Ltd. (49% owned by Nabis Holdings Inc. (CSE: NAB) (OTC: INNPF) (FRA: 71P)) are positioning themselves in the market.

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Concentrates Outpace Flower Sales

Cannabis concentrate sales are projected to reach $8 billion by 2022, according to BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research, making them the fastest growing segment of the local cannabis market. With vape pens becoming increasingly popular, the analysts believe that the vaporizers will represent about $6.5 billion of the $8 billion in concentrate sales — making vaporizers the fastest growing subset of the space.

 

While cultivators benefit from lower production costs — since there’s no need to trim or cure product, concentrates take up less space for distributors to house and transport and they have higher profit margins that make them attractive to retailers. There may also be long-term environmental benefits to concentrate production since outdoor production is more viable and there’s less waste with longer shelf lives than cannabis flower.

Beverages represent another key subset of the concentrates market poised for rapid growth in the recreational side of the market. Many alcohol companies have already made investments in the space in anticipation of THC-infused beverages becoming popular among consumers, while traditional beverage giants have started to explore investments in the space with regards to non-psychoactive CBD-infused beverages.

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Innovations in Medical Cannabis Delivery

Cannabis flower, concentrates and edibles may be the three categories that most analysts and investors focus on, but innovative new products are transcending these labels — particularly in the medical cannabis space. Medical cannabis users often require precise dosages that are difficult to obtain reliably at dispensaries, while they may not be comfortable with smoking or vaping as a delivery mechanism for medical reasons.

Cannova Medical Ltd., which is 49% owned by Nabis Holdings Inc. (CSE: NAB) (OTC: INNPF) (FRA: 71P), has developed a patented sublingual strip technology designed to be more convenient for consumers than smoking, vaping or consuming oil. With its patented countertop device, consumers can access precise and personalized doses of THC, CBD and other active ingredients to meet their unique, requirements in real-time.

“The possibilities are incredibly exciting. From a medicinal perspective, alternative means of consumption widen the consumer demographic to reap the benefits of medical cannabis. On the retail side, the profit margins are higher on new technology products as opposed to edibles and flower, making them attractive to dispensary owners.”, says Nabis Holdings CEO Shay Shnet.

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The cutting-edge platform designed for home use looks similar to a countertop espresso or coffee machine. After inputting their specific requirements, users can easily create sublingual strips that are designed to mask the unpleasant taste of cannabinoids, increase their bioavailability, and reduce their onset time by bypassing liver metabolism. The goal is to provide a consistent experience that’s personalized for each individual.

Trends to Watch in the Future

Cannabis consumption methods have evolved from smoking cannabis flower to vaping, edibles, beverages and other categories. Within the medical cannabis market, there has been even greater focus on innovative R&D projects designed to improve convenience, dosing and bioavailability. Many physicians are hesitant to prescribe medical cannabis due to the lack of consistent dosing and measurability compared to pharmaceuticals.

Those interested in investing in these trends may want to consider companies like Nabis Holdings Inc. (CSE: NAB) (OTC: INNPF) (FRA: 71P) given its investment in the space. In addition to its investment in Cannova Medical, the company is building a portfolio of cultivation and retail facilities in states like Arizona, California and Michigan with a focus on companies capable of adding near-term EBITDA with shareholder-aligned incentives.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.nabisholdings.com.

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com(the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies.  We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The above article is sponsored content.

Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer.

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CannabisFN Profile: Recognizable Cannabis Advocate, Steve DeAngelo & Harborside Inc.

Written by Ryan Allway on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many celebrities that have been involved in the cannabis industry, but few have been as actively involved in the community as Steve DeAngelo. As a pioneering cannabis entrepreneur, activist, author and on-screen personality, DeAngelo co-founded several iconic cannabis businesses and organizations and continues to play an instrumental role in reforming cannabis laws through advocacy groups and legal action.

Let’s take a closer look at this cannabis legend and how a recent reverse merger opened the door for investors to buy a piece of his flagship company: Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR).

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Invest Alongside a Cannabis Legend

Steve DeAngelo isn’t just known for his cannabis activism — he’s also a businessman with a historic track record of success. DeAngelo thus far has co-founded Harborside, one of the first six dispensaries licensed in the United States; co-founded Steep Hill Laboratories, the first dedicated cannabis testing lab; co-founded the Arc View Group, the first cannabis investment firm; and currently serves on the board of FLRish, a vertically-integrated California cannabis company.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR) is the oldest cannabis retailer in the country, the largest cannabis retailer in California, and one of DeAngelo’s most recognizable business ventures. Last month, the company completed a reverse takeover (RTO) with Lineage Grow Company, which enables anyone to invest alongside the cannabis legend. The combined company has generated about C$400 million in cumulative revenue and captured three percent of California’s entire market.

To date, the company has attracted over 300,000 patients and expanded its footprint to include eight dispensaries and two cultivation facilities across two states. Under the direction of DeAngelo, the company has set a gold standard for compliance, product safety, industry expertise and customer service, while simultaneously paving the way for the entire industry to benefit from reforms to onerous cannabis laws and regulations.

Of course, the company’s products are also top-notch given its long track record and DeAngelo’s expertise. The company recently announced that their KEY brand received third place at the High Times Cannabis Cup competition in the Best Edibles Category for their Red Berry Fruit Jellies. Harborside Farms also received awards for collaborative projects with Apex, including First Place in the Indica Concentrates category and Third Place in the Vape Pen category at various cups.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

The Father of the Modern Cannabis Industry

Former Speaker of the California Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco, Hon. Willie L. Brown, dubbed Steve DeAngelo the Father of the Cannabis Industry thanks to his pioneering accomplishments within the cannabis industry over the past decade.

DeAngelo is also recognized in the industry for his successful litigation against the Department of Justice to shut down California’s medical cannabis dispensaries in 2011. The campaign successfully shut down ~600 dispensaries — one third of the state’s dispensaries — but ended when DeAngelo’s Harborside won multiple legal victories in both state and federal courts. The DOJ abandoned its efforts to shut down the state’s dispensaries in 2016.

In addition to his professional efforts, DeAngelo has also influenced public opinion through his creative projects, including a book, The Cannabis Manifesto, a Discovery channel mini-series, Weed Wars, and a new weekly show, Ask Steve DeAngelo, on GreenFlowerMedia.com. He also continues to play a role in advocacy as a lead organizer and fundraiser for Washington D.C.’s I-59 initiative and as a co-founder of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA).

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Looking Ahead

Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR) continues to expand its presence across California while eyeing opportunities in new states. These actions make the company both a compelling financial opportunity and an investment in advocacy.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.investharborside.com

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com(the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies.  We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The above article is sponsored content.

Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer.

The post CannabisFN Profile: Recognizable Cannabis Advocate, Steve DeAngelo & Harborside Inc. appeared first on CannabisFN.

Women: Leading The Cannabis Green Rush

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 26, 2019

Q & A with QVI Inc, a FinCanna Portfolio Company, Co-Founder Annie “That Kitchen Lady” Holman

Following a successful career in graphic design, marketing and media that included clients like – Nestle, Lego Toys and Charles Schwab, Annie Holman is best recognized for her success as a co-founder of an artisanal edible cannabis bakery, Derby Bakery, in California back in 2015. Post her success with the bakery venture, Annie has launched a new and much larger venture, QVI Inc. an industrial scale cannabis co-manufacturing facility, in the heart of Sonoma County, California with her co-founders Gina Pippin and Rori Lucas. The word is getting out with peers and brand owners that don’t quite know her yet often calling her that “Kitchen Lady” – that is until the cannabis pioneer does like she so frequently does and spends some time collaborating with others in the space, then she’s unforgettable as “Annie.”

(From the left) Rori, Gina, Annie, Chenoa – QVI’s Main Team Standing in Front of Their Event Center Along with Cannabis Mermaid Zena

Annie aka “That Kitchen Lady” took a few minutes out of her busy day to sit down with Cannabis Financial Media last week to discuss her latest venture, QVI Inc. a portfolio company of FinCanna Capital Corp. (CSE: CALI) (OTCQB:FNNZF) and the leading role that women are playing in the cannabis “green rush.”

Click Here: Receive an Investor Presentation and Company Updates

The Genesis of QVI

Going back to early 2018 Annie recognized not only the incredible industry that was set to emerge, but that regulators had done small companies a big favor by leveling the playing field for everyone. It was time to move with a purpose.

Call it kismet, but while Annie was at a convention, a woman named Gina Pippin asked if she could sit down next to her. The two struck up a conversation that included Gina saying that her partners had a large building they were looking to retrofit into a cannabis business and seeking partners with experience to do so. That was precisely what QVI, which does business as “The Galley,” was looking for. Hence the tale of Gina and Annie began.

QVI is currently refitting the 8,300 square-foot facility with highly automated equipment in preparation for a grand opening as a co-manufacturer and distribution center, later this summer. This plan includes operating as a fulfillment center once a distribution license is obtained. Once achieved, QVI will be unique as a one-stop shop for handling the entire manufacturing chain, including logistics for laboratory testing.

In a savvy move, the remodel is being completed to be FDA-compliant, a decision that Annie says was made because she believes that the federal government will end cannabis prohibition soon, maybe within 3-5 years. Woman’s intuition perhaps?

Although no company can control the process, licensing for the facility is expected any day, according to Annie, following a positive recent visit from regulators. Additionally some final construction is being completed, with operations expected to commence by early September.

Click Here: Receive an Investor Presentation and Company Updates

The commercial kitchen facility will produce a diverse line of products including an edibles line; topical and tincture products, hard candy, gummies, and mints. The facility also includes a chocolate room to produce products like truffles and bars. By mid-2020, the company hopes to add a beverage line as well.

Demand is booming ahead of QVI opening its doors. Annie says she fields several phone calls every week from potential new customers through referrals from existing ones. “We vetted over 125 clients in the last 6 months,” she commented. “[Demand] is massive and I worry about having to say no to people because that’s not something I’m real good at. I really like to make it work for everybody.”

In order to make that happen, Annie envisions having to get a second facility operational quickly, “probably within 6-12 months into 2020,” she guessed.

These are all positives for FinCanna, which will earn a perpetual tiered royalty ranging from 15% to 6% of QVI’s consolidated annual revenues, based on agreed upon financial benchmarks. FinCanna will earn the top rate of 15% on QVI’s first $20.0 million of annual sales until cumulative royalties of $10.0 million are earned by FinCanna.

Women in Cannabis

QVI is a women-owned company and, according to Annie, about 60% of their clients are run by women. In fact, she believes that women will continue to have a prominent role in the cannabis industry going forward, owing to innate qualities of women.

“We are all swimming alongside each other right now and are lucky enough to be at the forefront of an emerging industry. When you look at it like that, we’re all pretty lucky,” she insightfully noted.

“[Women] are a committed, loyal gender that gets things done. This industry is so complicated that you need to be able to multitask, be positive, and work together. “When things get challenging, we sit down, talk about it and make a well thought out plan. That’s what women are good at. I think that some of the complexity of the industry is exactly why we’re seeing a lot of women in it.”

She continued: “I see equal opportunity already and I see it coming down the pipe. As this industry evolves, I think it will be women dominated. I think it’s created an environment for us to really shine and get the respect we deserve.”

She asserted, “I’ve always had equal opportunity because I create equal opportunity for myself. I make it my own path to help other women if they have any sense of feeling inadequate.”

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As part of the QVI business model, the company will remain vocal in advocating for a sense of community between its employees, customers and others in the industry. This includes an events center constructed out of repurposed shipping containers on the property. Annie, who was a co-founder of Women’s Cannabis Business Development Group, says that the center is for hosting community events and seminars on an array of topics, including education, women in cannabis, health & wellness and more.

QVI Events Center

With co-founders Annie, Gina and Rori, QVI is emblematic of a seminal shift in the way leadership approaches business. The culture being nurtured is for genuinely happy, involved employees and customers and a community feel with others operating in the space.

To that point, Annie sees it as a positive that more facilities are popping up. “We don’t all glare at each other as competition. We can all work together because none of us can possibly manufacturing everything. I network with other business owners where we discuss sharing business to lean on each others’ capacities to promptly fulfill a wide spectrum of customer’s orders.”

When asked if she has any advice for women looking to get into cannabis, Annie responded, “Absolutely.” “You need to take risks. You need to ask questions. You need to connect with other women in the industry,” she illuminated. “Women are compassionate by nature and will help you. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I ask women in my network questions constantly and never do I get a cold shoulder.”

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Looking Ahead

FinCanna Capital Corp. (CSE: CALI) (OTCQB:FNNZF) is a royalty company that provides growth capital to rapidly emerging private companies operating in the licensed U.S cannabis industry. The Company earns its revenue from royalties paid by its investee companies that are calculated based on a percentage of their total revenues. FinCanna is well positioned to capitalize on rising demand for edibles, topicals, tinctures and other products in California’s nascent cannabis industry. To learn more click Here to view the Fundamental Research Report

For additional details on FinCanna’s disclaimer and Forward Looking Statements please visit:

https://www.fincannacapital.com/corporate/forward-looking-statement/

Disclaimer

CannabisFN.com is not an independent financial investment advisor or broker-dealer. You should always consult with your own independent legal, tax, and/or investment professionals before making any investment decisions. The information provided on https://www.cannabisfn.com(the ‘Site’) is either original financial news or paid advertisements drafted by our in-house team or provided by an affiliate. CannabisFN.com, a financial news media and marketing firm enters into media buys or service agreements with the companies that are the subject of the articles posted on the Site or other editorials for advertising such companies.  We are not an independent news media provider. We make no warranty or representation about the information including its completeness, accuracy, truthfulness or reliability and we disclaim, expressly and implicitly, all warranties of any kind, including whether the Information is complete, accurate, truthful, or reliable. As such, your use of the information is at your own risk. Nor do we undertake any obligation to update the items posted. CannabisFN.com received compensation for producing and presenting high quality and sophisticated content on CannabisFN.com along with financial and corporate news.

The above article is sponsored content.

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ICC Expanding to New Zealand with NUBU Supply Agreement

Written by Tony Deyes on Jul 25, 2019

 

 

Although the possession of any amount of cannabis has been illegal in New Zealand since 1975, half of the population aged 17-65 admit to trying cannabis, while one in six report being regular users, giving the country the ninth-highest cannabis consumption level in the world.

In December of last year, the Misuse of Drugs act was amended to allow terminally-ill patients access to medicinal cannabis, and as part of the 2020 general election, New Zealand will hold a binding yes/no referendum question on the legalization of cannabis for personal use. Polling shows strong support for the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, and slightly lower but growing support for recreational legalization, and the liberalization of cannabis regulations is expected to enable cultivation and the creation of a national cannabis industry.

In keeping with its solid record of expanding early into emerging markets, International Cannabis Corporation (CSE: WRLD, FWB: 8K51, OTC: WLDCF) has entered into an exclusive supply and commercial rights agreement with NUBU Pharmaceuticals, a licensed New Zealand medical cannabis company.

Founded in 2017, NUBU Pharmaceuticals is widely considered a first mover within New Zealand’s high-value medical cannabis industry, and in partnership with ICC, NUBU is now equipped with best-in-class product formulations and supply chain infrastructure to deliver reputable and clinically-effective medicinal cannabis products to New Zealand. NUBU was awarded a license to deal in controlled drugs by New Zealand’s Ministry of Health earlier this year as well as a license to sell medicines wholesale, allowing it to import and distribute ICC-manufactured THC/CBD products ahead of its competitors.

ICC is committed to servicing all links of the cannabis value chain, including the manufacture and export of finished products to developing international marketplaces, and plans to leverage its existing brand portfolio, European GMP-certified processing facilities, and extraction-ready inventories to service New Zealand’s patient population while maximizing margins and profitability.

Click here to see the company investor presentation

Under the terms of the agreement, ICC will supply a suite of full-spectrum, pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis products including oil/tincture and capsules in finished-goods form, ICC-branded, co-branded, and/or ICC-labeled medical cannabis products currently under development including, but not limited to oil, capsules, transdermal patches, oral sprays, inhalers, and vape cartridges. It will also provide hemp-derived CBD adhering to the international standard of less than 0.3% THC in both bulk form (isolate, distillate, full spectrum oil) and finished good forms.

Commenting on the agreement, David Shpilt, Chief Executive Officer of International Cannabis said, “ICC’s exclusive supply and commercial rights agreement with NUBU successfully catapults the company into yet another high-value medical cannabis jurisdiction. The marriage of International Cannabis’ superior product formulation capabilities and extensive CPG/branded product market entrance experience, coupled with NUBU’s unique CBD/THC distribution infrastructure, will permit continued brand loyalty while addressing priority medical conditions within the Asia-Pac theatre.”

Export Opportunities

New Zealand’s population is quickly approaching five million, but NUBU isn’t interested in servicing the country’s population alone, and is already looking outside for even greater opportunities. Noting New Zealand’s long history of robust agricultural exports, NUBU believes that exporting cannabis and derivatives to meet the world’s growing demand is a natural fit, and ICC plans to be an integral part of its future plans.

Shpilt added, “In collaboration with NUBU, the company is also in discussions about the distribution of a number premium value-add medicinal and wellness products from New Zealand to export markets internationally. ICC now boasts supply, distribution and commercial rights agreements with a host of high-profile cannabis operators across a variety of territories primed for exponential growth such as India, Germany, New Zealand, and Colombia.”

With an established presence on five continents, 110 clients representing roughly 3500 pharmacies in 16 countries, five licenses for cultivation on three continents, and access to over 850 acres of premium hemp crops estimated to produce up to 6800 tons of biomass for CBD extraction, International Cannabis certainly lives up to its name, and the NUBU agreement furthers its ultimate goal of creating the first truly global cannabis supply chain.

For more of the ICC story, keep watching this page, or visit https://intlcannabiscorp.com/

And connect with them on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/ICCWRLD/

https://twitter.com/ICC_WRLD

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

 

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XPhyto Therapeutics: Where Medical Cannabis Meets Modern Science

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 24, 2019

 

It wasn’t long ago that recreational marijuana was legalized in Washington State and Colorado, while speculation about widespread medical marijuana was running rampant across America and then-Canadian Prime Minister candidate Justin Trudeau was making campaign promises for his country to become the second in the world with adult-use marijuana. At that time, so-called “pot stocks” were cropping up everywhere, all touting just how big they were going to be.

It didn’t take long for the industry, investors and regulators to quash all that, separating the wheat from the chaff and leaving weak companies as rubble under the freshly paved cannabis road.

The next evolution is already underway, with cannabis operations utilizing leading technology for efficiency and modern science to create the highest quality products. At the corner of science and cannabis, XPhyto Therapeutics can be found headed for the public domain, making acquisitions and landing important partnerships to become an international player.

It is anticipated that XPhyto will become a public company in the upcoming weeks.

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Science Focused (Canada)

From its headquarters in Vancouver and operations in Edmonton, XPhyto is focused on developing a testing, manufacturing and cannabis research business, as well as a research, cultivation, import, manufacturing and distribution business in Germany. Founded less than two years ago, the upstart is executing in a responsible way, as evidenced by regulatory filings with SEDAR showing more assets (~$8.6 million, including $2.2 million in cash) than liabilities (~$1.25 million) as of June 30, 2019.

In Canada, XPhyto has two strategic collaborations with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. For minimal cost, the two, exclusive five-year agreements give XPhyto access to world-class infrastructure and talent. This presents the company with certified analytical testing capability, a certified extraction, isolation and formulation facility and, just as importantly, immediate credibility.

To paint a clearer picture of the expertise at the university, consider that it is home to the Alberta Drug Development & Innovation Centre that specializes in biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery quality control and regulatory sciences. The name is bootstrapped to quality and forward-thinking.

The plan is for XPhyto to leverage the collaborations to provide 3rd party analytical testing for licensed producers, wholesalers, distributors and law enforcement. Further, the company intends to produce pharmaceutical grade cannabis-derived compounds in-house, while concocting proprietary formulas and conducting research for major health indications.

That means XPhyto’s access at the University of Alberta will allow it to put its fingerprint on all of the major areas of cannabis science.  There is tremendous demand for certified testing facilities throughout Canada and the U.S., a problem that is plaguing the industry because of bottlenecks and flat out testing errors. When it comes to cannabis research for bringing new drugs to market to fill areas of unmet need, the space is still in its infancy with cannabis prohibition blocking basic research for decades. It’s a wide open opportunity for companies with the right facilities, like the university has.

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Science Focused (in Germany)

Science is a top priority in Germany too for XPhyto, just in a slightly different operational model. The company has acquired 100% of German cannabis start-up Bunker Pflanzenextrakte GmbH. The prize of the acquisition is Bunker’s scientific cannabis cultivation and extraction licence awarded by the German health authority for cannabis-related research and development, which clears the way for genetic research, cultivation, extraction and more.

During the current quarter, Bunker is expected to be completing submissions to regulators to expand its license portfolio to including cannabis import, storage, distribution and manufacturing.

There’s a good reason for the “Bunker” moniker. The company operates from a decommissioned German Air Force command center and nuclear bunker. Due to its past purpose, the location is quite ideal with optimal proximity to Munich West Commercial Airport and excellent mechanical and security infrastructure conducive to its new cannabis applications.

The long-term lease covers nearly 11,000 square feet with space nearby for expansion if desired.

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Two Huge Markets

If you’re going to pick a couple places to start cannabis businesses, Canada and Germany certainly have to be high on the list of choices.  Last October, Canada became the first G20 country to allow recreational marijuana and only other country in the world beside Uruguay.

The industry market experts at Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics project the legal cannabis market in Canada to reach $5.2 billion by 2024, driven largely by about $4.8 billion worth of recreational sales.

Germany is a real hotbed of activity in Europe. The bloc’s biggest economy is projected to have one of the highest growth rates in the world for a cannabis market, accelerating at a whopping 76.8% compound annual growth rate to reach $1.6 billion by 2022, according to Arcview.

Comparatively, Ameri Research forecasts a 21.1% CAGR for the global cannabis market from 2017 to 2024, causing a rise from $14.3 billion to $63.5 billion across those years.

Maybe one day XPhyto will look to the broader global markets, but for now it is doing well to keep growing in the burgeoning Canadian and German markets that certainly need some more companies to step up and handle demand, particularly as it relates to science.

Click here to receive an investor presentation and a going public alert

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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First, Last and Always: Cannabis Innovation Never Ends in Israel

Written by Ryan Allway on

When the word “cannabis” is heard, “Israel” probably isn’t one of the first things that jumps to mind. But, for investors it should be. For that matter, so should EuroMed Therapeutics, an upstart heading toward the public domain. Here’s why.

Top Notch R&D, Perfect Weather and Locale 

First, simply consider the overall startup picture and the fact that the tiny country of about 8 million people has become globally recognized as a tech innovation hub, startup nation and accelerator. OurCrowd founder and CEO Jon Medved estimated that $6.5 billion went into Israeli startups in 2018 when telling Bloomberg to expect more Israeli unicorns coming down the pipeline.

Now consider Israel’s pioneering place in the cannabis space. In the 1960’s, the Godfather of cannabis medicine, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, was the first to isolate, analyze and synthesize cannabinoids in cannabis. Dr. Mechoulam began his lifetime of cannabis work at Israel’s Weizmann Institute before moving on to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.   

The country simply has a long lineage of superior R&D in the cannabis sector, research that for years has enjoyed financial support from the U.S. National Institute of Health. Decades of research further lends to expertise in medical and agricultural technology, comprehensive infrastructure, regulations and plenty of skilled labor.  In fact, Max Stern Yezreel Valley College outside of Nazareth will soon be offering a degree in medical cannabis.

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On that point, innovation never ends in the country. In a recent study, Israeli researchers discovered that medical cannabis therapy improved pain intensity and symptom of fibromyalgia, one of the most common and misunderstood chronic pain conditions in the world.

With the passage of legislation earlier this year, Israel became only the third country in the world (along with Canada and the Netherlands) to allow cannabis exports. Cannabis exports are forecast to reach between $1 billion and $4 billion in the next decade.

On a per capita basis, Israel is a top cannabis consumer, with nearly 30% of the country trying marijuana in 2017. Currently, there are about 30,000 medical marijuana patients consuming about 14 tons of cannabis annually, numbers that are expected to soon rise to 120,000-170,000 patients and 60-90 tons of cannabis.

 The climate is ideal for four harvests during year-round cannabis cultivation in low-cost greenhouses. Furthermore, the country is ideally located to send its cannabis exports any direction, including the burgeoning European cannabis markets that are expected to reach $66 billion in the next decade as more and more countries exit the days of prohibition.

Unique Opportunity with EuroMed

EuroMed, who is joining the public markets through a reverse merger with RewardStream Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: REW), is a holder of one of only nine cultivation licenses for export in Israel. It bears repeating that EuroMed has a maximum of eight competitors as things currently stand. Compare that to Canada (likely a country that springs to mind upon hearing the word cannabis), which has issued about 165 licenses.

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EuroMed is a ground floor opportunity. Literally. Working with the greenhouse engineering and construction experts at Eisenberg Agri Company (Israel) Limited, the company is laying down the foundation for a 100,000 square foot, modular-design greenhouse located 45 minutes outside of Jerusalem, with expectations for completion during the fourth quarter. Phase 1 of construction includes 22,000 square feet of operational greenhouse by the end of Q1 2020 with the cultivation process launched during Q2.

The state-of-the-art design of the greenhouse will allow for the addition of 11,000 square feet greenhouse every 30 days. Other benefits include the greenhouse being fully customizable to achieve the ideal micro-climate, which yields up to 20% higher output.

As for costs, start-up expenses are shaved in half compared to conventional greenhouses, after which operating costs are expected to be only about 5% of typical buildings.

Low Cost = Big Margin

Add these factors up and the sum is a premium cannabis product produced at approximately just $0.30 cents per gram. EuroMed says it will leverage domestic distribution agreements for Israel and that it also plans to export product to Europe, where retail prices range as high as $18 per gram. The company is already in discussions for off-take and joint venture distribution partners to further accelerate penetrating the European markets.

Management expects to harvest 5,500 kilograms of medicinal grade cannabis in the first 12 months of operations, which will translate to $22.0 million based on conservative pricing of $4 per gram.

EuroMed isn’t flying blind here. The lean, but highly seasoned team, which includes Dr. David Dalton, former EVP of Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) and current director of Pennsylvania-licensed cannabis producer and processor AGRiMED, as a director, has some good comps to base their projections upon. For instance, fellow Israeli cannabis company InterCure is able to produce 10,000 kilograms annually on their 54,450 square foot property.

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The Israeli-benefit abounds on this front too when considering that Canadian greenhouse cannabis cultivator Tantalus Labs is able to produce only 10,000 kilograms annually from its 120,000 square foot facility.

Lab Too

The company also intends to have an extraction lab to cater to an extracts market expected to be worth $130 billion globally by 2029. There are many benefits to this type of vertical integration, including better yields by using every part of the plant and increasing shelf life without fear of loss of raw material. Canada is trying to iron out laws about edibles, as are other parts of the world, making this a market segment than cannot be overlooked, albeit for pharmaceuticals or an additive for an infused sports drink.

To keep developments moving along, EuroMed is looking to raise between $2.5 million and $5.0 million via subscription receipts, with the largest portion of the raise being earmarked for completion of the greenhouse, which will set the company on its way towards it domestic and international supply targets.

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Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, have been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Pascal Biosciences – New Cancer Treatments Emerging from Pioneering Cannabinoid Discoveries

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 23, 2019

CFN’s Exclusive Interview with CEO Dr. Patrick Gray

The cannabis industry is projected to reach $75 billion by 2030. While many investors are familiar with cultivators and dispensaries, there could be an even greater opportunity on the medical side. Cannabinoids could displace blockbuster drugs and provide medical breakthroughs.

CFN Media recently interviewed Pascal Biosciences Inc. (TSX-V: PAS) CEO Dr. Patrick W. Gray to discuss how the company is harnessing the power of cannabis to develop cancer therapeutics.

CFN Media: There are a lot of health benefits identified for Cannabis, including treating pain, anxiety, depression, spasticity, epilepsy, and insomnia. What is the focus of Pascal Biosciences?

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “Pascal is focused on discovering new cancer therapeutics. In the past, THC and CBD have been shown to improve cancer symptoms like pain, nausea, and appetite. Pascal is discovering and developing new drugs that directly attack cancer and work with other drugs to eliminate tumors.

CFN Media: Can you describe the groundbreaking research that put Pascal on the map for cannabinoid research in cancer?

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “Pascal is the first company to identify a mechanism in which cannabinoids may provide a direct benefit in immunotherapy for cancer. More specifically, we have discovered certain cannabinoids that enhance the recognition of tumor cells by the immune system. This discovery is important because the leading class of new cancer fighting agents, termed “checkpoint inhibitors”, activates the immune system to destroy cancer cells. Enhancing recognition of cancer cells with cannabinoids may greatly improve the efficacy of this drug class.

Click here to Receive News Alerts from Pascal Biosciences

Since that announcement, we have since analyzed 400 cannabinoids–natural, synthetic, and endogenous—and identified even more potent structures. In additional efforts for advancement, we have partnered with one of the pre-eminent research teams in cannabinoids through an exclusive license agreement with the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle. This program, developed in the lab of renowned cannabis researcher Dr. Nephi Stella, founder of the UW Center for Cannabis Research, includes our lead therapeutic, PAS-403, a cannabinoid-based drug for the treatment of glioblastoma and brain metastases.”

CFN Media: Can you tell us more about your cannabinoid-derived glioblastoma treatment? 

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “Glioblastoma is a devastating brain cancer with limited therapeutic options. We have made great progress with our drug PAS-403. We have developed an efficient manufacturing process, completed biochemical safety studies, examined pharmacological properties, and studied activity on both normal and tumor cells. Our efforts continue to support the use of PAS-403 for testing in glioblastoma patients: the compound is active against human glioblastoma cells in culture, accumulates in the brain, has a good safety profile against other targets, and has synergistic activity with standard of care in an animal model. With input from our Clinical Advisory Board, we have developed a clinical plan for testing PAS-403 in glioblastoma patients.”

Click here to Receive News Alerts from Pascal Biosciences

CFN Media: Would you please provide additional information about Pascal’s outstanding Clinical Advisory Board?

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “We are very fortunate to have assembled a group of world-renowned researchers and clinicians in the field of neuro-oncology. These doctors have great experience treating patients, and they are anxious to help develop new products for glioblastoma. Our team at Pascal was impressed by their drive to find a cure for glioblastoma and also by their enthusiasm for PAS-403. Only three new treatments have been approved in the last 30 years for glioblastoma. After reviewing our data, our CAB has strongly encouraged us to proceed with PAS-403 clinical trials to make advancements for this devastating disease.”

Members of Pascal’s esteemed advisory group include:

*Chairman Dr. Darell Bigner of Duke University School of Medicine, a preeminent brain tumor researcher who is founding director of the Preston Robert Tish Brain Tumor Center.

*Dr. Mitchel Berger of UCSF, an internationally recognized expert in treating brain tumors.

*Dr. Timothy Cloughesy, of UCLA, director of the UCLA Nero-Oncology Program.

*Dr. Patrick Wen of Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute and Director of the Division of Cancer Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; President of the Society for Neuro-Oncology.

*Dr. Andrew Sloan of the Departments of Neurological Surgery and of Pathology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Director of the Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center at the Seidman Cancer Center

CFN Media: What are some of the key upcoming catalysts that shareholders can look forward to? Where do your clinical programs stand at this point in time?

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “Our cannabinoid-based program for glioblastoma is expected to begin human clinical trials, a significant milestone for the company. In addition, our immune surveillance program is progressing nicely with some exciting discoveries. We will report our advancements in the scientific literature, at international conferences, and in press releases. Investors can expect updates on our programs in a timely fashion, because we have a lot of exciting information to share!”

CFN Media: Why should investors consider your stock?

Dr. Patrick W. Gray: “Pascal has an exciting pipeline developing cannabinoid therapeutics for cancer. Cannabinoid-based medicines are a fast-growing opportunity given the legalization of cannabis in Canada. The current competitive landscape for biotechnology companies developing cannabinoid therapeutics is small with diverse indications. Pascal stands out as one of the few companies targeting glioblastoma and, more broadly, cancer in combination with checkpoint inhibitors. Our utmost priority is to help patients suffering from life-threatening diseases, and we strongly believe that our current portfolio can make an impact on patient lives.”

CFN Media: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Dr. Gray.

About Pascal Biosciences Inc.

Pascal Biosciences Inc. (TSX-V:PAS) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing innovative approaches for the treatment of cancer including cannabinoid-based therapeutics and targeted therapies. The company’s leading cannabinoid portfolio comprises a small molecule therapeutic, PAS-403, that is advancing into clinical trials for the treatment of glioblastoma, and an immuno-stimulatory molecule. In addition, Pascal Biosciences is developing a B-cell targeted antibody for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and an antibody for calcium channels expressed by the immune system. For more information, visit www.pascalbiosciences.com.

To learn more visit: https://www.pascalbiosciences.com/

Click here to Receive News Alerts from Pascal Biosciences

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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RYAH Holds Course for Public Listing, International Market Penetration

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 22, 2019

Every month, RYAH Medtech Inc. checks more boxes that keep it on track for major milestones, namely becoming a public entity and building a global footprint for the world’s first dose-measuring vaporizer and associated products. June was a particularly productive month for the NYC-based company with a letter of intent (LOI) for a merger, entrance into the Canadian markets and a blessing from European regulators for the eponymous vaporizer. 

RYAH is a big data and technology company focused on using artificial intelligence and HIPAA-compliant medical data aggregation for predictive analysis in the global medical plant intake industry. The combination of the company’s vaporizer, mobile application, QR-enabled cartridges and other technology provide actionable insight to doctors, patients, licensed producers, dispensaries and others in the plant-based products market from seed to consumption.

The company, which also offers white label services, has a closed-loop system (razor/razorblade model) where its cartridges only work with its vaporizer.

CSE: Here Comes RYAH

Potbotics Inc., is the parent company of RYAH, has made its intentions known with a goal of a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange during the third quarter of 2019. The company looks to be making good on that promise after last week disclosing a LOI with Quebec-based Prime Blockchain Inc. that lays out a plan for a reverse takeover in which Prime will acquire all the outstanding shares of Potbotics, effect a name change to RYAH and turn the board over to Potbotics.

Click Here for Additional Investor Information and Corporate Updates

“This new [LOI] was executed for the purpose of accelerating our listing plans on the CSE and further reflects our commitment to provide liquidity, transparency and new opportunities to strategic partners, future investors and current investors alike,” said RYAH CEO Greg Wagner in a statement on the agreement.

“The company is also currently considering a U.S. listing, which may be as early as the second quarter of 2020.”

Investors Hungry for Vape Tech

Judging by industry activity, there is serious demand for vaporizer technologies. Looking to bolster its product development capabilities, Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) (TSX: WEED) in December paid C$220 million in cash to acquire Germany’s Storz & Bickel, a recognized pioneer in the vaporizer space.

Tel Aviv-based Syqe Medical has raised over $80 million, including closing the latest round of $50 million in December. The company has partnered with Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: TEVA), which will market and distribute the Syqe Inhaler in Israel, where regulators last month approved the drug delivery device for precise dosing of cannabis.

In April, Pax Labs, a maker of vaporizers based in California, set a record for an equity financing by a U.S.-based cannabis company, raising $420 million from new and existing investors.

Click Here for Additional Investor Information and Corporate Updates 

International Markets

RYAH is a commercial-stage company that has already produced over 100,000 cartridges and 1,200 devices. With a U.S. product rollout slated for this quarter, management is looking ahead to Canada next. Currently, a medical device establishment license application is pending with Health Canada for RYAH’s commercial-grade cannabinoid cartridges.

In June, RYAH officially made its move into the Canadian market, partnering with Northern Green Canada for the distribution of the RYAH-branded dose-measuring dry herb vaporizers and dry herb cartridges throughout the country.

Teaming with Northern Green Canada not only provides RYAH with access to the Canadian markets, but overseas as well owing to the licensed producer’s strong European ties. This lands squarely in the playbook for RYAH, which was targeting entrance in the European markets during the first quarter of 2020.

To that point, RYAH last month received a CE mark for its vaporizer and integrated technology. 

The company believes that a CE marking is integral to product expansion, as it signifies that the company declares that the vaporizer conforms to applicable health, safety and environmental protection standards for products sold in the European Economic Area.

“The user-generated, HIPAA-compliant data that RYAH collects is expected to be instrumental in enabling physicians to make educated recommendations to help patients optimize their relief and avoid possible negative experiences from medicating with plant-based medicine,” commented Jordan Medley, RYAH’s Head of Product Operations, on the CE mark.  

Medley continued that the company expects “to shortly initiate its launch in Europe.”

Filling a Void

Vaporizer technology isn’t exactly new, but it did have a critical shortcoming in that dosing was not standardized or controlled. With the emergence of cannabidiol, or CBD, as a legal means for treating a wide array of maladies in the U.S., Canada and dozens of other countries globally, precision dosing is necessary, as is building a reliable database chock full of information on individual strains. There are only a handful of companies, like Syqe and RYAH, that are addressing this unmet need with precision dosing.  

For its part, RYAH has taken things to the next level by creating a comprehensive ecosystem and a real-time data analytics solution for use throughout the life cycle of a plant-based product.

Click Here for Additional Investor Information and Corporate Updates

To Stay Up to Date with Ryah Click Here

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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NCIA Cannavest Brings Together Pioneering Companies & Institutional Capital

Written by Ryan Allway on

The NCIA’s Cannabis Business Summit & Expo and the Cannavest Institutional Capital Forum are taking place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California this week between July 22 and 24, 2019.

Many CFN Media clients, including Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR), will be attending the event. CFN Media’s film crew will also be at the event filming exclusive interviews to provide those that couldn’t attend with actionable insights from the conference. Stay tuned or sign up for the CFN Newsletter to receive an alert when this coverage is published.

If you’d like to be interviewed at the conference, please contact Rachelle Gordon at (612) 247-1860 or via email at rachelle@cannabisfn.com to schedule a time. 

The Cannabis Business Summit & Expo brings together more than 10,000 of the industry’s leaders, entrepreneurs and policymakers to discuss the state of the industry and where it’s headed over the coming months and years. With a 120,000 sq. ft. expo floor, there’s ample opportunity to engage with cutting-edge companies and make meaningful connections.

The event will cover everything from the fundamentals of starting a cannabis business to best practices for running an indoor grow facility. Notable speakers at the event will include Bruce Linton, former Chairman and CEO of Canopy Growth Corp., Dr. Jeffrey Chen, Executive Director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative and many others.

The Cannavest Institutional Capital Forum will cover a wide range of institutional topics, like:

  • Cannabis Market Trends & Consumer Insights
  • Business Plans & Operating Models
  • Investment Opportunities
  • Listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange
  • Investor Underwriting & Due Diligence
  • Establishing Reasonable Expectations
  • Building & Marketing a Successful Brand
  • The Path to Going Public

For more information about the event, visit www.cannabisbusinesssummit.com. 

About the Cannabis Business Summit

NCIA’s 6th Annual Cannabis Business Summit & Expo is the nation’s most influential cannabis event of the year. Network with like-minded peers, shop our world-class expo floor, learn from industry experts, experience a hands-on tour or workshop, and more!

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post NCIA Cannavest Brings Together Pioneering Companies & Institutional Capital appeared first on CannabisFN.

Synthetic Cannabinoids: The New Age of Medical Marijuana

Written by Ryan Allway on

Believe it or not, the world’s first blockbuster drug is still one of the most commonly used today. Acetylsalicylic acid, better known as Aspirin®, is a synthetic derivative of the natural substance salicylic acid, an extract from the bark of the white willow tree. Any company would like to invent a drug that enjoys 100+ years of massive global usage and the possibility exists that cannabis could play a role in making that happen for someone.

Charting a Similar Path

People have been using salicylic acid to treat inflammation and fevers for over 2,400 years.  That’s right, when Greek engineers invented the catapult about 400 B.C., they may have used salicylic acid to treat their achy joints after moving some heavy rocks into position. Later, chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt made a breakthrough in 1853 by creating acetylsalicylic acid for the first time.  By 1899, Bayer dialed-in the chemical structure and was selling Aspirin® to the world.

Hemp, a cousin to cannabis that lacks tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the cannabinoid responsible for the psychoactive high in marijuana, is regarded as one of the world’s oldest industrial crops.  It’s history dates back more than 10,000 years.

About 8,000 years ago, cannabis seeds and oil were used for food in China, with the first documented use of medical cannabis happening by Chinese Emperor Shen Neng roughly 4,750 years ago.  Interestingly, the Chinese world for “anesthesia” (mázui 麻) translates to “cannabis intoxication” because it was used to sedate people (along with wine) before surgery.

Now that the ending of cannabis prohibition is sweeping the globe, there has been a huge upswing in laboratory and clinical research as biotechs and pharmas seek to bring new cannabis-based products to market.  Will one of these drugs become the next aspirin?

Massive Potential

In an interview with Bloomberg, Marc Feldmann, an immunologist who helped discover a class of drugs that includes the blockbusters Humira and Remicade, commented that there is “massive potential” for the medical uses related to cannabis. Dr. Feldman now has dedicated himself to the market opportunity, teaming with cannabis researcher legend Dr. Raphael Mechoulam to start Toronto-based CannBioRex Pharmaceuticals.

While most companies are looking to the cannabis plant for active ingredients, Dr. Feldmann believes that the key to a new class of drugs resides in synthetic cannabis.

Dr. Joseph Tucker, an experienced executive and expert in synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and drug development and commercialization, shares the view of Dr. Feldmann insomuch that synthetic cannabis represents the future for purity and repeatability in cannabis-based drug development.  Dr. Tucker is the Executive Chair and Co-Founder of Willow Biosciences (CSE: WLLW)(OTC: CANSF) with the purpose of becoming the largest manufacturer of biosynthetically produced cannabinoids.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

The synthetic biology company was formed this year through the merger of BIOCAN Technologies: a team of experienced executives from Calgary and researchers from the University of British Columbia, and Epimeron: a team of researchers from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

“In addition to consistency and reproducibility, synthetic cannabis can be a much more cost-effective process than plant-based extraction or chemical synthesis, the only options that companies have today,” said Dr. Tucker in a phone interview with CFN Media. “Based on our estimates, biosynthetic production is about 90% faster and cheaper than plant-based extraction. We are of the opinion that synthetic processes will ultimately re-shape how cannabinoids are produced and open new gateways to advanced pharmaceutical opportunities to help people in medical need.”

Willow’s scientific progress is complemented by a team of experts in other areas of business, including CEO Trevor Peters. Peters has co-founded four startups in the last 15 years and been involved in corporate exits totaling more than $4 billion. He was most recently CFO at Caracal Energy, a London listed energy company which Glencore (OTCQX: GLNCY) bought in 2014 for $1.4 billion.

“We’ve got a great, well-rounded team at Willow Biosciences that can execute on our initiatives,” said Dr. Tucker. “There is a growing library of evidence to the effectiveness of cannabinoids.  This will provide tailwinds for drug companies to push hard to utilize cannabinoids in new therapeutics, which should have us well positioned to fill future demand.”

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

How Massive is Massive?

Clinically speaking, there are more than 300 cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoid-based treatment options currently in human trials for indications such as PTSD, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, schizophrenia and others. The APIs are being sourced from traditional methods, which keeps research on promising rarer cannabinoids out of reach.  In order to tap into this market, an economically viable production method, like synthesis, is necessary.

Historic sales of cannabis-related drugs have been splotchy at best. The market for Marinol (dronabinol), a synthetic pill based on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and approved in 1998 for treating nausea and vomiting in cancer patients and anorexia in AIDS patients, was about $150 million in 2016.

On the other hand, analysts are higher on new drugs.  Evaluate Pharma forecasts that Epidiolex, the novel CBD drug of GW Pharma (NASDAQ: GWPH) approved last year by the FDA for treating two rare forms of childhood epilepsy, will reach blockbuster status with sales topping $1 billion in 2021.

More broadly, the U.S. cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals market size is projected to grow to $50 billion annually by 2029, according to Ackrell Capital’s 2018 Cannabis Investment Report.  Analysts at Cowen predict that U.S. retail sales of CBD will reach $16 billion by 2025.

Willow Biosciences plan is to be a leading player catering to both markets.  In order to achieve this goal, Willow last month partnered with Noramco, the largest supplier of controlled substance APIs in the U.S. and biggest producer of pharmaceutical APIs in the world. Specifically, the two will work collaboratively to develop a yeast-based biosynthesis platform for the production and distribution of CBD.

Noramco is stepping up to tap into this burgeoning market. Per the accord, Willow will take care of expenses related to optimizing the yeast strains and Noramco will take it from there.  Noramco will cover the costs for scale-up, regulatory submission, marketing and distribution through its extensive global network.

The beauty of the deal for a small company like Willow Biosciences is that both partners will share equally in the profits.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Supreme Cannabis: At the Epicenter of Premium Products

Written by Ash Stringer on Jul 21, 2019

The old Aesop axiom advises to be vigilant, for you can be known by the company that you keep. If that’s the case, then Supreme Cannabis (TSX:FIRE) (OTCQX:SPRWF) must feel pretty good, as it has surrounded itself with household names in the burgeoning cannabis industry, albeit in-house, through partnerships or association.

In-House

Supreme is not just a moniker; it is the culture to deliver only premium products on which the business model is built that are synonymous with Supreme’s brands across the world. These brands include the multi-award winning 7ACRES, R&D experts Cambium Plant Sciences (a spinoff of 7ACRES genetics business), Medigrow Lesotho, the multi-licensed Blissco Cannabis Corp. and the recently unveiled Supreme Heights brand.

Supreme is in the process of completing the acquisition of Blissco (CSE: BLIS) (OTCQB: HSTRF), which is expected this summer now that BLIS shareholders nearly unanimously approved the C$48 million merger. 

In aggregate, Supreme employs more than 1,000 people across these brands.  Each has a strategic purpose that gives Supreme a dominant presence in Canada, South Africa and, with the launch of Supreme Heights, the U.K. and Europe.

Using California, the world’s biggest legal marijuana market, as a model, Supreme is able to address 86% of the market (flower, vaporizer, concentrates, pre-roll, other) with its offerings.

If One Acquisition is Good, Then Two is Better

As the Blissco acquisition is wrapped up, Supreme on Wednesday made a move to accelerate its European growth and extract business in Canada.  

Supreme agreed to acquire 100% of privately-held Truverra Inc. via a three-cornered amalgamation between Truverra, Supreme and a wholly-owned Supreme subsidiary.  The deal values Truverra at $20.0 million, which will be paid through 14.7 million shares of FIRE.

With the acquisition, Supreme is adding two key assets to its operations.  The first is Truverra subsidiary Canadian Clinical Cannabinoids Inc. (CCC), which operates a 5,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art Health Canada-licensed facility in Scarborough, Ontario.  The plan is to repurpose the facility to produce high-quality cannabis extracts, including vaping liquids and concentrates, from Supreme’s premium cannabis.

The second is Truverra’s Netherlands-based European subsidiary, called Truverra Europe.  The company currently sells a broad portfolio of hemp-based CBD products into select European markets.

The Flagship: 7ACRES

Supreme is not interested in the ultra-competitive market of low-dollar cannabis strains that resulted in 74% of SKUs sold in Ontario priced below C$10 per gram within eight months of adult legalization in Canada. Management recognizes that 85% of cannabis enthusiasts will not purchase products that have subpar scent and that 63% will reject product that does not pass their visual inspection. The company is about catering to the premium products markets.

It has taken years of meticulous crafting and expertise in the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, proteins and amino acids found in cannabis for Supreme to build its 7ACRES product line. To the end, the company has successfully been able to introduce new strains of 7ACRES products at increasing prices. Next month, 7ACRES will be launching its new Jack Haze strain, which is expected to fetch $52.99 for 3.5 grams.

In fact, the diversity of 7ACRES products enable the company to cross multiple cannabis market segments, including pre-rolls, concentrates and, of course, flowers.

Partners and Associates

While Blissco will handle creating topical products for the expansive wellness industry, 7ACRES premium name has created multiple inroads for Supreme that position it amongst the cannabis elite.  

For starters, the company has partnered with hip-hop superstar Whiz Khalifa and his brand KKE (an acronym for Khalifa Kush Enterprises), a US-based premium cannabis production and branding company. Through the exclusive partnership, high-in THC KKE oils were introduced to the Canadian market in June, with future plans to introduce pre-rolls and flowers in Canada and worldwide.

A recent partnership with Pax Labs aligns Supreme for its first move into the lucrative vaporizer market. Pax is recognized as a premium vaporizer company, with more than 1.5 million devices sold worldwide, including an established position as the best-selling premium pen-and-pod system in the United States.

When you’re a leader like Pax, you have the luxury to pick from the cream of the crop for partners. To date, the company has signed cannabis supply agreements for its Pax “Era” vaporizers with only Aurora Cannabis (NYSE: ACB)(TSX: ACB), Aphria Inc. (TSX: APHA) (NYSE: APHA) and Organigram Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OGI), putting Supreme Cannabis in quality company with their new supply agreement with Pax.

Per the agreement, 7ACRES-branded vaporizer oil will be sold exclusively in Era-compatible pods throughout Canada.  Furthermore, the accord allows for 7ACRES to develop addition vape oil products exclusively for the Pax Era. The deal distinguishes Supreme from its competitors, as 7ACRES ensured that its products remain locked to only the crème de la crème in cannabis products by only supplying the Pax with its oil pods. This is particularly important considering that 39% of Canadian vape users identify as connoisseurs.

Striking the agreement now also leaves 7ACRES in a prime position ahead of new Health Canada regulations that go into effect later this year allowing for 1000 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per consumer package.

 For additional information, visit the company’s website at: https://www.supreme.ca/about-supreme-cannabis

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Strainwise Looks to Build a Cannabis Services Ecosystem

Written by Ryan Allway on

The global cannabis industry is projected to reach more than $66.3 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research, which represents a blistering 23.9% compound annual growth rate.

There are many different opportunities for investors interested in the space, ranging from cultivators to REITs, but consulting businesses have some unique advantages. For example, they often have less regulatory risk, lower capital expenditure levels, and a diversified revenue base. They also have an opportunity to build important relationships that can unlock tremendous value. 

Let’s take a look at how STWC Holdings Inc.(OTCQB: STWC) — better known as Strainwise — is leveraging its founders’ expertise to build a full-service cannabis ecosystem.

Click here to download the company’s investor presentation and receive updates.

Cultivating Relationships

STWC Holdings provides a wide range of consulting services to the legal cannabis industry. After becoming one of the first license holders in the U.S., founders Shawn and Erin Phillips leveraged the lessons they learned to help other companies succeed in building cannabis businesses across the United States — from initial licensing to becoming an operating partner. 

The rapidly evolving nature of the industry leaves many operators feeling over-extended. With StrainWise as a partner, they don’t have to worry as much about the legal or logistical aspects of the business and can focus their efforts on operations. The focus on operations tends to lead to the most important bottom line — profits. 

For example, the company recently worked with a group in Oklahoma in advance of the state’s legalization program. They were brought in during the license and application phase to help iron out a viable business plan. After successfully securing a license, the company helped the group build out their first dispensary and are now partners in a new business.

The high caliber of the company’s employees set it apart from many other consulting businesses in the space — they do what they say on-time and on-budget. In fact, more than 90 percent of the company’s business comes by way of referral, according to President Matt Willer, which underscores the quality of services and trust in partnership with clients.

Building an Ecosystem 

While Strainwise intends to expand into California and other markets, the company’s real growth story is the building of its cannabis services ecosystem. The goal is to address a wide range of client problems across the value chain in order to become a trusted long-term partner.

Click here to download the company’s investor presentation and receive updates. 

There are several recent examples of this strategy in action:

*The company recently launched a new packaging division designed to help clients focus on creating products rather than dealing with compliant packaging.

*The company joint ventured with a forward company to offer more robust analytics and reporting solutions to help customers make better decisions in their business.

In addition to new services, the company is building a network of operating businesses in the space. The company recently opened a 1,700 sq. ft. Strainwise store in Oklahoma City for the sale of hemp-derived CBD products. These businesses could further expand its footprint and represent natural expansions from its existing relationships with clients. 

CLICK HERE to Watch a CEO Video Interview: 7 Minutes with Matt Willer and a Little Cannabis Alliteration

What’s Next?

STWC Holdings Inc. (OTCQB: STWC) is rapidly expanding its client base, service offerings and partnership portfolio.

The company has also added new management talent to help its founders Shawn and Erin Phillips and other team members focus on the core business. For example, Matthew Willer was recently appointed as President with extensive capital markets experience. The company subsequently uplisted to the OTCQB  stock exchange to increase transparency and accessibility.

The company’s ability to execute on its contracts for clients has translated to its ability to execute on its business plans for investors. With its expansion into new businesses and jurisdictions, investors may want to keep a closer eye on the company over the coming quarters.

Click here to download the company’s investor presentation and receive updates.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.strainwiseconsulting.com

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SinglePoint’s Direct Solar Shaking Up Industry with Rocket Mortgage Model

Written by Ash Stringer on Jul 19, 2019

Realize it or not, we are in the midst of an energy transformation away from fossil fuels.  Need evidence? Tesla recently shattered its record for electric cars delivered during a quarter. Ford is pumping $500 million into Tesla rival Rivian as the electric car industry heats up. Keeping promises made on the campaign trail, President Trump has been performing CPR on the coal industry since taking office, yet use of the dirty fuel is at a 41-year low.

Further, while financial institutions worldwide restrict investments in carbon-spewing fossil fuels, billionaire investors like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma are following market trends towards clean energy to protect against climate change.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

It’s a seismic trend shift that fully-reporting diversified holding company SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING) intends to capitalize on as well.  In May, the company made its largest acquisition ever, bringing solar-broker upstart Direct Solar of America into its portfolio. It hasn’t taken long for SinglePoint to see the rewards of the novel business model.

Why Residential Solar?

Direct Solar has only been around for about 1-1/2 years. The company was born out of the vision of its CEO, Pablo Diaz, when his real estate development company was asked to bid the solar portion of a golf facility complex. Noticing the steep growth curve opportunity, Diaz founded Direct Solar with the plan of re-shaping the traditional solar sales business model with a process that could get solar onto more houses than ever before.

Being well attuned to the contracting space, Diaz recognized the high expense to assemble the necessary infrastructure and the lengthy time to action to penetrate multiple markets, much less the entire U.S. with a new solar company. He also was wise enough to see that, while it was a commercial job that introduced him to the market, residential comprised less than 1.5 percent of the $187 billion solar market in 2018.

A little more due diligence revealed that the default rate on residential solar is less than 1 percent. Diaz attributes this to the fact that homeowners are conditioned to pay their electric bill every month without fail.

The solution to offering homeowners affordable alternative energy was for Direct Solar to become the first company to employ a Rocket Mortgage business model, serving as a broker between contractors, lenders and consumers.

The process is brilliantly simple. Leveraging all available subsidies from local to federal, a network of licensed solar contractors and a group of money lenders, Direct Solar provides homeowners an opportunity to take money typically spent monthly on an electric bill and divert it to a solar system. Subsequently, the homeowner realizes not only the benefit of reliable energy, but economic benefits also, such as improved home value and electricity that is cheaper than buying from a utility company.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Who Loves It?

Homeowners love Direct Solar because the company is a one-stop shop. Just like people go to Lending Club (NYSE: LC) to utilize the firm’s vast loan resources and technology to quickly vet lender’s varying covenants, Direct Solar saves people hours of wasted time and headache to find loan options.

The company is also versed in all the different solar subsidies for homeowners. For instance, the U.S. government offers a 30% tax credit for the whole installed cost of a system. On the state level, Illinois’ “Solar For All” program has made the state a veritable hotspot for the industry with lucrative subsidies to drive installations.

When consumers are educated that they can add a material asset to their home, save disposable income and do something good for the planet with the government paying perhaps for one-third or more of it, the option can be quite attractive.

Furthermore, consumers can enjoy Direct Solar curating the job for them. Not every contractor is perfect for every job. Rather than a homeowner meeting and trying to select from the contractors bag of goodies, Direct Solar makes sure that the contractor fits the customer’s complete needs.

Contractors love Direct Solar because they are bringing business from people actively looking to add solar to their home. To that point, Direct Solar is effectively a free advertiser and marketer bringing work to contractors. Customer acquisition is a financial burden for solar companies that often cannot be justified from either advertising or sales staff perspectives.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

That translates immediately to the top and bottom lines for contractors.

In order to readily penetrate new markets across the country without making a physical appearance, Direct Solar has created proprietary online training software to educate partners on the complete process. The company is already operating in eight states, with the entire nation now accessible with the software.

SinglePoint has been relatively hush-hush about another asset of Direct Solar that came with the acquisition called AI Live. A few teasers have been dropped here and there about the technology that will utilize artificial intelligence for a brand new means of lead generation in the solar market. All Diaz had to say about that in a recorded conversation with SinglePoint President Wil Ralston was that they’re currently working the kinks out of the technology and that it will help generate an entire new segment of business once completed.

Always creative in marketing, Direct Solar recently struck a deal to become the exclusive marketing partner to support the various fall sports programs for 47 Texas Schools across Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and Waco. Between August 1 and December 31, 2019, any solar systems that are sold within these school districts will result in a $250 donation to the Fall Sports Booster Program at the school.

“We hope that this promotion will be a great success. Nothing would make me happier than to cut some very large checks at the end of the year to support these schools and their sport programs,” said Diaz in an announcement of the new inititative.

Sales Surging

SinglePoint made the acquisition of Direct Solar looking at trailing-twelve-month revenue of approximately $1.5 million. As a testament to demand, sales have been skyrocketing. From mid-May to mid-June (the first 30 days under SinglePoint ownership), the company signed contracts to deploy $1.7 million in solar systems, while widening its footprint into Tampa, Orlando and St. Louis, with the Miami markets coming soon.

The $1.7 million in revenue is expected to generate about $803,769 in gross profit and $361,541 in net profit.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Based upon the latest figures (and likely factoring in seasonal factors), SinglePoint management forecasts 2019 revenue of $7.0 million.

The Cannabis Factor

SinglePoint is a holding company that fancies itself the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) of the OTC markets. SinglePoint CEO Greg Lambrecht made the comparison a little tongue-in-cheek in a call with RedChip Money Report’s Dave Gentry, but he was speaking in seriousness about how well recent investments are paying off.

The company has deepened its roots on several verticals in the cannabis space, an exploding market that dovetails extremely well with Direct Solar’s offerings. The initial focus may have been on residential, but the SinglePoint subsidiary is now finalizing development of a commercial lending solution that will serve small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), including those in the cannabis space, with a platform like its residential offering. The plan is to have the new business operations running in the coming weeks.

As explained by Diaz and attested to by Ralston, electricity is one of the single biggest expenses for cannabis cultivators. With lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) representing intense costs, solar is a natural solution to improve margins.

A lingering problem for the market has been that the traditional banking system stayed at arm’s length to marijuana companies because cannabis remains a Schedule I drug alongside heroin at the federal level. Wall Street moved a bit slow at first, but with the incessant flow of changing regulations in favor of cannabis in the Americas and abroad, big money has been steadily streaming into the cannabis markets to support innovation, which bodes well for a first mover like SinglePoint with Direct Solar.

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

 

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Yield Growth Enters European Market, Setting Itself Up for Global Success

Written by Ryan Allway on

The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE: BOSS) (OTCQB: BOSQF) (Frankfurt: YG3) is a company dedicated to disrupting the health and wellness industry, with its many subsidiaries offering both CBD and THC infused products. By targeting specific niches of the cannabis industry, the company has seen great success both in the US and Canada. Now they turn their focus to aggressively targeting the European market.

Entering the Industry Early on

The European cannabis market is still in its infancy. The availability of cannabis-based products is limited, as is consumer awareness, and this offers enormous opportunity for developed brands to enter and dominate this industry.

Brightfield Group, a leading market intelligence firm for the cannabis industry, has estimated in their recent report that the European CBD market will see incredible growth over the next four years. In 2018 the market was estimated to be at US $318 million, and is expected to grow 400 percent through 2023.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

This is an ideal market for the Yield Growth to target. Using their success in the US and Canada as a blueprint, they anticipate that the European market will offer them opportunity for serious growth. ‘We intend to generate significant sales revenue by aligning ourselves with different distributors that have strong networks in diverse regions,’ said Penny Green, CEO of Yield Growth.

Definitive Agreement Announced

Never one to delay, Yield Growth announced on July 10 that they have entered into a definitive agreement with Melorganics Hellas for distribution of Urban Juve products in Greece and Cyprus.

Melorganics Hellas intends to enter the Greek and Cypriot markets with a full line of CBD products. With their plan to building strategic alliances with companies that focus on the development of unique health products that utilise cannabis and botanical oils, they are the ideal candidate to distribute Urban Juve’s Ayurvedic products.

Melorganics will act as the exclusive distributor and non-exclusive e-commerce distributor for Urban Juve products. Per the agreement, the must purchase a minimum amount of Urban Juve products of US $300,000 in the first year and $500,000 in the following years to maintain exclusivity.

This agreement will ensure Yield Growth has significant presence in this market, which marks them as a key contender in the European cannabis industry. Greece legalised cannabis for medical reasons in 2018, and has since enjoyed an upsurge of foreign and local investment.

Urban Juve recently announced it had received a Compliance Certificate for sale of its first product in the European Union, and has plans to register an additional ten products in upcoming months.

Marketing efforts in Europe will begin in the fall, and will include a product feature in the September issue of British Vogue.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Negotiations Underway with Other Distributors

Not one to move slowly, Yield Growth is already in negotiations with distributors for France, Poland, Turkey and the United Kingdom, the latter of which is the largest CBD market in the EU, with projections that it will grow to GB £16.5 billion in the next decade. There are also upcoming meetings set to discuss expansion in South America, Germany and Portugal.

Positioned for Global Success

Yield Growth has proved itself as a dominant business within the crossover market of cannabis products and the wellness industry. Its early success in the US and Canada have marked it as an established brand. With its quick response to developing legislation in the European Union, it has positioned itself to be a leading company as laws in the EU allow the legal cannabis industry to grow. Between its success in North American and its strong alliances with European distributors, Yield Growth has put the wheels in motion to achieve global success.

Click here to receive an investor deck and corporate updates

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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CFN Media Exclusive Q&A with LadyJane Branding Founder, Jennifer Whetzel

Written by Rachelle Gordon on Jul 18, 2019

In the cannabis industry, building a successful brand is critical for long-term success. Many companies struggle to find their voices among a sea of consumers hungry for their perfect product, and end up drowning alongside the competition in what has truly become a sink-or-swim game. Enter Ladyjane Branding, an innovative firm offering both design and branding services completely customized to each client’s specific brand goals. Their free brand archetype quiz allows businesses the opportunity to truly understand themselves and their prospective customers in a way not traditionally thought of in the marketing space.

 

CFN Media sat down with Ladyjane Founder Jennifer Whetzel at the recent MJBizConNEXT in New Orleans to learn more about the company’s history and how their approach to branding is disrupting the game.

 

CFN:  What is your background and what is the history of Ladyjane?

 

Jennifer Whetzel:  My background is a bit varied. I’ve spent times in lots of different areas of branding and marketing and advertising. I worked in retail advertising for 7-Eleven, in PR on a military base, and then an advertising agency for about 8 years doing brand strategy, I went to Miami Ad School and learned how to do account planning there. I spent time at a consumer research company developing strategies to activate and implement the results of quantitative and qualitative projects with clients. I was a VP of Marketing at an animal health company where I launched a number of performance horse supplements into a crowded and disorganized market. Surprisingly, that actually prepared me quite a bit for working in the cannabis industry because the rules and regulations for messaging and claims are the same. My last position was in strategy at an experiential marketing firm where I learned the ins and outs of trade shows and consumer activations.

Jennifer Whetzel, Founder of LadyJane Branding

All of those things that I’ve done in my career seemed to have prepared me well to start a branding business in cannabis. Besides, branding was my favorite thing to do!

 

When I moved to Maine a few years ago, I got my medical (cannabis) card on the day I arrived. I was trying to deal with symptoms of an autoimmune disorder and an immune disorder, and all the stuff comes along with that. Then last year I had a pretty bad year. I lost my job, I had to move my mom to Maine from Maryland to care for her. Then I got divorced, and then I moved out, and I was living out of my car. Well, I was couch surfing for a little while. Then I wrecked my car, and all my stuff was scattered in an intersection. All of that led to a complex, clinical PTSD diagnosis. I broke.

 

I spent a lot of time at my caregiver’s retail space, which was his dining room. I traded hugs and recommendations with cancer patients and veterans, and people who were having a really hard time, like me. But I also met a bunch of entrepreneurs who were trying to bring their products to market, and they were struggling with their branding mostly because they weren’t doing very much.

You know, people who don’t have a background in that, they think, “Oh, I need a logo and a website and good to go”, but brand strategy is a lot more than that. I thought, “I have skills. I can help these people who are trying to get into this industry, the same people who have been helping me.” it’s kind of a giving back situation, and also an, “Oh my god I don’t know if I can go back to work for someone else,” situation.

 

What I learned in the caregiver space and condensing 25 years of my marketing experience went into birthing this company. In addition, cannabis played a huge role  in fueling the creative aspect of doing what I’m doing, designing the archetypes that I’ll talk about. So that is what helped me get out of bed every day, and so now we’re here.

 

CFN:  What sets your company apart?

 

JW:  We have a disruptive business model in that we offer free and low cost tools for companies who are willing and able to do some of the branding work themselves. Another thing that makes us very different is that we use an archetypal segmentation model as a tool for branding. The model is built using Archetypes, which are universal characters used in storytelling, psychotherapy, tarot cards and personality tests. When I mention a hero or an outlaw or a lover, it’s easy to conjure up images of these characters and to understand what personality traits they encompass.

I created 16 archetypes specifically for the cannabis industry – for example, an Activist and a Stoner, a Healer, a Doctor and a Rock Star. To make the branding process simple, I turned the Archetype exercise into a multiple choice quiz, which is free! That gives companies is the ability to grasp the concepts of branding a little better, but also gives them thought starters in terms of how to bring their brand identity to life. Brands use those universal qualities of the archetype in their branding, and that signals to customers what they are all about – their values and personality, and it helps form an emotional connection. Archetypes can also help brands maintain consistency in their branding. 

 

For example, if a brand is a Doctor archetype, they aren’t going to want to look or sound like a Stoner brand, or vice versa, because it’s confusing to customers. Once a brand knows their archetype, they can build a “brand character” in their mind – one that can help them make business decisions. Brands can use their archetype as a lens or filter to review design choices, new products, social media posts and then make decisions. If their post sounds like it would come from their well-defined “brand character”, then they should do it. If not, then it’s a good idea to rethink that decision to ensure whatever they do fits their brand identity. Identifying their archetype is just the first step. Then, we focus on the rest of the brand discovery process, that up-front part that comes before making a logo. We explore and dive deep into a brand’s mission, vision, values, goals, target audience, goals and superpowers. 

We’ve turned that discovery process into an online, guided question-and-answer process so people can do a lot of the up-front thinking themselves. Pricing starts at $99 and that price comes with an hour’s worth of consulting time with me to help them hone their answers. That results in a creative brief. So that is what they would give to a designer to get better design work that is on strategy, or we use that brief to design logos and materials that fit their brand.

For a brand on a budget, they can take the creative brief to a designer of their choice if they have a friend or family-member who can help out. That’s not always the best option, but at least they have a roadmap to give that designer. Oftentimes when people aren’t happy with a logo, it’s because they haven’t spent the time to really figure out their brand and what the logo needs to represent. Designers, while amazing, are not mind readers. So they do their best with the input they are given.

We also do something called a Brand Intervention for companies who have teams who can’t agree on a path forward – that way we gain consensus at every step of the way, like brand therapy.

 

We like to focus on startups. That doesn’t mean we don’t work with larger or more-established companies, but we wanted to make sure there were enough tools for all those entrepreneurs with great ideas who don’t have a budget or funding – and there’s a lot of them, and there’s some really good ideas out there. If I can help the ones with hustle who want it, who want to do it, then great. And then I’ll grow them into clients who have a budget.

 

CFN:  What is your “brand camp” and how does it help entrepreneurs achieve their marketing goals?

 

JW:  It’s a one-day intensive event focused on branding. It starts with a discussion of the differences between branding and marketing and advertising, and the value of branding. And short how-to’s, then we will move into the intensive brand makeover. So the first part will focus on the philosophical elements of branding where we’ll talk about mission and vision and values, and their elevator pitch. And practice their elevator pitch, because that is a key component.

Then we will do an intensive part of the makeover for personifying your brand character. We work on that archetype and we’ll develop it, make a mood board, dress them, see what kind of car they drive. We’ll help build that character in your mind to help you make decisions later. Then there’s a messaging and health claims review so people can bring their messaging and claims, so I can help them not get in trouble with the FDA.

 

CFN:  What else should readers know about the company?

 

JW:  Well, I would have to say that for myself, my partner and Creative Director, Glen Hawkins, and the company, we are passionate about what we do, and we’re passionate about cannabis. Branding has always been my favorite thing to do. We bring that passion, and a disruptive business model. I know that there’s a lot of branding and design agencies out there but not all brands can afford them. We are trying to lift everyone up by providing those tools.

 

*This interview has been edited for clarity.

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Weekend Unlimited Sets Sights on Washington State; Plus Exclusive Interview With CEO Chris Backus

Written by Tony Deyes on Jul 16, 2019

Many multi-state operators choose to focus the bulk of their initial efforts in one market, then take what they’ve learned there, and replicate their successes in other states.

Lifestyle Brand Weekend Unlimited (CSE: POT, FSE: 0OS1, OTCQB: WKULF) has chosen Washington as its target market, guided by an understanding that its cannabis industry is far more evolved than the late-comers which are still experiencing the initial growing pains Washington long ago left in its rear-view mirror. As one of the first two US states to legalize adult recreational use, Washington is also still a major attraction for cannabis tourists and connoisseurs alike, making it an ideal test market for to vetting brands and new products.

For Weekend Unlimited, the laser-focus on Washington is part of the company’s disciplined growth strategy of clearly defining CBD and THC brands aligned with recreational lifestyles and expansive retail distribution. As a mature market with proven processes and excellent transparency, Washington serves first, as an ideal incubator for the company’s branded products, then as a launch pad into other adult-legal markets such as Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and California, the largest single legal adult-use market in the world.

WKND! In Washington State

In April, Weekend Unlimited announced the rollout of its new WKND! Branded products, and in mid-June, began full production of the flagship line – pre-rolls, vapes, and cannagars (“cannabis cigars”). The product line targets the cannabis connoisseur with high-demand products available in three unique formulations Bliss, Now, and Escape. These products have been developed for testing in Washington ahead of planned multi-state expansion.

 

 

Weekend Unlimited’s executive team has a strong background in consumer packaged goods, branding, and an understanding that the modern cannabis consumer is largely new to cannabis, from professional backgrounds, and are increasingly receptive to new health and wellness options. The team understands that recreational users are more interested in derivatives that allow them to enjoy cannabis based on effects and without necessarily having to smoke flower.

Research has also shown that women are up to 15 percent more likely to purchase and consume cannabis than men, are the primary purchasers of health and wellness products, and interested in brands that engage with them.

Weekend Unlimited has re-imagined itself as a consumer packaged-goods company with CBD and THC-derived products available at retail, and has created its new WKND! flagship lifestyle brand identity to distinguish itself from the competition. The flagship brand’s design resembles something you’d expect from the cosmetics industry more than what we’ve come to expect from pot.

Much of the packaging features striking, playful graphic images designed to evoke the unique persona of the brand. Fun pastel colors on a clean white background dominate packaging designed to stand out from the dark greens and browns favoured by most of the company’s competitors. The company will pay close attention to the feedback the brand receives from Washington’s retailers and customers alike in order to fine-tune the product portfolio, then replicate what they’ve learned in other states.

Weekend Unlimited CEO Chris Backus says, “The WKND! flagship brand has had a terrific reception to date. Whether it be from packaging companies that have seen everything the industry has to offer, or retailers we are presenting to, the response to the brand and its application to recreational lifestyle applications has given everyone tremendous confidence that we are on the right path for the long term.”

The WKND! flagship brand is just one of several to be launched as signature Weekend Unlimited brands. Backus says the next one out the gate will have a different feel and target a different demographic, building on the company’s Orchard Heights brand. Located in central Washington, The Orchard Heights property in Washington State provides inspiration for the next brand to be launched. The Company has announced a strategic alliance with Emerald City Cultivation to diversify its product offering, expand its distribution chain, and greatly increase its overall production capacity.

To keep abreast of their progress in Washington State and the new developments sure to be announced soon, keep watching this page and visit https://www.weekendunlimited.com/.

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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First Ever Marijuana Ice Pops Set to Hit California Markets

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 15, 2019

In only a few minutes of listening to Sublime Canna CEO Alex Fang it is clear that his company doesn’t take the easiest path with its products. In fact, Sublime Canna often takes the road less traveled, manufacturing products that are very difficult to make, which differentiates them from anything else on the market and creates some insulation against competition. At the same time, Sublime has a knack for creating products that resonate with consumers due to a familiarity of sorts, like they’ve done with their newest product, Freaze Ice Pops, that are hitting shelves at dispensaries in California this month. 

 

Thinking Outside About What’s Inside

In a sense, Oakland-based Sublime looks outside the box to decide what it will put inside the box. The company doesn’t just produce consumables that are conventional in the emerging legal cannabis market, such as pre-rolls or vape cartridges. Rather, they strive for complex terpene spectrums in products that are hard to replicate and provide a unique user experience. 

Click here to Receive Additional Investor Information on Sublime Canna 

For instance, consider the award-winning company’s “Dosies,” another new product that recently hit the California market. The cannabis-infused mints are reminiscent of the iconic orange Tic Tacs made by Italy’s Ferrero.

Dosies aren’t merely a throwback to the days of Tic Tacs; they have a purpose in consistently providing a microdose of specific cannabinoids. Each Dosie contains 2 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component of cannabis responsible for the “high” associated with marijuana.

Sublime has only one degree of separation from Tic Tac’s consumer-goods giant parent. Sublime’s VP of Edibles Development LJ Buffardi saw his family’s company, Ferrara Candy Co., be acquired by Ferrero in 2017.Ferrara was known the world over for its Lemonheads and Red Hots products, amongst other brands.

Buffardi At It Again

Buffardi and Sublime’s team of Ph.D. scientists are committed to cannabis product innovation. Products on the market today include a full line of CBD and THC vape cartridges branded Sublime Gold, Strata, Secrets Sauce and the Sneaker, the world’s first chargerless vape battery, as well as pre-rolls infused with extract and covered in kief that are marketed as Fuzzies and Mini-Fuzzies.

Freaze cannabis-infused ice pops, have been launched in a limited release and are set to head to dispensaries statewide. They represent the first “take home and freeze” product in the California markets.

Click here to Receive Additional Investor Information on Sublime Canna

Incidentally, don’t call them “Popsicle®”; that’s a brand name for frozen ice on a stick owned by Good Humor-Breyers. Freaze Ice Pops have no stick and are more akin to Fla-Vor-Ice, the trademarked name for a type of freezie that comes in a clear plastic container.

Each Freaze ice pop contains 10 milligrams of THC. Like it did with Dosies, the initial two flavors, blue raspberry and fruit punch, will be throwbacks for Generation X-ers conjuring up thoughts of their younger days. Hitting dispensary shelves this month, Freaze ice pops will first be available in 2-count packages.

Fang Comments 

“We think that these one-of-a-kind ice pops will give our users an enjoyable experience while ensuring they are medicating with accurate and lab-tested products,” said Fang in a statement announcing the Freaze launch just in time for summer.

With tougher laws implemented in 2018 when recreational marijuana became legal in California, plenty of the edibles market was forced underground, creating a real growth opportunity for companies operating within the guidelines of the law to bring novel products to consumers. Canaccord Genuity sees the nascent market for cannabis beverages, which include items like Freaze pops, to soar to $600 million in the U.S. by 2022. 

“Our vision is to have the most compelling portfolio of cannabis products in the industry,” Fang added. The launch of edibles like Dosies and Freaze, in addition to the original product mix, puts the company well on its way towards that goal. 

Click here to Receive Additional Investor Information on Sublime Canna 

Click Here to Visit SublimeCanna.com

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

 

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CBG Spells Hope for Patients and Sales for Hemptown USA

Written by Ash Stringer on

Neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s and Parkinson’s come with grim prognoses, slowly debilitating a patient year after year with little doctors can do to slow, much less arrest, progression. Research is still in the early stages, but there is reason to be optimistic that a little known part of cannabis and hemp could one day provide some relief from these devastating diseases, as well as a bevy of other conditions and maladies.

Through groundbreaking work by companies like Hemptown USA, Spain’s Hemp Trading and Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals, this promising compound called CBG is becoming more prevalent for research and innovative products.

Cannabinoid Genesis

By now, most people have heard of the cannabinoids THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), the two most famous constituents of cannabis. THC is the cannabinoid responsible for the psychoactive high that is frequently associated with marijuana. CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid that is undergoing extensive research to validate its links to a litany of health benefits ranging from reducing inflammation and anxiety to treating cancer.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

CBD is also found in hemp, a variant of the cannabis sativa plant that, by definition, contains little to no (<0.3%) THC. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp in the U.S., which has created a pathway for legal research of cannabinoids found in hemp.

That’s the basics, but here is where things get interesting.

Part of the reason that THC and CBD are the most well known is because they are the most abundant out of more than 100 known cannabinoids. They share a common thread, though, in cannabigerol (CBG), the mother of all cannabinoids that is starting to receive some popularity for its medicinal possibilities.

Early in a cannabis plant’s growth cycle, CBG is the first cannabinoid produced.  THC and CBD essentially start out as CBG, transformed into their final versions, along with other minority cannabinoids, through a series of complex biosynthesis processes.  That leaves only small concentrations of CBG remaining, which explains in part why it has gone under-researched throughout the years even though it is believed to be valuable in treating Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, inflammation, infections, pain, nausea, glaucoma, cancer, insomnia and depression.

Endocannabin…what?

If you’re wondering about CBG and the connection to the body, look no further than the word “endocannabinoid.” It’s a combination of endogenous (produced naturally by the body) and cannabinoid. Cannabinoids were discovered in cannabis around 1940, but it wasn’t until 1992 that the endocannabinoid system was discovered. Indeed, it was just 27 years ago that scientists understood that the human body includes an endogenous cannabinoid system (ECS), a crucial part of maintaining homeostasis comprised of endocannabinoids, nervous system receptors that bond with endocannabinoids and cannabinoids and enzymes that break down both.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

Without going into too much depth, the ECS is integral to every minute of life, operating with precision across the central and peripheral nervous systems to help the body regulate things like pain, temperature, inflammation, mood, sleep, appetite, digestion and much more.

Because this widespread neuromodulatory network can be stimulated with the introduction of hemp- and cannabis-derived cannabinoids, it is an obvious target for new therapeutic regimens, especially for treating conditions that already fall into the wheelhouse of the innate ECS.

Hemptown: The Name Says it All

If there is one company focused on being the go-to provider of CBG-rich hybrids, that company is the aptly named Hemptown USA, Inc.  From its headquarters in the lush Emerald Triangle in southern Oregon, Hemptown presently farms 1,500 acres of hemp across its home state, Kentucky and Colorado.  One-third of that acreage is dedicated to hemp seeds genetically modified to be high in CBG and CBD (cannabinoid content of up to 18%). By 2020, management plans to be cultivating 1,000 acres of its unique hemp from the fertile Oregon land that is to hemp what Napa Valley is to wine.

The company sees a great deal of symbiosis in medicinal benefits of CBD and CBG, especially when taken together.  However, the business model to capitalize on the emergence of CBG is underscored by the fact that CBG commands about $20,000 per kilogram, compared to $4,000 for CBD.

Hemptown, which plans to go public later this year, hasn’t set the bar low for its milestones. The company believes that it will control 40% of total North American CBG supply by the end of 2019.

After drying and storing 110,000 pounds of hemp in 2018, Hemptown is projected to produce 3 million pounds (1 million pounds CBG, 2 million pounds CBD) in 2019 and generate $24 million in revenue. Looking forward, management is taking an aggressive stance for expansion, setting 2020’s revenue target at $204 million. While impressive growth, the company will still have plenty of headroom with the hemp-derived cannabinoid market expected to reach $22 billion by 2022.

Accredited? Click here to get more information on Hemptown USA’s pre-public financing.

With expectations for high CBG demand on the horizon, Hemptown certainly doesn’t intend to let CBG be a scarce commodity anymore.

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Mojave Jane’s California Cannabis Plan

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 12, 2019

When it comes to building brands in the cannabis space, it often pays to be ahead of the curve. Mojave Jane (CSE:JANE) (formerly known as High Hampton Holdings) is a California-centric family of companies that includes CaliGold edibles and vaporizer pens. The name change is reflective of the firm’s belief that California is where the top brands are established – if you can make it in the world’s biggest cannabis market, you can make it anywhere. 

CFN Media recently spoke with Mojave Jane CEO Gary Latham and COO Tom Baird to learn more about the company’s recent transition and how they plan to dominate the California scene and beyond.

CFN:  You recently rebranded after your acquisition of Mojave Jane. Why did you decide to make the switch?

Gary Latham:  All of our business is conducted in the state of California. We focused on California for obvious reasons. It’s the largest cannabis market, I believe, in the world, certainly the largest in the US. We have built a business that is focused around being able to build products and brands for the consumer market. We see a lot of value in being a California brand or a collection of California brands that we can take out to the market.

We have, from an engine standpoint, we have all the pieces put together to be able to cultivate, manufacture, package, produce edibles, and essentially produce any type of product that the market wants. On top of that, we also have the capability to get those products out to market, both as a distributor and also through a delivery partnership. We are big, big advocates of delivery in the California space and in the US space. 

We believe that the future of retail lies in delivery. Delivery does something else for us that’s very important, as it sort of completes our picture in that it gives a lot of detailed access to consumer information and allows to understand what consumers are buying. That, in turn, allows us to produce products and brands that meet that consumer demand no matter what the demographic may be. It may be for female consumers, it may be Hispanic consumers, it may be for the wellness market, or the senior market.

CFN:  Tell us what you have on deck in terms of product development?

GL:  The market right now really is focused on extracts and concentrates. The opportunities in the marketplace for growth dictates that, but we really focus our business on the manufacturing capacity that we have and maximizing and expanding that capacity fully, releasing a variety of different kinds of extracts and concentrates while upping the value and capacity of that overall. We will be very focused on that. 

CFN:  What makes Mojave Jane an interesting opportunity for investors?

GL:  That’s a great question. Right now all of us are seeing that the market for Canadian cannabis is down across the board. It’s interesting because we are a US company that’s sitting on the Canadian Exchange, so we are very much affected by what does on in the Canadian market even though we are a US operator. We have a kind of interesting situation right now where our stock is valued fairly low and our overall market cap is low relative to the opportunity that we have and to comparable businesses in the states. It’s a great time to invest in Mojave Jane. There’s a lot of grown ahead of us. 

We see multiples that are very, very effective for revenue producing companies. We are just hitting that place in our evolution where we are going to begin to produce revenue. We expect our picture fairly substantially in the third quarter.

CFN:  Where do you think the cannabis industry is going overall?

Tom Baird:  When Gary and I moved in to High Hampton right after the acquisition of Mojave Jane, we took a deep look at the company’s current strategy and we tweaked it based on what we’ve been seeing in the market. I hate to use the term “commoditized,” but ultimately over time I think it will be. We refocused ourselves on developing value-added brands and extractions.

Looking at the market, specifically the California market, cultivation is going to become a product that’s reasonably commoditized. We think having control of the production cycle and, I’ll use the term “soil to oil,” but the ability to derive, and produce our own genetics all the way through in product with distillate is one of the keys to success in the California market. You’ve got to cut out the margin-takers at all the steps along the way in order to make money in this business.

GL:  I would add one other thing that’s a great description, by the way. One of the big trends that we’re going to see is a move to get consumers out of the black market and into the legal market. Right now, California’s market is right at about 20% of the market being legal and licensed. Roughly 80% belongs to the black market. 

There’s a reason for that. All of the enforcement in the world isn’t going to change that. What’s going to change that is education of consumers, they need to understand the value and the benefit of buying a legal, licensed product much in the same way they understand the value of buying organic produce, for example. They’re willing to pay a higher price for that because there’s a certainty associated with those products in their quality. We need to get consumers to understand that when they’re buying off the black market, they don’t get any of those assurances. Mojave Jane is always a really strong quality, pesticide-free, contaminant-free material.

CFN:  What else should our readers know about Mojave Jane?

GL:  Really, they should know this is a good time to come in. We have got a good deal stretched out ahead of us here for the balance of 2019 and on into 2020 in terms of strategic relationships, and in terms of starting down the path with actual revenue and results. We planned in the fact that we are fully completed with our license profile. 

One really interesting fact that is worth understanding as an investor in California cannabis company is that there’s a whole segment of the market that is absolutely reliant and cannot be conducted without a licensed manufacturer like Mojave Jane. That part of the market has to do with any type of cannabis product that is ingestible. That extends to CBD and THC products. If there is a CBD-based or THC product to be made and sold in California, it has to be made and sold out of a licensed manufacturer. That is unique to California and positions a company like Mojave Jane and it’s really stellar manufacturing capability in a very good place.

Additionally, one of the primary parts of our culture is that we are big believers in getting the cannabis tide to rise in general. We don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about who our specific competitors might be in the legal cannabis space because the market is bigger than all the competitors put together right now. As a result, we look to see everybody succeed in this business. What we should be doing as legal operators is unifying to educate the market to get away from the black market and expand the overall market opportunity for all of us who are legitimate operators.

TB:  I would also suggest to the readers that there’s a lot going on here and that we haven’t really been on the radar for a while and that we should definitely be on the radar because we’re doing stuff. It will become apparent over the next six months as we start rolling out announcements and complete some things that we’re working on.  

*This interview has been edited for clarity

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post Mojave Jane’s California Cannabis Plan appeared first on CannabisFN.

Weekend Unlimited On Track to Become Certified-Organic Hemp Producer

Written by Tony Deyes on Jul 11, 2019

Arthur Halleran’s northern British Columbia farm is documented to have been chemical free since 2010 with no indications of prior chemical use. The farm’s recent 200 acre plus expansion of the fields has never in its history had chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides applied to it. With the organic by nature status of the farm, including its history as a Certified Organic producer of jams, jellies, syrups and teas the pristine property was a logical choice for the establishment of Canada’s first high-CBD certified-organic hemp farm.

Weekend Unlimited (CSE: POT, FSE: 0OS1, OTCQB: WKULF) acquired Northern Lights Organics – a pioneer in BC’s Certified Organic wildcraft industry, receiving over a dozen organic certifications during its years of operation – in early 2018. Northern Lights Organic’s square-mile (618 acre) farm located near Fort St. James, British Columbia has been repurposed to produce and process organically grown CBD-focused hemp. The entire property is in the process of becoming certified organic by PACS, has no adjacent polluting industry, and is surrounded by Crown land and farms.

Northern Lights  6,300 ft2 all season growing greenhouses have recently been connected to the BC Hydro electrical grid with premium cannabis style lighting, rolling benches, dehumidification, heating and automatic irrigation system all dedicated to growing high CBD strains of hemp. Its water is sourced from a clean deep fresh water aquifer. A co-gen power and heat plant will be constructed to utilize logging waste and pine-beetle killed trees as well as the hemp biomass waste to generate heat and power with the goal of becoming carbon neutral. Cannabis growing operations consume vast amounts of energy. Two of the original organic principles in 2006 were “Rely on renewable resources” and “Protect the environment” so it is the goal of Northern Lights Organics to embody that spirit and have its operations (from planting to final product) be carbon neutral and generate heat and electricity from waste biomass.

The farm’s 10,000 ft2 hemp CBD extraction facility is slated for completion next year to allow onsite processing of the hemp biomass harvested on site. This extraction facility will be designed and built to satisfy certified organic regulations.

Growing of hemp on the Northern Lights Organic farm started in the summer of 2018 under a Hemp research license to fully understand growing conditions for hemp in the farm’s geographical location. Lessons learned have been applied to the 2019 outdoor test plots.

In 2018 Northern Lights obtained a limited number of high CBD Hemp seeds (in total 3,000 seeds) from a third-party genetics research company, for three different varieties. Those 3,000 seeds were planted in the nursery greenhouse January 10th, 2019 and 50,000 premium seeds were harvested in May 2019. The 2019 winter grow was conducted under Canadian Organic Regime regulations  providing a template  for scaling the growing of hemp seeds in the 6,000 ft2 greenhouse space, making Northern Lights Organics self-sufficient and sustainable in its own supply of these difficult to source high CBD hemp seeds. It is anticipated that the 6,300 ft2 of existing greenhouse space will produce over two million seeds, enough to plant the entire farm area with quality high CBD hemp.

Continuing the research in June 2019, Northern Lights Organics planted their own grown seeds in outdoor test plots consisting of two seedling plots and two direct seed planting plots to study the differences in biomass production and the soil growing conditions. All research based growing of hemp was done under the Canadian Organic Regime regulations to ensure consistency  toward attaining Certified Organic designations. Data from the 2019 test plots will lay concrete plans for the 200 plus acre commercial grow in 2020.

No Small Feat

Whether you’re talking food, cannabis or Hemp CBD, Canadians are increasingly more engaged in looking for organic and environmentally friendly options as consumers. However, some of what is sold as being organic at markets, stores and online under the “organic” banner haven’t been certified organic, and may not be exactly as advertised. In some cases the fine print states certified organically grown, but the final product is not certified organic.

In order to be certified organic, producers must satisfy the extremely strict regulations of the Canadian Organic Regime, which governs everything from soil and nutrient sources right down to the hand soaps used by anyone coming in contact with equipment, containers or the final product themselves.

Halleran, the President of the Northern Lights Organics Farm, describes organic farming as a way of life, a return to the old ways, in order to create products that are clean and pure.

It takes an immense amount of work to prepare the soil for an organic crop. Modern farms using chemical derived fertilizers have the dead soil only as a substrate to hold the plant and feed the plant nutrients and kept free of pests using chemicals, many of which are harmful to humans. In organic farming, organic material must be build up in the soil using manure and compost to promote a living soil with a “biological community” and minerals such as phosphate must be added only from natural sources.

Soil must be constantly examined, and anything added to it must be approved. For example, manure must come from approved sources where the food the animals are given and the animal’s lifestyles are within the organic regulations for animals. All equipment used in the hemp farming must only be used for organic purposes or have detail cleaning records kept, and even the way the organic crops are stored or transported must meet strict organic regulations. The processing of organic crops must also be certified, as well as the maintenance and cleaning of anything that will come into contact with the plant material. The Northern Lights Organics farm will be using C02 extraction using equipment dedicated to the organically-produced end product.

Everything must be meticulously documented, so that the company can prove where it sourced its manure, for example, the time and method of application, what methods were used for pest control, etc. A Certification Officer will inspect the farm and facility each year to ensure compliance, but can make an unscheduled appearance at any time.

Halleran says the farm represents an important labour project for the northern region, and he wants to provide a wholesome environment to work in, where these old ways can be passed down to a new generation.

When asked about the benefits of all this hard work, Halleran summed it up nicely by saying, “This part of the country is so pristine, why would you want to do anything else?”.

Down the road, Northern Lights Organics plans to produce CBD oils derived from its organic crops to be sold as tinctures, and market small batches of premium organic dried flowers, as well as items like a line of CBD infused wild teas.

For further information, keep watching this page, and visit https://www.northernlightsorganics.com/ and https://www.weekendunlimited.com/

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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How New Technology from Medical Experts is Simplifying Cannabis Compliance

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 10, 2019

As we know, a growing number of states have legalized medical and adult-use cannabis, creating a robust industry worth billions of dollars per year. The problem is that cannabis remains illegal on a federal level, which has left states to create a patchwork of ever changing regulations. These regulations can be challenging to any cannabis business, much less multi-state operators (MSO’s) that must adhere to different state laws and taxation environments. 

Let’s take a closer look at these compliance challenges and how companies, like FinCanna Capital Corp.’s (CSE: CALI) (OTCQB: FNNZF) portfolio company, ezGreen Compliance, is simplifying the process of compliance. These are technology experts from the medical, data and security fields that have 18 years experience in heavily regulated medical arenas. 

California Pioneers Seed-to-Sale

California is by far the largest state to legalize medical and adult-use cannabis, which means that many other states look to them for guidance. That’s why the state’s decision to use the Marijuana Enforcement Tracking Reporting Compliance software METRC as its seed-to-sale tracking system to trace movements across the cannabis supply chain has been widely watched and mirrored across twelve states. 

Several months after the new regulations took effect, the Associated Press announced that out of the state’s 627 licensed cannabis dispensaries, only nine were entering data into the state’s track-and-trace system as required by law. Less than 10% of the state’s licensed marijuana manufacturers were using the system, and less than 7% of the state’s cultivators could be found on it.

The METRC system assigns each plant with an RFID tag that includes an identification number, application identifier (medical or recreational), tag order date, license number and facility name. These tags must be placed on every product, including cuttings, seedlings and clones. The METRC database records all interaction with these tags throughout the entire process, including employee activities, room changes, repackaging and sales, as well as waste records and inventory volumes.

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With many dispensaries selling more than half a million dollars of product per month, manually recording each of these events can quickly become a logistical nightmare. The failure to record any of these events, however, can trigger an automatic red flag for government auditors. Non-compliant businesses could face the risk of heavy fines, or even worse, the loss or a hold on their license. This means that compliance is absolutely required by cannabis retailers across the supply chain.

Compliance & POS Technologies

The good news is that new technologies are becoming available to automate the compliance process by integrating with METRC and other state-by-state frameworks.

FinCanna Capital’s portfolio company ezGreen Compliance, an enterprise compliance and point-of-sale solution for the cannabis industry, recently completed its integration with METRC in California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana and Oregon, making it the first POS solution designed by medical, data and security professionals to be sanctioned by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) in six states with applications for certification pending in the remaining states that use the METRC system. 

“Cannabis industry data standards are increasingly mirroring the pharmaceutical industry’s patient data security protocols,” said Mike Coner, President of ezGreen. “Our POS solution is proven from 18 years of experience in pharmaceutical dispensing and it delivers strong data security as well as integrates with any technology platform which supports operators in streamlining their operations and lowering costs related to double data entry. ezGreen also provides fully customized reporting and real time data analytics enabling businesses to make more effective decisions. With our recent integration with METRC we are now able to deliver a complete compliance and data management solution.”

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In addition to automating data entry into METRC, ezGreen Compliance’s software automatically identifies product-related discrepancies at the point of sale to simplify management’s ability to immediately identify and resolve any store-to-state inventory reporting issues. The seamless data exchange between ezGreen and METRC ensures that businesses are 100% compliant with state regulations. In states without METRC, the software can still generate or request custom reports as required. ezGreen Compliance POS solution also supports HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which is focused on ensuring secure customer data storage.

The issue of HIPAA violations and remaining compliant with governing laws is one that is prominent for many cannabis dispensaries and business that collect confidential patient information. This is because fines arising from violations of HIPAA can be significant, and depending on the dispensary’s level of negligence, can be as high as US$50,000 per violation for a maximum penalty of US$1.50 million.

  • ezGreen generates revenues via fees charged to clients for the use of their ezGreen software platform. The business model is based on the Software-as-a-Service (“SAAS”) model with revenues derived from both subscriptions and/or on a per transaction basis. 

Looking Ahead

FinCanna Capital Corp.’s (CSE: CALI) (OTCQB: FNNZF) ezGreen Compliance is well positioned to help cannabis retailers meet METRC reporting requirements without manual data entry. As the only CCC-certified solution with a presence in six states, the company could expand its market share, particularly among multi-state operators that need to meet reporting requirements across state lines.

In addition to METRC compliance, the platform also includes a business intelligence dashboard that delivers a comprehensive taxation feature to automate essential revenue reporting functionality. Rather than keying in financial data, critical information is captured at the point of sale and seamlessly organized for complex municipal and state tax reporting.

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For more information regarding ezGreen Compliance, visit the company’s website at www.ezgreencompliance.com.

For additional details on FinCanna’s disclaimer and Forward Looking Statements please visit: 

https://www.fincannacapital.com/corporate/forward-looking-statement/

Disclaimer

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The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. 

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The Yield Growth Corp.: Leading The Way in The Luxury Cosmeceutical CBD Market

Written by Ryan Allway on

The last six weeks have seen major strides taken by The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE:BOSS) (OTCQB:BOSQF) (Frankfurt:YG3) to maintain their position as an exciting, forward-thinking and innovative cannabis company. An organisation dedicated to disrupting the wellness industry with revolutionary cannabis and hemp-based products, Yield Growth continues to make advances; it has released new products, continued to build and strengthen strategic alliances, and even begun to tackle the global market.

Wright & Well Enters Colorado’s Legal Cannabis Industry

Wright & Well, a subsidiary of Yield Growth, is a bold brand that aims to help relieve pain and anxiety through their line of THC and CBD based oils, gels, balms and other topicals.

On June 20th, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) gave final packaging approval for an additional three cannabis products to be distributed in Oregon. With this in place, Wright & Well will now begin manufacturing on all nine of their products.

According to Statista, legal sales of cannabis in the state of Oregon alone are projected to exceed US $1 billion by 2023, making this a major market to tackle, and an ideal blueprint for the brand as other jurisdictions across the country legalise the sale of cannabis and cannabis based products. Wright & Well jumped into the market early on, and are likely to be an important part of the Yield Growth roster as cannabis trends develop across the country.

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Urban Juve Maintains Notable Position in the Beauty World

Urban Juve is Yield Growth’s flagship brand, which blends ancient Ayurvedic knowledge with cutting edge science and technology to produce a proprietary skincare and wellness line of products, all of which are infused with hemp root and seed oil.

The company recently announced an alliance with beauty giant ipsy, the world’s leading beauty commerce community with over three million monthly members. Part of the alliance included the sale of Urban Juve products on Shopper, ipsy’s exclusive commerce marketplace, and Yield Growth has announced that this is now live.

With the global wellness market worth US $4.2 trillion according to the Global Wellness Institute, analysts now predict that CBD infused products will be a huge part of the industry, with Hemp Industry Daily projecting that within the US, this niche will grow to US $7 billion by 2023. Between their strategic alliances and wide-reaching marketing campaign, Urban Juve has positioned itself to be at the forefront of this new market.

Continuing to Meet Consumer Demands

Urban Juve has seen such positive responses from customers that on July 5th they announced the launch of three new Hemp Daily Ritual Kits, that feature the brand’s most loved products in a curated package.

The kits were launched partly in response to consumer’s who love the products and want to share them with others. ‘Whether personal gifts or professional-volume gifting, our new offering is just what customers are looking for, and our strategic focus on the gift-giving customer helps to generate additional revenue for the brand,” says Sandi Lesueur, president of Urban Juve.

The company continues to identify ways in which to reach new customers, while also maintaining a dedication to their existing customer base.

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Identifying Opportunities for Greater Revenue

Off the success of their existing brands, Yield Growth has invested time and money into the research and production of additional products. On June 25th, the company announced that it has completed testing on nine new products. The products contain hemp and other botanicals and have passed stability and preservation challenge tests at a laboratory in British Columbia.

The nine products include eye cream, deodorant, facial cleansers, facial oils and face masks. All the formulas in Yield Growth’s products are produced with the highest quality essential oils and pure botanical extracts. And in response to growing consumer trends, the company maintains a dedication to cruelty free practices.

With Jefferies financial research group’s estimation that the CBD Beauty Market will reach US $25 billion in ten years and amass 15% of the total skincare industry, Yield Growth is wise to continue to invest in this segment. With plans to launch several brands in California within the next 4 months, Yield Growth continues to prove itself as a force to be reckoned with in the wellness and CBD crossover market.

Going Global: Agreements Underway in Europe

In one of its most exciting reveals, Yield Growth announced on July 2nd that its Urban Juve Anti-Ageing Serum can now be sold in the European market. A Compliance Certificate was issued by Biorius, who is acting as Urban Juve’s Responsible Person in Europe.

Yield Growth had previously signed a letter of intent with Melorganics Hellas, who will act as the exclusive retail distributor and non-exclusive e-commerce distributor for the company’s flagship brand’s products in Cyprus and Greece.

As the European Union continues to create legislation that will bring cannabis closer to the mainstream market, luxury cannabis products such as Urban Juve’s line are becoming increasingly popular. With a population of well over 500 million, the EU offers an enormous market opportunity. Urban Juve hopes to obtain Compliance Certificates for all 11 of its products in the EU, and sales of its products are expected to begin in the fall of this year.

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Positioned to be a Leader as the Industry Develops

Yield Growth is a savvy company which manages to keep its many subsidiaries developing and growing alongside the growth of the industry. It is apt at identifying profitable market opportunities and it seizes these boldly and quickly. This, coupled with the company’s many strategic alliances has positioned Yield Growth to be a leader in the crossover market of cannabis based beauty products, both in North America and globally.

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Israel: A Cannabis Pioneer Then…and Now

Written by Ash Stringer on Jul 09, 2019

When it comes to cannabis, Israel proves that big things can come in small packages. While recreational marijuana remains illegal in Israel, a country about the size of New Hampshire, the government has been proactive in supporting cannabis research for decades while other countries stagnated in the darkness of cannabis prohibition. 

In the U.S., cannabis remains a Schedule I drug alongside heroin, making research verboten (or at least difficult), which has underpinned the classification as a drug with no medical benefits. While the U.S. stumbles its way through cobbling together policy and procedure, Israel remains far ahead of the rest of the world in cannabis research. Fact is, it’s not even close.

The High Priest of Medical Marijuana

Sometimes being a small country has its benefits. Raphael Mechoulam, an organic chemist, researcher at Hebrew University and the Godfather of cannabis research, got his supply of premium product for his five decades of studies from the Israel Ministry of Health without difficulties.

That supply made Mechoulam, hands down, the world’s foremost expert on cannabis. He co-discovered the body’s endocannabinoid system and discovered that the human brain produces its own cannabinoids. The brain’s cannabinoids stimulate receptors in the body to act in certain ways, which is the backbone of research under the hypothesis that these compounds can treat some of today’s most troubling diseases, like schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, and cancer, to name a few. The discovery also lent a great deal of credibility to the potential for cannabis (which had basically none at the time) to be integral in concocting new medicines where traditional therapies have been woefully lacking. 

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He was the first to ever isolate tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active cannabinoid in marijuana that gets a person “high.” He and his research team successfully synthesized the major cannabinoids in marijuana, including THC, cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG) and more. In 2017, Hebrew University’s School of Pharmacy founded its Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research with Mechoulam’s work as its pillars. At the center today, more than two dozen scientists work exclusively on cannabis applications from drug delivery to plant science to unexplored therapeutic areas and everywhere in between.

It is for good reason that U.S. News & World Report called the country “The Holy Land of Medical Marijuana” and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for the Health, Medical & Wellness unit at CNN, last year declared, “Israel is the marijuana research capital of the world.” 

The government is highly accommodative and supportive of the research, while providing plenty of oversight through divisions like the Medical Cannabis Unit at Israel’s Ministry of Health. In fact, the country topped a list for highest percentage of financial resources devoted to cannabis research. Apropos, if the U.S. doesn’t start to be a little more proactive and incorporate similar policies, it truly faces a threat of falling further behind despite have a population that is 40x larger with boundless resources.

It Didn’t Happen Overnight, but Tailwinds are Now Blowing

As aforementioned, 88-year old Mechoulam has been at it for half a century. He started back in the 1960’s when things were much different before Israel started embracing the medical potential, ultimately allowing medical research and cannabis cultivation in 2007. Since then, momentum has slowly been building, particularly recently.

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As of April 1, 2019, the country decriminalized cannabis. Before then, production was legal only for pharmacological purposes and smoking it in public could mean a trip to jail. The new law means that possession of small amounts of homegrown marijuana in public is no longer punishable with criminal proceedings, only a fine.

In January, Israeli lawmakers approved the legal export of medical marijuana, a move that the government estimates could generate US$273 million in annual tax revenue.  In addition to its leading expertise in the plant, Israel has favorable climate for growing cannabis (300+ days of sun, ideal UV rays, temperature and humidity), which positions the country to be a top producer of medical cannabis. Israel, Canada and the Netherlands are the only three countries with export framework for cannabis.  

The location of Israel makes it an ideal hub for export into the burgeoning European markets as well. With over 740 million people, Europe’s market is more than twice that of the U.S. and Canada, the two biggest markets today. Estimates are for the EU medical cannabis market to reach US$64 billion by 2028.

Add in that more than 10,000 patients in Israel are currently on waitlist for medical marijuana, with an estimated 50,000 anticipated by later this year, which creates a largely underserved domestic market along with the export potential.

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Support from Leadership 

Unlike the U.S., the support for cannabis is bi-partisan in Israel. Two former Israeli Prime Ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, have even taken positions with cannabis companies headquartered in their country. Barak, who recently announced leaving retirement to run for Prime Minister again, said that he will continue to hold his job as chairman of the cannabis companies Intercure Ltd. (OTCPK: IRCLF) (TASE: INCR) and its cultivator Canndoc, which is expected to soon join the Nasdaq exchange.

In April, Olmert joined vertically integrated cannabis company Univo Pharmaceuticals (TASE: UNVO) as an investor and business advisor.

Former Israeli Police Chief, Yohanan Danino, is also in the country’s cannabis business, serving as chairman of Together Pharma Ltd. (TASE: TGTR).

Israeli Companies Look to Canada (and Vice Versa)

Canada, which legalized medical marijuana in 2001 and recreational use in 2017, has become a hot spot for cannabis companies, including those operating in Israel. For starters, it’s a means to access capital, not to mention shoulder up with some of the world’s biggest cannabis companies or others that are looking to the cannabis research capital of the world for growth opportunities.

For instance, Vancouver’s Nabis Holdings Inc. (CSE: NAB) (OTC: NABIF) this month took a 49% stake in Cannova Medical Ltd., an Israel-based company specializing in sublingual strips that can contain cannabinoids.

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Citing sources close to the matter, CTech reported in November that Ilan Bioculture Production of Cannabis Ltd. and IMC Ltd., two private Israeli companies involved with cannabis, are eyeing the Toronto markets for initial public offerings into the mid-double digits of millions of dollars. Breath of Life, or BOL Pharma, Israel’s biggest medical cannabis producer, last month filed a preliminary prospectus for an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Isracann Biosciences, which is aligned to become Israel’s first pure-play cannabis firm to list in Canada, is currently working its way through the listing process to trade under the ticker (IPOT-Pending) on the Canadian Securities Exchange. 

The company is constructing a formidable operation, with 232,900 square feet of cultivation capacity fully funded and scalable to 580,000 square feet in the future that will serve as a cornerstone for its business model involving cultivation, distribution, research and branding. The initial capacity will be capable of producing 23,500 kilograms (~26 tons) of cannabis annually.  

Hold That Spot 

More than half-a-century of evidence supports Israel as the undeniable leader in cannabis research. Government dedicated to support research and now become just the third country in the world to allow for exports suggest that the country is counting on maintaining a first mover status in a market that Grand View Research forecasts to hit $146.4 billion worldwide by the end of 2025. 

The U.S. is mired in political rhetoric that somewhat limits opportunities due to the federal classification that punishes interstate transit and hamstrings banking.  No changes looks immediate on that front, which gives smaller countries like Israel a chance to maintain their leadership position and actively complete for share in a very lucrative global market.

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Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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FluroTech: Know Your Product, Improve Your Profits

Written by Ryan Allway on

Regulations surrounding the legal sale of cannabis can be byzantine, to say the least. In North America alone, 33 U.S. states have their own rules about legal use of marijuana, albeit medicinal or recreational, while the plant remains illegal at the federal level. That is unless it contains less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THCa), in which case it qualifies as hemp and is open to interstate commerce as of the start of 2019. Canada has made marijuana legal across the country, but only in flower and oil form, while it still works to hammer out legislation allowing edibles and other cannabis-based products.

Regardless of legislation, there is a common thread across cannabis and hemp in both countries: testing. Testing is at the root of the industry as guidelines lay out strict rules for potency and safety to protect the consumer. The problem is that the testing industry is highly fragmented with varying protocols delivering inconsistent results, an issue that can frustrate the complete supply chain from cultivator to consumer, as well as those providing oversight along the way.

FluroTech Ltd. (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF) is pioneering new technology addressing this nagging issue by bringing consistent testing in-house, a practice that can save resources and improve the bottom line. Using fluorescence spectroscopy and accompanying software, FluroTech’s CompleTest™ is a portable, accurate and cost effective method for cannabis and hemp testing that can shave result times down to hours rather than days or weeks. Furthermore, the technology is user friendly and doesn’t require highly trained scientists to perform the tests and analyze the results.

 

 

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THC and CBD First

FluroTech co-founder and CEO Danny Dalla-Longa recently told CFN Media’s Laura Albers in an interview at MJ Micro Conference that the company has begun marketing its award-winning CompleTest™ for THC and cannabidiol (CBDa) with plans to “shortly” be expanding into testing of hemp. 

THC and CBD are the two best-known components, called cannabinoids, of cannabis. THC is responsible for the “high” synonymous with ingesting marijuana, while CBD has been widely hailed for a bevy of therapeutic benefits ranging from reducing anxiety to treating difficult diseases like epilepsy and cancer.

Despite these two cannabinoids being at the core of the market, getting repeatable, reliable and accurate test results has been an industry challenge, even with today’s machines costing up to $500,000.

Consider a study conducted by Washington Cannabis Farmers Council analyzing THC content in a cannabis strain across eight different labs.

The highest reported level (26.90%) was more than twice that of the lowest level (13.37%).  

Obviously, the implications regarding potency are clear enough from a consumer standpoint.  But, what about the cultivator? In Canada, many licensed producers model a 1% increase in potency leading to an additional 80 cents per gram in selling price. Using an average of, say, $10 per gram, that’s an 8% increase in margin.

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On that note, a recent study showed that growers using CompleTest™ were able to identify lighting solutions that increased potency by 50 percent. This was attainable owing to the ease of use to perform repeated tests and monitor the plant’s qualities. 

The savings and profits resonate with respect to ROI for the $18,000 investment for the CompleTest™ system unit (plus any costs for additional scopes and test kits). This goes without putting a figure on the price of confidence in product and potential expenses related to any undiscovered contaminants or inaccurate product labeling that can earn the ire of regulators and customers. 

In a Class By Itself

Dalla-Longa is another example of a successful businessman (a partner at a large accounting firm in fact) that ventured into the cannabis space because of the opportunity. He teamed up with FluroTech CTO Dr. Elmar Prenner, a specialist in fluorescence spectroscopy and the brains behind the CompleTest™ technology, to address unmet needs in testing, which he identifies as accuracy, cost, timeliness and format. 

“No one is really a competitor to us now because we’re going to be offering a service to cannabis and hemp companies where they can do their own in-house testing such that as the plant is growing they will be able to test it, determine which inputs will give them the highest value for their crops,” said Dalla-Longa in the interview. He continued, “Then when they have to go to the certified labs, or the outside verification, they will know what they’ve got when they get there.”

Biomarker, People Testing and More

Without accounting for sales that are getting underway, Dalla-Longa says that the company has enough cash on hand to operate for about one year. However, part of the reason for presenting at the MJ Micro show was to speak with potential joint venture partners and align to raise capital for upcoming developments that will continue to differentiate the company from any potential future competition. 

On the immediate agenda for FluroTech is finishing development of the cannabis testing technology for detecting pesticides, chemicals, mold and heavy metals, which is almost complete. The company also is working on cutting-edge biomarker technology where nanoparticles will be absorbed through a plant’s root system and carried throughout the entire cannabis or hemp plant, effectively implanting a specific biological marker that will uniquely identify that plant throughout its entire life cycle.

Finally, FluroTech is working on what it simply calls “people testing.” This is addressing different market segments for testing to identify consumer usage in environments such as roadside stops and work settings.

A Big Niche

Some may consider testing a niche as part of the massive cannabis market. Fair enough, but it is a very big niche already projected at $2.75 billion that is part and parcel to the business. FluroTech Ltd. (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF) is in the catbird’s seat on this front with a first mover advantage and technology that is faster, more reliable/repeatable, accurate, and cost effective than traditional laboratory testing.

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To see the CompleTest™ Demo Video Click Here

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

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Oldest U.S. Cannabis Retailer Goes Public with Big Expansion Plan

Written by Ryan Allway on

 

The U.S. cannabis industry is projected to reach $50 billion by 2026, according to Cowen & Co., driven by the legalization of adult-use cannabis across a growing number of jurisdictions.

California has already become the dominant force behind the country’s legal cannabis industry following the legalization of adult-use cannabis in 2016. The state generated about $3 billion in sales the following year, representing about 35 percent of all state-legal cannabis sales across the country — and these figures are rapidly growing.

Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR), the largest cannabis retailer in California, completed a reverse takeover with Lineage Grow Company last month to become a publicly-traded company. In addition to market access, the transaction provided the company with two Oregon dispensaries and other cultivation, distribution and retail assets.

The potential combined company has generated about C$400 million in cumulative revenue since its inception in 2006, which could make it one of the world’s largest cannabis companies with a three percent share of California’s entire retail cannabis market, assuming the execution of all outstanding merger agreements.

Let’s take a closer look at the company and how it’s positioned to grow even larger moving into 2019 and beyond as a publicly-traded company.

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An Unparalleled Track Record

Most people in the cannabis industry are familiar with Steve DeAngelo — a decades-long cannabis advocate and businessman. As an advocate for a profitable, ethical and politically-engaged industry, he built Harborside into one of the most trusted and respected companies in an industry inundated with profit-hungry entrepreneurs. He was also instrumental in the passage of Prop 64 and other landmark legalization efforts.

Steve DeAngelo and dress wedding founded Harborside in 2006 and received the first six medical cannabis licenses in the United States. The company’s initial dispensary in Oakland, California was the first to offer products that were independently tested for contaminants by DeAngelo’s Steep Hill Labs. This uncompromising commitment to quality and safety helped set the brand apart from other dispensaries for years to come.

Over the following years, the company opened a second dispensary in San Jose, California and worked with FLRish, a for-profit company, to raise capital and provide management, infrastructure and financial services to its not-for-profit dispensaries. FLRish went on to partner with the dispensaries to develop a cultivation facility capable of producing clean, high-quality cannabis to sell to the dispensaries’ patients and other companies.

Since then, the company has attracted over 300,000 patients, captured three percent of the state’s market, and generated over C$400 million in revenue. The company also expanded its footprint to include eight dispensaries and two cultivation facilities across two states, each adhering to the gold standard that management has set for the industry in terms of regulatory compliance, product safety, industry expertise, customer service and other areas.

The company’s iconic Harborside dispensaries have set the industry standard with an unparalleled experience for both medical and recreational customers. Each store is bright and filled with knowledgeable staff that make it easy to find the perfect products. These attributes set the company apart from many other dispensaries that have a more “back alley” experience when it comes to buying cannabis products.

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Ambitious Expansion Plans

Harborside plans to consolidate and expand its California retail footprint in the Bay Area over the coming quarters. For example, the company plans on opening its Harborside San Leandro dispensary in the City of San Leandro during the second quarter of this year. The company’s business model has involved establishing a grassroots and loyal customer following by providing best-in-class service and products. Harborside looks to expand their current footprint in California with an aggressive expansion strategy.

In addition to expanding its retail footprint, the company aims to enhance its manufacturing capabilities to meet demand and launch new branded products. The company’s Harborside brand has already become a trusted name in the mid-flower and concentrates market, and management plans to expand into high-grade flower, edibles, vapes and other product categories as well as target cost-conscious consumers through its Key brand.

With a 47-acre farm in Monterey County, the company already grows high-quality, pesticide-free cannabis outdoors under the sun. The low-cost nature of these production methods — compared to indoor greenhouses or hydroponics — means that the company could become a key player in the rapidly growing private label market for mid-grade flower and prerolls.

“The start of trading represents a significant milestone for Harborside, and we’re grateful for the support that we’ve received from the CSE throughout the process,” said Andrew Berman, CEO of Harborside after the stock began trading on the CSE. “We’re excited to move forward as a public company, with a vehicle that attracts growth capital from new investors, and continue maintaining Harborside’s status as California’s premier cannabis operator.”

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Looking Ahead

Harborside Inc. (CSE: HBOR) has made tremendous strides in completing its reverse takeover to become a publicly-traded company while expanding its footprint in California and Oregon. Given its status as the largest cannabis retailer in California, it could become a staple for cannabis investor portfolios.

The post Oldest U.S. Cannabis Retailer Goes Public with Big Expansion Plan appeared first on CannabisFN.

Cannabis Companies Need to Take It From The Experts

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 08, 2019

2018 was a momentous year and real turning point for cannabis. Canada became the first G20 country to legalize full adult-use of marijuana. The FDA approved the first cannabis-based drug, Epidiolex for certain rare forms of epilepsy. In a different vertical, Congress passed the Farm Bill, legalizing industrial hemp, a non-intoxicating cousin of marijuana that contains cannabidiol (CBD). More states jumped on the marijuana bandwagon, bringing the total to 33 that allow medical cannabis, including 10 that have legalized recreational use.

While those are the headlines that bring some commonality to the marijuana space, the minutia of the lifespan of a cannabis bud varies tremendously from state-to-state. It’s a dynamic animal that is ever-changing as the industry matures, leaving most small companies struggling to navigate regulations and grow their business.  

That’s where companies like STWC Holdings Inc. (OTCQB:STWC), better known simply as Strainwise Consulting, come in.

Experts in Every Sense of the Word 

To say that Strainwise leadership knows the business is a gross understatement. Co-founder and CEO Erin Phillips sits amongst an esteemed list of Who’s Who in cannabis pioneers. She holds claim to being the first person in the world to secure a recreational marijuana license, one for The Annie’s: a Strainwise-branded dispensary in Central City, Colorado.

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She has since consulted on hundreds more cannabis licenses.

Before entering the cannabis space, Phillips was a small business owner in the mortgage industry. As it goes with most small companies, she wore many hats, including leading auditing and funding, mortgages, loan originations, title company closings and more.

While Erin handled the cannabis consulting business, her husband, Shawn, was building a dispensary and cultivation business, taking it from the one original shop in Central City to nine locations, backstopped by over 36 licenses and 90,000 square feet of grow operations.

Phillips has aggregated her hard-earned knowledge of finance, real estate, start-up business and cannabis and parlayed it into the diversified Strainwise Consulting that it is now. She takes a back seat to no one in her success and advocacy legitimizing the industry as a founding member of the National Cannabis Chamber of Commerce and roles on advisory boards for the Southern California Association of Cannabis Professionals, the National Cannabis Chamber of Commerce and eCannex, as well as sitting on the national Cannabis Industry Association’s Policy Council and testifying as an expert witness in cannabis-related cases. 

By The Book

Phillips didn’t just read the book, she wrote it. Literally. Strainwise designed and trademarked a cannabis education program detailing responsible consumption of different types of cannabis that has been adopted by many marijuana businesses in Colorado. Phillips has also co-authored cannabis regulations for a Native American tribe and several local jurisdictions.

It is this knowledge of maneuvering the regulatory pathway, standard operating procedures and the more than 13 years living, eating and breathing cannabis operations that the Strainwise CEO brings to clients and partners. And it is fair to call some partners, as Strainwise is not opposed to making an investment if the deal is right.

Click Here to Receive Additional Investor Information

SquareOne and Strainwise U

If you need assistance with cannabis operations or knowledge, Strainwise brings the goods. The three-phase SquareOne platform is the roadmap used by Strainwise to deliver consistent results to clients and partners. Phase 1 is focused on market entry services, including a forensic look into the business model to decide if it is feasible and devising a plan for raising capital and building the brand. It also includes licensing support customized for every state.

Phase 2 involves operational readiness and launch services. Inter alia, Strainwise walks the client through timelines and milestones from concept to advertising. Further to this process, Strainwise in April launched their own packaging division, which provides customizable cannabis product packaging for its own goods, as well as clients.

Phase 3 is essentially follow-on advisory services, where the company is there to provide continued advice on all aspects of the business. To that point, Strainwise partnered with Dana Ress of Denver’s RedPoint Solutions on a joint venture to develop a software solution, dubbed “Supergrower,” that addresses complexities in operating a cannabis business, albeit cultivation, manufacturing, distribution or retail. Expectations are for Supergrower to be unveiled next month.

Click Here to view Video Interview with STWC Holdings President: 7 Minutes with Matt Willer and a Little Cannabis Alliteration — CFN Media

In addition to its traditional consulting services, the company offers Strainwise University™. Run in collaboration with the National Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, the comprehensive coursework includes classroom training, live webinars and recorded online sessions. The education covers the cannabis gamut from regulatory compliance to best practices and, of course, how to get a license.

Moving Forward

The U.S. is moving ahead with marijuana legalization at a frantic pace, as a cascading effect is gaining steam, bolstered by the demands of the people and government visions of new revenue. Illinois is set to become the 11th state to allow recreational marijuana now that legislators overwhelmingly voted in favor of House Bill 1438. The marijuana community is now turning its sights to New York and New Jersey and a handful of other states (CT, FL, NM, MN, DE, NH, RI) to see who is going to be next. Whichever state it is, STWC Holdings Inc. (OTCQB:STWC) will likely be there to game plan and help companies keep checking boxes towards success while avoiding pitfalls due too inexperience.

Click Here to Receive Additional Investor Information

To Learn more about Strainwise Holdings Please visit the website at strainwiseconsulting.com

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post Cannabis Companies Need to Take It From The Experts appeared first on CannabisFN.

Ignite: 43 Million Instagram Followers Strong

Written by Ash Stringer on

In the 2017 award-winning film “Ingrid Goes West,” the main character, Ingrid Thorburn is infatuated with the social media influencer Taylor Sloane. While Ingrid takes mimicking Sloane to a dysfunctional level, the fact is that – all cinematic liberties aside – parts of the plot aren’t far from today’s reality. People, especially millennials and younger generations, listen to and want to be like the personalities that they follow on social media.

To that end, popular personalities have become part and parcel to marketing, so much so that it’s called “influencer marketing” in the industry’s nomenclature.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Analyst estimates on the influence market size paint a better picture of the breadth of the space, including MediaKix forecasting the global ad spend in the range of $5 billion – $10 billion by 2020. As far as just Instagram, Statista estimates the influencer market was worth just over $1 billion in 2017 and grown to about $2.4 billion in 2019.

In the cannabis space, advertising is extremely limited. Consider that Instagram, Facebook, Google and YouTube, which comprise 75% of all U.S. digital advertising spend, currently do not accept cannabis advertising dollars. Until these rules change, social media is the place to be, where a key influencer can give a company an upper hand to market share.

Recognizing the Value of Social Media

One of the most well-known influencers in social media is Dan Bilzerian. Bilzerian is an internet and social media sensation with 43 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and SnapChat. His pages and stories generate more than 400 million social media impressions every week.

Oh, and he’s the founder, CEO and chairman of an emerging, publicly traded consumer packaged goods company with cannabis and CBD product offerings called Ignite International Brands Ltd. (CSE: BILZ)  (“Ignite”). With Bilzerian as the face of the brand, Ignite’s Instagram page has garnered more than 1.7 million followers since making its first post in February 2018. These followers are intensely engaged, averaging over 1,000 comments per post.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Bilzerian is passionate about the benefits of cannabidiol (CBD), a constituent of cannabis trumpeted for a bevy of medicinal benefits ranging from muscle fatigue after a workout to treating rare diseases like epilepsy.

Getting to Know Ignite

Ignite is the product of the business combination, completed on May 30, 2019 on shareholder approval, of two legal entities within the Ignite Group of companies; Ignite International, Ltd. (“Ignite US”) and Ignite. The merger paves the way for Ignite to begin executing on its plan to continue expansion throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. Ignite already has a full line of CBD products available for online purchase in the U.S. which include disposable vape pens, flavored and unflavored drops, topical creams and roll-ons. Branded dried flower, pre-rolls and oils are available for sale in more than 215 dispensaries in California and Nevada, with plans to top 1,200 across multiple states in the next two years.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

The products and company have been featured in High Times, Herb, Merry Jane and MarketWatch, while earning praise from press such as Tokewell, which wrote, “The brainchild of serial entrepreneur Dan Bilzerian, Ignite has taken the cannabis game by storm.”

The super-premium CBD and cannabis consumer packaged goods company recently entered into a joint venture with national vape and e-cig distributor MMS Distribution, LLC for the national distribution of CBD products in the U.S. The joint venture, operating as Ignite Distribution, LLC, will leverage MMS’s years of distribution experience and Ignite’s brand recognition to get products to wholesale, c-store, smoke shop, and retail operators in addition to continuing to build the ecommerce presence of the brand.

In May, Ignite inked definitive agreements for the manufacture and distribution of legal CBD products in the United Kingdom with an industry leader in this space: Taylor Mammon & Nathan Limited. This agreement also includes provisions that would allow the Ignite brand to expand into other strategic European and rest of world markets in the future.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Knowing Their Market

The market size for cannabis and CBD is well documented, estimated by the industry experts at BDS Analytics and Grand View Research to be heading toward $146 billion by 2025 from about $7.1 billion in 2018. The CBD segment is the fastest growing part of the industry, with the Brightfield Group forecasting that market will rise to $22 billion by 2022.

Millennials are at the root of the exponential growth. More than half of the 55 million Americans that use cannabis are millennials. In Ignite’s beachhead state of California, 39% of millennial cannabis users use the product every day.

As it happens, Bilzerian’s sweet spot for followers is millennials, with more than 85% of his followers being males aged 18-34. On average, 1.4 million millennials directly engage with each post he publishes on Instagram.

An Impressive Team

Ignite is more than just Bilzerian. CEO Jim McCormick is a consumer goods veteran, including a 17-year stint holding international CEO and CFO positions for cigarette behemoth British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS). Most recently, McCormick was COO and CFO at KushCo Holdings, a provider of ancillary products and services to the U.S. and Canadian cannabis industry. During his time there, KushCo’s revenue grew from about $20 million in 2017 to a projected $120 million in 2019.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

CFO Eddie Mattei, a CPA and a Chartered Accountant for 20+ years, comes to Ignite from serving as CFO of the Mircom Group of Companies, a privately held, vertically integrated Canadian entity operating in the highly regulated, global fire and life safety marketplace. Previously, he was the Vice President of Taxation at Royal Group Technologies Ltd., a $2 billion international company.

SVP and COO Shannon Bard brings more than 25 years of international and domestic B2B, B2C and direct-to-consumer sales experience to Ignite. Seasoned in upstarts, Bard made successful exits in his last two ventures, Alterra and Xyron, and was integral to Xyron being recognized a Supplier of the Year at Walmart (NYSE: WMT).

It doesn’t stop there for Ignite. Curtis Heffernan, Global Head of Sales and Marketing, is a branding expert who has spent more than three decades in the consumer packaged goods space working for companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Cadbury Schweppes. During his time as VP of Sales and Marketing for Tri Marine Group and VP of Sales and Marketing for the Borges Mediterranean Group, he achieved significant brand share growth and private label contracts with Costco (NYSE: CSCO), Walmart, Sam’s Club, and major grocery store operators.

Diana Ritchie, SVP of Operations and Retail, has extensive operational experience with more than 25 years in the hotel, casino and marketing spaces. Amongst other roles, she was the Senior Executive Director of Hotel and Casino Operations for Wynn Properties (NASDAQ: WYNN) and later Wynn International.

A company is only going to be as successful as its leadership, and Ignite is certainly getting off on the right foot.

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post Ignite: 43 Million Instagram Followers Strong appeared first on CannabisFN.

With NanoFusion, Geyser Addresses Challenge to Extract-Based Producers

Written by Tony Deyes on

While cannabis-infused products are the fastest-growing and most lucrative segment of the industry, a key challenge in producing cannabinoids for ingestion or absorption through the skin is their insolubility. Due to their oily composition they are naturally hydrophobic, meaning that their molecules are water-repellant, making it harder for the body to absorb them. The result is inconsistent, unreliable dosing and onset times of up to three hours.

Geyser Brands Inc. (TSXV: GYSR), a Health Canada-approved Licensed Producer based in Vancouver, BC, has found a solution to this problem with its ground-breaking developments in nanotechnology, dubbed NanoFusion, which breaks down cannabinoid particles and combines them with naturally-occurring surfactants which lower the surface tension between cannabinoids and water, resulting in a compound that is water compatible.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Researched and developed by Geyser’s Senior R&D chemist with over 35 years of experience in state-of-the-art facilities and produced using natural, biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-inflammatory materials, NanoFusion is a tasteless, scentless, all-natural nano-particle delivery system that quickly and efficiently transports therapeutic agents directly to the bloodstream for maximum absorbency.

All of the products in Geyser’s diverse portfolio are produced using NanoFusion, making them more reliable and consistent, requiring smaller doses to deliver desired health & wellness results, increasing bioavailability and skin permeation, and greatly reducing the speed of onset. NanoFusion also improves the transport of active ingredients for site-specific targeting by delivering active ingredients across cell membranes for release within the cell, and release times can be adjusted based on the delivery method. It also increases the stability of molecules, giving the company’s products a longer shelf-life than those produced using traditional methods.

Andreas Thatcher, CEO of Geyser Brands Inc, said, “We created it in response to varying and diverse consumer preferences and needs, making sure it had an all-natural composition free of any toxic additives, solvents, or fillers – which addressed the harsh bitter aftertaste and/or oily texture many of the products in the market have. At the same time, we ensured that consumers could do more with less by designing it for long, stable shelf life and increasing its bioavailability, meaning that they need lower dose per use, and making us their go-to for reliable, high quality products.”

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Potential Solace Acquisition Expands Offering, Licensing Enables Production

Geyser recently entered into a definitive agreement  to acquire Solace Management Group and its assortment of brands ranging from the medical and adult recreational cannabis markets to pet health & wellness, including Apothecary Naturals, a line of 100% natural hemp-based topical, cosmetics, and self-care products, and Apawthecary Pets, Canada’s leading hemp-infused pet brand, with products in over 400 pet stores and 100 veterinary clinics.

On June 18th, the company announced that its wholly owned Licensed Producer, 0957102 B.C. Ltd. dba Apothecary Botanicals, has successfully received a coveted Standard Processing License from Health Canada, allowing it to extend its brands into the highly regulated Canadian cannabis market, with production expected to commence in the next 90 days, and add manufacturing capacity for edibles, extracts, and topicals.

In anticipation, Apothecary Botanicals began modifications to its Port Coquitlam, B.C. facility, expected to be completed by the end of the month. The modifications and processes are designed to deliver GMP-compliant capacity, and with the installation of manufacturing equipment and the completion of distribution agreements, Apothecary Botanicals will be able to service the production needs of Geyser’s existing and third-party brands.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Armed with a diverse array of established brands powered by its proprietary NanoFusion technology, which solves the biggest challenge to its product offering, Geyser is a company on the rise. Investors unfamiliar with Geyser may just want to take a closer look.

For more information, keep watching this page, or visit https://www.geyserbrands.com/

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post With NanoFusion, Geyser Addresses Challenge to Extract-Based Producers appeared first on CannabisFN.

With NanoFusion, Geyser Addresses Challenge to Extract-Based Producers

Written by Tony Deyes on

While cannabis-infused products are the fastest-growing and most lucrative segment of the industry, a key challenge in producing cannabinoids for ingestion or absorption through the skin is their insolubility. Due to their oily composition they are naturally hydrophobic, meaning that their molecules are water-repellant, making it harder for the body to absorb them. The result is inconsistent, unreliable dosing and onset times of up to three hours.

Geyser Brands Inc. (TSXV: GYSR), a Health Canada-approved Licensed Producer based in Vancouver, BC, has found a solution to this problem with its ground-breaking developments in nanotechnology, dubbed NanoFusion, which breaks down cannabinoid particles and combines them with naturally-occurring surfactants which lower the surface tension between cannabinoids and water, resulting in a compound that is water compatible.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Researched and developed by Geyser’s Senior R&D chemist with over 35 years of experience in state-of-the-art facilities and produced using natural, biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-inflammatory materials, NanoFusion is a tasteless, scentless, all-natural nano-particle delivery system that quickly and efficiently transports therapeutic agents directly to the bloodstream for maximum absorbency.

All of the products in Geyser’s diverse portfolio are produced using NanoFusion, making them more reliable and consistent, requiring smaller doses to deliver desired health & wellness results, increasing bioavailability and skin permeation, and greatly reducing the speed of onset. NanoFusion also improves the transport of active ingredients for site-specific targeting by delivering active ingredients across cell membranes for release within the cell, and release times can be adjusted based on the delivery method. It also increases the stability of molecules, giving the company’s products a longer shelf-life than those produced using traditional methods.

Andreas Thatcher, CEO of Geyser Brands Inc, said, “We created it in response to varying and diverse consumer preferences and needs, making sure it had an all-natural composition free of any toxic additives, solvents, or fillers – which addressed the harsh bitter aftertaste and/or oily texture many of the products in the market have. At the same time, we ensured that consumers could do more with less by designing it for long, stable shelf life and increasing its bioavailability, meaning that they need lower dose per use, and making us their go-to for reliable, high quality products.”

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Potential Solace Acquisition Expands Offering, Licensing Enables Production

Geyser recently entered into a definitive agreement  to acquire Solace Management Group and its assortment of brands ranging from the medical and adult recreational cannabis markets to pet health & wellness, including Apothecary Naturals, a line of 100% natural hemp-based topical, cosmetics, and self-care products, and Apawthecary Pets, Canada’s leading hemp-infused pet brand, with products in over 400 pet stores and 100 veterinary clinics.

On June 18th, the company announced that its wholly owned Licensed Producer, 0957102 B.C. Ltd. dba Apothecary Botanicals, has successfully received a coveted Standard Processing License from Health Canada, allowing it to extend its brands into the highly regulated Canadian cannabis market, with production expected to commence in the next 90 days, and add manufacturing capacity for edibles, extracts, and topicals.

In anticipation, Apothecary Botanicals began modifications to its Port Coquitlam, B.C. facility, expected to be completed by the end of the month. The modifications and processes are designed to deliver GMP-compliant capacity, and with the installation of manufacturing equipment and the completion of distribution agreements, Apothecary Botanicals will be able to service the production needs of Geyser’s existing and third-party brands.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Armed with a diverse array of established brands powered by its proprietary NanoFusion technology, which solves the biggest challenge to its product offering, Geyser is a company on the rise. Investors unfamiliar with Geyser may just want to take a closer look.

For more information, keep watching this page, or visit https://www.geyserbrands.com/

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post With NanoFusion, Geyser Addresses Challenge to Extract-Based Producers appeared first on CannabisFN.

Sublime Launches California’s First Cannabis-Infused Freezer Pops

Written by Ryan Allway on Jul 03, 2019

Freaze ice pops will be available at dispensaries this month

OAKLAND, Calif. – July 2, 2019 /Canna Newswire/ – Sublime, an award-winning cannabis manufacturing company located in Oakland, Calif., is launching its latest edible product: Freaze, a cannabis-infused freezer pop.

Just in time for the heat of the summer and the Fourth of July holiday, they contain roughly 10mg of THC per pop and come in two throwback flavors – Fruit Punch and Blue Raspberry. Freaze ice pops were inspired by other classic “take-home-and-freeze” confections and will be the first of their kind on the legal California cannabis market. The pops will be available to purchase at first in a 2-pack, with one of each flavor, and in a 10-pack coming later this month. They are best enjoyed straight out of the freezer.

“Our vision is to have the most compelling portfolio of cannabis products in the industry,” Sublime CEO Alex Fang said. “We think that these one-of-a-kind ice pops will give our users an enjoyable experience while ensuring they are medicating with accurate and lab-tested products.”

Cannabis edibles and beverages are expected to become the most sought-after products on the legal markets in the U.S. and Canada, as people are trying other ways to consume cannabinoids rather than smoking them. Cannabis beverages, which include emulsified THC products like Freaze pops, are forecast to exceed other retail cannabis products by ballooning to a $600 million market within the U.S. by 2022, according to analysts at Canaccord Genuity.

About Sublime Canna
Sublime is a California leader in cannabis manufacturing and distribution. We believe in the positive role cannabis can play in enhancing people’s lives, and our mission is to provide consumers with the most pleasurable, effective, and reliable products on the market. Sublime products are available at leading dispensary and delivery services throughout California. For more information, visit www.SublimeCanna.com.

The post Sublime Launches California’s First Cannabis-Infused Freezer Pops appeared first on CannabisFN.

Alkaline Water Company Puts Together Another Championship Year

Written by Ash Stringer on Jul 02, 2019

About one week after Alkaline88® brand ambassador Chez Reavie won the Travelers Championship Tournament at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, Alkaline88 parent The Alkaline Water Company (NASDAQ and TSXV: WTER) announced a victory of its own. For the fifth consecutive year, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company reported annual revenue growth in excess of 50 percent as its products continue to land in more stores and gain traction with consumers.

Record Fiscal 2019

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, WTER recorded sales of approximately $32.2 million, a surge of 62.5% versus sales during fiscal 2018.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

In fiscal 2018, revenue rose 55% from the year prior to $19.8 million. In fiscal 2017, sales jumped 80% from fiscal 2016 to $12.8 million. Across the fiscal years 2014 (the first year of sales) through 2016, revenue rose from $552,699 to $3.7 million to $7.1 million, respectively.

From the year ended March 31, 2014 through fiscal 2019, sales of Alkaline88 increased more than 5,700%, or a compound annual growth of 176.3%, with no indication of slowing down. During May, the company reported record monthly sales of $3.8 million.

Growth Key: Widening Footprint

Since inception in 2012, the company has been focused on building a national distribution for Alkaline88, its premium bottled water with a pH of 8.8 heralded for helping consumers maintain a balanced lifestyle. To that point, Alkaline88 is now available in tens of thousands of stores across the country in various sizes and packages from 500 milliliters to 3 liters.  Management has not relented on the quest for prominent shelf space, making more inroads during fiscal 2019 while expanding existing ones.

For instance, more Whole Foods stores are now carrying Alkaline88 than ever before. Alkaline88 made its way into Shaw’s, a unit of grocery giant Albertsons, including the product now on shelves in more than 150 locations in the Northeast U.S. ShopRite was added as a new selling point, with ShopRite putting 1-liter and 3-liter Alkaline88 products in over 270 of its stores along the East Coast. Regional player Heinen’s Grocery Stores, which has 23 stores across Ohio and Illinois, were also added to the WTER customer lineup.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

In a huge win for the company, sales were initiated in over 1,100 Publix Super Markets, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the U.S.

Importantly, The Alkaline Water Company has been deepening its penetration in convenience stores, a brutally competitive market segment that is part and parcel to sales success. Partnering with E.A. Berg, Crossmark and Premier DSD to emphasize expansion in the c-store space has delivered strong returns quickly, as measured by more than 1,100 independent c-stores being added to the distribution network and a 65% improvement in sales of single-serve sizes of Alkaline88.

Speaking to the c-store developments, Richard A. Wright, President and CEO of The Alkaline Water Company, gave investors something to look forward to, saying in a news release that the company intends to increase this footprint “dramatically over the next 12 months.”

Elsewhere, Peapod.com, a popular (and quickly expanding) online grocer and delivery service, is now offering Alkaline88 for the “Chicagoland” market with the potential to expand into some or all of Peapod’s 15 other markets.

Nurturing the expansive distribution network is meaningful not only for Alkaline88, but other products coming down the company’s pipeline through its new A88 Infused Beverage Division. In reality, there should be a symbiotic effect, where the infused products can help introduce the legacy products in some market segments and vice-versa in others. The first products from the unit, a line of hemp-infused beverages, are being marketed under the “Soothe” moniker and have reportedly received rave reviews at industry trade shows where they have been demonstrated.

Leading up to the commercial launch, the WTER subsidiary entered into a brand development agreement with ArchPoint Group to design the cans and bottles for the new hemp-infused sparkling and still water products.

Click here to see the company corporate presentation

Pathway to Profitability

Gross profit for the year ended March 31, 2019 was $12.9 million, up 58.8% compared to fiscal 2018. Not surprisingly, WTER lost money during the fiscal year as it spends to build the brand, but the net loss contracted to 27 cents per share for the year from 32 cents per share a year earlier.

This is an important metric to consider because investors want to see revenue growth outstripping increases in operating expenses.  That is what puts a company on a pathway to profitability.

With $11 million in cash on hand at the end of March, the company is in a strong cash position to keep its foot on the gas in a bid to run its string of 50+% annual sales growth to six years during fiscal 2020.

For more information, keep watching this page and visit: http://thealkalinewaterco.com/

Disclaimer

The above article is sponsored content. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CannabisFN.com and CFN Media, has been hired to create awareness. Please follow the link below to view our full disclosure outlining our compensation: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/

The post Alkaline Water Company Puts Together Another Championship Year appeared first on CannabisFN.

With Feasibility Study Completed, ICC Begins Construction of Danish Facility

Written by Tony Deyes on

Breaking with the traditionally-strict policies of the Scandinavian region on January 1, 2018, Denmark legalized medical cannabis through a unanimous vote by parliament, and Denmark is now poised to become one of Europe’s top producers of medical-grade cannabis.

International Cannabis Corp. (CSE: WRLD, OTC: KNHBF) has already built an impressive European footprint, and plans to further expand its Danish presence with the construction of a 150,000 square foot GACP/EU-GMP certified Greenfield cultivation, processing and manufacturing facility, situated on a 100-acre land parcel in Møldrup, Denmark.

Denmark an Ideal Hub

Aside from the considerable support the Danish government has given to the cannabis industry, the country is attractive to producers because of its access to skilled manufacturing and agricultural labour, especially its plant breeding and genetics expertise, an ample supply of inexpensive, increasingly-clean power, and no cap or quotas on medical cannabis production. The country also has a well-financed healthcare system that is cannabis-friendly and an established pharmacy network for distribution.

Its proximity to larger import-based markets such as Germany and the broader EU makes it an excellent entry point into the European market. With a population twice the size of the US and Canada combined, and a cannabis industry still in its infancy compared to North America’s, currently experiencing supply shortages, Europe offers an enormous opportunity.

Expanding Capacity

The company engaged a leading Denmark based international pharma engineering firm to perform a comprehensive feasibility study on the Danish facility, which found that once fully operational, it should achieve annualized production capabilities of around 20,000 kg. of artisanal grown, ultra-premium dried cannabis flower for sale into high-value medical markets.

Leveraging proprietary design and build IP, as well as its proven cultivation methodologies, ICC seeks to optimize each square foot, and achieve further efficiencies by way of customized process design and building systems. Capacity simulation scenarios will further refine cost estimations while optimizing production, processing, manufacturing, and distribution work flows.

ICC CEO David Shpilt said, “Through highly coveted and stabilized genetics, state of the art building control systems to achieve pharmaceutical standardization of medical cannabis, and a proprietary Quality Management System, ICC’s Danish production facility will yield the finest cannabis products to meet the demands of educated, sophisticated and quality-driven consumers.”

The standalone, single level 150,000 square foot facility will be constructed in four portioned blocks, leveraging modular designs that are intended to streamline future expansion.

The cultivation block will include 56,250 sq. ft. of net flower canopy designed for five annual harvests, as well as 55,00 sq. ft. of dedicated production space including 20,400 sq. ft. of processing infrastructure with additional packaging and distribution capabilities.

20,000 sq. ft. will be set aside for administration office, gowning and utilities, a GMP-compliant waste disposal area, segregated GDP loading bays, proprietary building management, facility monitoring, and quality management systems, and apportioned GACP and EU-GMP areas, including air locked access corridors.

Shplit added, “The completion of our 150,000 Danish Facility on time and within budget, will signal to the marketplace that ICC has established yet another flagship cultivation and manufacturing hub; enabling the distribution of high-margin products into high-value European patient populations with drastically shorter lead times. Through astute engineering and planning, our industry leading facility will be constructed in independent purpose-built blocks, supporting expansion of capacity and new functions while maintaining full operational capabilities.”

Maximizing Yields

In order to optimize plant performance to achieve greater yields, ICC will leverage numerous plant physiology and cultivation concepts developed through its five years of commercial cultivation experience in Canada, such as proprietary soil, nutrient, and plant health monitoring, consistent primary, secondary, and micro nutrient delivery, the manipulation of conditions driving plant health & yield, and the creation of crops with increased pest/disease resistance.

International Cannabis also plans to pursue the outdoor cultivation of high quality, low cost field crops on 45 acres of farmable land, as soil sampling of the Danish land package has indicated ideal soil composition and health. With increased organic matter levels as a result of implementing its outdoor agricultural program, ICC is forecasted to yield 81,000 kg dried cannabis in the 2020 harvest season from its of auto-flower and photoperiod cannabis crops.

These developments are only one chapter in the evolving ICC story. The company, through its subsidiaries, has agreements in place for European-based pharmaceutical distribution, wholesale importation, and research and development, as well as licenses to cultivate, produce, distribute, store and export cannabis, cannabis derivatives and industrial hemp in  Poland, Greece, Portugal, Colombia, South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho.

With an established presence on five continents, 110 clients representing roughly 3500 pharmacies in 16 countries, five licenses for cultivation on three continents and access to over 850 acres of premium hemp crops (estimated to produce up to 6800 tons of biomass for CBD extraction), International Cannabis is well on it way to creating the first truly global cannabis supply chain.

For more of the ICC story, please visit https://intlcannabiscorp.com/

And connect with them on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/ICCWRLD/

https://twitter.com/ICC_WRLD

https://www.linkedin.com/company/icc-wrld/

Disclaimer

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