Tingo Inc. (OTCQB: TMNA)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Tingo Inc. (TMNA).

• Women in Africa have often suffered from severe gender disparity; over a third of Africa’s female rural population have never accessed formal education with less than 24% having access to the Internet via a mobile device
• Tingo, Inc’s agri-marketplace platform, Nwassa, as well as its TingoPay payments system have sought to provide the company’s millions of stakeholders with the ability the means to achieve digital financial inclusion
• Tingo, Inc. has long professed social ambitions alongside their commercial agenda; the company has recently launched a ₦2.5bn fund to promote and support female farmers amongst its various other social initiatives
• ESG investing has rapidly gained adepts across developed markets with as much as 89% of new fund inflows in 2021 being directed towards ESG-driven investment mandates

Women in Africa have typically suffered from gender disparity, with the condition particularly acute in regard to access to education, ownership of resources, and engagement with information and communication technologies. Whilst a myriad of African countries has made progress in narrowing gender gaps, these persist – particularly within rural areas. A survey carried out by research agency, Afrobarometer, found that on average, over half (55%) the female population across 34 African countries resided in rural areas, with close to one-third (32%) not receiving any formal education and a mere 24 percent of rural women having access to the Internet via mobile phone (https://ibn.fm/wNyx8). Since the company’s inception, Tingo (OTC: TMNA) has maintained a steadfast commitment towards gender equality; in particular, the company has sought to both, alleviate poverty whilst simultaneously, promote digital financial inclusion among its millions of female stake holders across the African continent. 

Tingo Inc. (OTCQB: TMNA) is a digital service agri-fintech technology company focused on foundation-level agriculture and related financial services in Africa. The company aims to be Africa’s leading agri-fintech player, transforming rural farming communities to connect through its proprietary platform to meet their complete needs – from inputs and agronomy to off take and marketplace – and deliver sustainable income in an impactful way. The company’s vision is to build complete digitally inclusive ecosystems that promote financial inclusion and deliver disruptive micro-finance solutions, empower societies, produce social upliftment in rural communities and open international opportunities.

Tingo believes that a truly connected world will help contribute to a better global society. The company’s core focus areas are telecoms, financial services/fintech and agritech. Tingo’s goal is to provide a best-in-class customer experience, support the domestic economies of its host countries and support technological and financial inclusion to end the poverty premium. Through this, Tingo hopes to deliver attractive returns to shareholders while investing in the long-term future of the company and its subsidiaries.

Global climate change is challenging sustainable production and food security. Tingo’s strategy and market execution provide an opportunity for Africa to be a core focal point to solve a number of key areas of concern, including food security, gender equality, financial inclusion and poverty alleviation, to name a few. Disruption of micro finance through the use of DeFi-based stable coins and smart contracts will give agri-communities access to capital markets-driven digital finance solutions that make them more competitive and sustainable economically, striking a good balance of returns between digital asset providers and Tingo as the service partner. This innovation will deliver significant access to much needed finance at ‘Grassroot’ levels, delivering tangible social upliftment and GDP growth in the African markets served by Tingo.

Tingo Mobile, with more than nine million subscribers, is Nigeria’s leading technology and device-as-a-service platform aimed at accelerating digital commerce, especially in the country’s agritech and fintech verticals. The company helps farmers acquire mobile phones through a unique leasing plan, connecting them to mobile and data networks through its own virtual mobile network. Tingo also connects farmers to markets, services and resources via Nwassa, its digital agritech marketplace platform that commenced operations in 2020. The company has also launched a beta version of TingoPay – a B2B and B2C fintech app aimed at providing financial services to users inside and outside of the agriculture value chain. Among the services offered are mobile wallets, payment processing and access to specialist lenders, insurers and pension products.

Tingo will soon announce its innovative blockchain-based solution for use of digital stable coins to empower frictionless trade across borders in Africa. The company’s market-proven model in Nigeria is its core foundation, enabling Tingo to deliver the same service model across Africa to become the continent’s leading agri-fintech business powered through smartphone technology.

The African Continental Free Trade (ACFT) plan will be a key framework to prepare the company to be the leading intra-Africa trading hub for trade flows across Africa in the medium term, when it is likely the agreement will be executed into tangible activity. Tingo is well positioned to easily transform the goals of the ACFT into reality when finally implemented by the African Union and the various African countries that have not signed up.

Tingo posted total revenue of $594 million in 2020, with $212 million EBITDA. As of December 31, 2020, Tingo has 9,344,000 subscribers. The company is confident that these figures will grow through its expansion across Africa and natural progression of business in Nigeria.

Businesses

Tingo has four core businesses:

• Mobile Phone Leasing – Tingo has distributed almost 30 million mobile handsets since 2014 and will continue to replace the devices of its installed customer base every three years. Tingo Mobile provides the latest mobile phone handsets at an affordable price point and allows customers to spread payments over 36 months.
• Mobile Voice and Data Service – Through a mobile virtual network, Tingo provides its customers with voice and data services, allowing customers to communicate effectively, both inside and outside the agricultural ecosystem.
• Nwassa Marketplace Platform – Nwassa is Tingo’s proprietary agritech platform which provides Africa’s farmers with access to global markets to secure more competitive pricing for their crops. The platform processes 500,000 daily transactions with a value of over $8 million. A select group of trusted partners can assist smallholder farmers and agricultural cooperatives with packaging, warehousing, and dry and wet cargo logistics, as well as up-to-date information from the global agricultural sector. Tingo provides its customers with digital wallet services, which enable them to send and receive domestic payments, monitor cash flow in real time and securely hold money. The company also provides access to other services, such as utility bill payment, virtual airtime top-up, insurance services and alternative lending solutions.
• TingoPay – Since the launch of the Nwassa platform, Tingo has been a dominant player in the B2B fintech vertical. After many successful months of operating Nwassa, Tingo entered the fintech B2C vertical to extend its B2B offering to a broader market beyond agriculture.

TingoPay is still in its beta phase and will launch in 2021 with a comprehensive marketing campaign. TingoPay offers the following services:

• Tingo Wallet top-up
• Peer to Peer payments, inclusive of merchant payments at the stores
• Utility payments – airtime, broadband, cable, electricity, water, hotel, flights etc.
• Pension payments
• QR code payment services

Market Opportunity

Africa is the second-largest continent by population. It is also the youngest by far, with a median age of 18 for its 1.3 billion people. Tingo believes the building blocks for growth in Africa’s agriculture industry are in place and that the company is well positioned to participate in the upside. Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is growing at a rate of 2.7 percent per year. At the current growth rate, the continent’s population will double by 2050. Africa’s youthfulness represents a significant opportunity for material growth in demand for agricultural commodities. This younger generation is also being born into a digital world and is comfortable using technology.

Africa’s governments are improving business conditions for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Sub-Saharan Africa’s World Bank Doing Business rank has improved from 45 in 2004 to 65 in 2020. Tingo believes this trend will continue and encourage establishment of more new ventures across all economic sectors, including agriculture.

Africa attracted $407 billion of Foreign Direct Investments (“FDI”) between 2014 and 2018. Investments are increasingly focused on services and industrial sectors. Only 20 percent of investments are in extractive industries – a clear reversal from 2008, when 55 percent of FDI was aimed at resource extraction. Tingo believes FDI into Africa will help resolve significant infrastructure constraints and create value for agribusiness.

Management Team

Dozy Mmobuosi is the CEO of Tingo. He cofounded Tingo Mobile PLC (Nigeria) in 2001 and led the design and launch of Nigeria’s first SMS banking solution, which is still in use in the country today. He also headed a team of more than 120 Chinese and Nigerian engineers in the construction of two mobile phone assembly plants in Nigeria, which have produced and distributed 20 million phones across the country. He has led Tingo’s growth to more than $600 million in revenue annually. He holds a Ph.D. in Rural Advancement from UPM Malaysia.

Dakshesh Patel is the CFO of Tingo. He was formerly CFO of NatWest’s Global Debt and Investment Banking division. He has served as a Director at Gerken Capital Associates, a San Francisco-based alternative asset fund manager. He also led the restructure of Lloyds Banking Group (last financial crisis); managed integration of two leading shipping groups’ global treasury function to create world-leading shipping group Maersk Shipping; built three fintech companies; and exited one to Worldpay. Mr. Patel has strong banking experience, with a focus on Africa. He is a chartered accountant.

Chris Cleverly is president of Tingo. He has served as CEO of the Made in Africa Foundation, and as CEO of blockchain payments gateway startup Kamari. He has been a board member of several companies, both public and private, in the UK, India, China and Africa. He has advised multiple UK companies on their entrance into African markets, and regularly advises the UK Government on development issues and African governments on investment issues.

Clarence Simms is the Chief Technology Officer at Tingo. He has 25 years of IT and IT management experience. He has worked in IT Shared Services Technical Operations and IT Program Management for Huawei Technologies and MTN. As an entrepreneur, he created Africaprepay.com, a service that allows African Diaspora travelers to send airtime, pay bills, send mobile money and transfer money to a bank account from anyplace in the world.

Rory Bowen is the Chief of Staff at Tingo. Mr. Bowen started his career in traditional capital and derivatives markets working for Moneycorp and Tradition UK in European and emerging markets across FX, interest rate derivative and government bond markets. He has also spent time with one of Europe’s fastest growing fintech’s banking circles. Before joining Tingo, he was Chief of Staff at FinTech Alliance, an organization established in partnership with the UK Government Department for International Trade to foster innovation, growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the financial services sector and facilitate greater public/private cooperation.

Tingo Inc. (OTCQB: TMNA), closed Friday's trading session at $2.49, up 0.004016%, on 3,849 volume with 9 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 3,849 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.01/$8.98.

Recent News

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Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI).

Correlate Infrastructure Partners (OTCQB: CIPI) is at the forefront of the burgeoning portfolio energy optimization industry, currently valued at $290 billion in the United States alone. “So far, over 5.9 million commercial buildings in the country need retrofitting to get their emissions down, presenting a tremendous opportunity for organizations in this space…. Through its two principal subsidiaries, Correlate and Solar Site Design, the company offers a complete suite of proprietary clean energy assessment and fulfillment solutions, particularly for the commercial real estate industry,” a recent article reads. “Today, commercial buildings consume over 45% of generated electricity in the United States, posting gross underperformance in energy efficiency at every level. Consequently, there is a growing need to explore alternatives, improve efficiency, and reduce overreliance on non-renewable sources of energy. … The company’s management understands the opportunity in the market today and is positioning itself to capitalize on it and achieve growth in value for its shareholders. Through its data in proprietary analytics, concierge subscription services, and a highly scalable national fulfillment network, Correlate is not only offering opportunity to shareholders but also to clients. It is assisting building owners in profiting from fully-funded, turnkey decarbonization and facility health programs without incurring high upfront costs.” To view the full article, visit https://ibn.fm/x8yBq

Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI), formerly Triccar Inc., through its two subsidiaries, Correlate and Solar Site Design, offers a complete suite of proprietary clean energy assessment and fulfilment solutions for the commercial real estate industry. The company believes scaling distributed clean energy solutions is critical in mitigating the effects of climate change. CIPI is at the forefront in creating an industry-leading energy solution and financing platform for the commercial and industrial sector. The company sees tremendous market opportunity in reducing site-specific energy consumption and deploying clean energy generation and energy efficiency solutions at scale.

The opportunity exists to remove friction between today’s legacy finance process and the needed clean-energy upgrades developed within the company’s program technologies. For the U.S. to reach its 2050 carbon goals, 200,000 commercial buildings must be retrofitted every year until that date. That represents approximately a 5-10x increase over the 2022 industry process run rate.

CIPI announced completion of its acquisition of 100% of the equity of Correlate Inc. and Loyal Enterprises LLC dba Solar Site Design on December 28, 2021. The company notes these acquisitions occurred at a key inflection point of its growth. CIPI currently enjoys channel and sales partnerships with Fortune 250 companies and a strong, proven industry network.

The company’s transparent, leading-edge model changes value delivery for both facility owners and proven solution providers seeking scale. CIPI believes its rapid growth is due to industry demand for actionable, cashflow positive energy programs and the underlying carbon reduction mandates taking effect globally.

CIPI has filed with the SEC for a name change to Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc., which will more closely reflect its new platform and growth focus. The company has been aggressively moving to rebrand, with efforts including a revised website, investor presentation materials and an investor relations awareness campaign. The company’s shares will continue to trade on the OTCQB Venture Market under the current ‘CIPI’ ticker symbol until changes are approved.

Subsidiaries

Correlate, founded in 2015, is a portfolio-scale development and finance platform offering commercial and industrial facilities access to clean electrification solutions focused on locally-sited solar, energy storage, EV infrastructure, and intelligent efficiency measures. Its unique data-driven approach is powered by proprietary analytics, concierge subscription services, and a highly scalable national fulfillment network to help building owners profit from fully funded, turnkey decarbonization and facility health programs. The platform is designed for commercial and industrial real estate owners seeking to significantly improve net operating income while meeting carbon reduction goals. The platform provides energy programs for commercial property portfolios and requires no upfront capital. Client organizations reduce their risk and generate more profits by leveraging Correlate’s unique payment programs to put more cash in the bank. Deploying Correlate’s strategic energy programs and energy management systems allows property-owning organizations to complete big energy changes across their portfolios.

Solar Site Design, founded in 2013, is a U.S. Department of Energy Sunshot Catalyst winner that provides customer acquisition and project development tools for the commercial solar industry. Its commercial marketplace platform connects highly qualified project opportunities to leading solar construction companies nationwide. The Solar Site Design platform gives commercial and industrial property owners access to the best price for a commercial solar system. Commercial solar analysts provide property owners a site assessment and working project proposal. Solar Site Design’s team of solar engineers finalize the design while approved financing providers help clients explore financing options for their projects. Then, approved contractors in Solar Site Design’s Marketplace bid on the projects, ensuring commercial and industrial property owners get the best estimates for their projects. Solar Site Design’s marketplace process promotes transparency and fair pricing. Its team of experts has nearly 20 years of experience in the solar industry. Only reputable, experienced, certified (NABCEP), licensed, bonded and insured contractors are accepted into the Solar Site Design Marketplace.

Market Outlook

CIPI is in a rapidly growing market with a unique offering to address a total market of more than 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Currently, the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Correlate and the Solar Site Design, have an opportunity pipeline of over $100 million in commercial projects with more than $20 million in awarded backlog. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, portfolio energy optimization is a $290 billion market in the United States driving deep financial savings and energy efficiency across the commercial sector.

Commercial buildings consume more than 35% of the generated electricity in the U.S. and are underperforming in energy efficiency at every level. These buildings waste energy, emit too much carbon, and are too costly for owners and occupants, but retrofits are not happening at the rate or scale needed.

In today’s real estate market, portfolio property owners own most commercial buildings. Yet most building efficiency work is focused on single buildings, thereby missing the distinct needs of this owner class which has very different needs than traditional owner-occupiers. The diverse nature of commercial buildings, combined with technology and performance uncertainty, make simple energy optimization initiatives – which could greatly reduce energy use and improve building value – financially unattractive, resulting in slow adoption rates. CIPI’s financial instruments and software breakdown this issue known as the “split incentive”, unlocking the majority of the addressable market.

Management Team

CIPI has in place a nationally recognized management team that has been active in the energy market since 2005.

Todd Michaels is President and CEO of CIPI and founder of Correlate. He formerly served as Vice President for Innovation at SunEdison and Senior Director Distributed Solar at NRG Energy. He founded Correlate in 2015 and has 16 years of experience in the energy industry. He graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems.

Channing Chen is CFO at CIPI and Correlate Inc. and brings over 16 years of experience in the solar industry as a developer, financier, and business unit leader. He has held executive management roles at Solar Power Partners (acquired by NRG Energy), where he was a founding employee, SunEdison, and NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG). Most recently, Mr. Chen was founder and Managing Partner at Breakaway Energy Partners LLC – a distributed energy financing and market-making platform. To date, Mr. Chen and his teams have raised over $1.5 billion in financing across residential, commercial, and utility scale solar and energy storage projects representing over 400 MWs. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA from the University of Southern California. He is also an advisor and early-stage investor to several startup companies in the renewable energy space.

David Bailey is Chief Revenue Officer of Correlate Inc. With over 15 years of executive sales, supply chain management, and energy efficiency experience, he is responsible for ensuring the success of the National Commercial Sales Unit across multiple regional project teams. Mr. Bailey created and launched the Transformation Services team while at Wesco for its multibillion-dollar Distributed Energy Resource division, formerly Westinghouse. His focus was on IoT-enabled efficiency and plant floor automation-based services. Before that, he spent several years in Global Account Sales Management, with GE Supply as a Program Manager, and is a Commercial Leadership Program graduate. Mr. Bailey received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.

Jason Loyet is VP of Commercial Sales of Correlate Inc. He is a cleantech executive with over 20 years of experience leading high growth solar energy and software start-ups. Mr. Loyet is a U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Catalyst award winner for his work building the Solar Site Design technology platform. Before joining the solar energy industry in 2005, he founded and sold two software companies in the streaming media (GlobalStreams) and newspaper publishing (MyCapture) industries. Mr. Loyet currently serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Solar Energy Industry Association (TenneSEIA).

Deke Welling is Head of Project Development and Fulfillment Services at Correlate Inc. He has over 19 years’ experience in the energy industry with an emphasis on renewables and energy efficiency over the past seven years. Prior to entering the renewables sector, Mr. Welling was the CEO of Welling Resources, an energy development company focused on the exploration of oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. It was this experience that led him into the renewables sector and leading a charge for more sustainable resources. Additionally, Mr. Welling also served as the CEO of Circle L Solar Inc., a top 100 solar installer in the United States since 2016. Through his leadership, Circle L Solar experienced a growth rate of over 2,250% from 2016 to 2019, resulting in his company being listed on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. (Rank #176) and being named ‘Top Energy Company’ and ‘Entrepreneur of Year for the Energy Industry’ by the American Business Awards® in 2019 and again for ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2021.

Kevin Warren is Head of Construction and Development Engineering at Correlate Inc. He is a solar veteran with over 12 years of experience in the field. Prior to co-founding CLS, Mr. Warren was the owner of Beacon Consulting and has originated, consulted, designed and/or engineered over 122 MW of PV installations ranging from small commercial to utility scale projects throughout Texas, California, Colorado and North Carolina. He holds a Photovoltaic Technical Sales Professional Certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners and certifications from Solar Energy International in PV Installation, PV Technical Sales, PV battery-based design, PV design and engineering, and PV operations and maintenance. Along with PV expertise, Mr. Warren is a LEED Green Building Associate, a certified building analyst from the Building Performance Institute, a Certified Renewable Energy Professional from the Association of Energy Engineers and holds a designation in High-Performance Sustainable Buildings from the BOMI Institute. He studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Tom Kunhardt is Director of Customer Success at Correlate. He previously held a similar position at Clean.Tech and was Corporate Trainer, Learning & Development, at NRG Energy. He has 15 years of experience in the solar and clean energy industries helping homeowners and businesses find solutions to their energy needs. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI), closed Friday's trading session at $1.4, up 33.3333%, on 200 volume with 2 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 200 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.07/$3.25.

Recent News

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Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO).

New research has found that the national economic burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) exceeds the costs of other mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Researchers estimate the cost of post-traumatic stress disorder for 2018 to be roughly $232 billion. They highlighted the need for more effective therapies, to increase awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder, and for the expansion of new strategies to decrease the economic and clinical burden of mental health disorders. As various companies such as Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO) focus on developing new lines of mental health treatments, patients can only hope that there is a breakthrough sooner rather than later.

Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO), a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company, is focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research for people suffering from indications such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other rare neurological disorders. Silo’s mission is to identify assets to license and fund research that the company believes will be transformative to the wellbeing of patients and the health care industry.

Silo is committed to developing innovative solutions to address a variety of underserved conditions. Combining Silo’s resources with world-class medical research partners, the company looks to make significant advances in the medical and psychedelic space.

Silo works to identify and partner with leading medical universities, providing the needed financial resources to develop safe therapeutic treatments while moving cutting-edge research through the clinical stage and into commercialization. The company is well-capitalized with access to additional funds as opportunities present themselves.

Silo recently engaged Donohoe Advisory Associates LLC for consulting and advisory services in connection with the potential uplisting of Silo’s common shares to the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Research

Silo has entered into research agreements and partnerships with multiple leading medical universities.

The company is involved in a sponsored study with Maastricht University utilizing repeated low doses of ketamine and psilocybin to examine the effects on cognitive and emotional dysfunctions in Parkinson’s disease and to understand its mechanism of action. The investigator in the Netherlands is acquiring the substances for the study and will then finalize the documentation to submit to the ethics committee.

Additionally, in June 2021, Silo announced its entry into a scientific research agreement with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The agreement will leverage four other clinical trials being planned by the university to determine the effects of psilocybin on inflammation. The study will take place at The Translational Psychedelic Research (TrPR) Program at UCSF.

Silo also recently extended its exclusive option agreement with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to explore a novel invention generally known as joint-homing peptides. These peptides are being developed for use in the investigation and treatment of arthritogenic processes and can be used for enhanced targeting of therapeutic agents.

This agreement includes the study of two separate peptides. The first is an option and study for the treatment of arthritis. The second is a patented licensed peptide for the central nervous system, with an initial study for MS autoimmune diseases, in addition to rheumatoid arthritis. Animal studies are underway for both initial indications relating to the UMB agreement, with the potential for studies evaluating additional indications in the future.

Finally, Silo signed an agreement with Columbia University granting it an option to license certain assets currently under development, including an Alzheimer’s disease formulation targeting NDMARs and 5-HT4Rs, as well as a prophylactic treatment for stress-induced disorders and PTSD. Both candidates are currently being tested in mice and have already provided early data.

In addition to its university partnerships, Silo entered a joint venture agreement with Zylo Therapeutics Inc. (“ZTI”) focused on the development of ketamine and psilocybin using ZTI’s Z-Pod™ technology for the transdermal time released delivery of therapeutics. In November 2021, the company announced ZTI’s reception of its first ketamine shipment and initiation of loading ketamine into its Z-Pod technology. In a news release, Eric Weisblum, CEO of Silo, called the development an “important milestone” that will help the company “study the benefits of slow-release transdermal release of Ketamine.”

Market Overview

According to Coherent Market Insights, the fibromyalgia treatment market was valued at $2.78 billion in 2018 and has a projected CAGR of 3.3% over the forecast period 2018 to 2026. Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes pain all over the body, sleep problems, fatigue, and emotional and mental distress.

The global PTSD therapeutics market is expected to reach $10.68 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026, according to a report by Credence Research. Growing prevalence of PTSD is the chief factor driving the global treatment market. Increases in events such as wars, combat, and interpersonal violence has been a major contributing factor. Other factors like growing emphasis on rehabilitation initiatives by governments for treating their war veterans has also been facilitating the increase in demand for PTSD therapeutics.

Fortune Business Insights reports the global Parkinson’s disease treatment market is predicted to grow to $8.38 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system which primarily affects the brain, causing uncontrollable shaking and tremors, difficulties in balance and restricted body movement making it difficult for the person to function or perform a daily routine.

Management Team

Eric Weisblum is CEO and founder of Silo Pharma. He has over 25 years of Wall Street experience, most recently in the biotechnology sector. He has served on the board of Aikido Pharma and was the president of Sableridge Capital. He has a proven track record in licensing therapeutic assets and assisting in their development. He brings to the company nearly 20 years of expertise in structuring and trading financial instruments. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business.

Dr. Kevin Muñoz was appointed to the Silo board of directors in October 2020. He teaches biomedical sciences and medical intervention for the Passaic County Technical Institute. He previously served as Director of Operations at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He began his career with Harlem Health Promotion Center in New York City as a research assistant. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Medicine from Xavier University School of Medicine.

Josh Woolley, M.D., Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor for Silo. He is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also a psychiatrist on staff at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is the director and founder of the Bonding and Attunement in Neuropsychiatric Disorders Laboratory. He received both his M.D. and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSF, where he completed his psychiatry residency training.

Charles Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor for Silo Pharma. He directs the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as part of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. He was chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and clinical director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO), closed Friday's trading session at $0.1575, up 5%, on 13,190 volume with 6 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 13,190 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.12/$0.31.

Recent News

• Silo Pharma Inc. (OTCQB: SILO) - Research Highlights the High Economic Cost of PTSD
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Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC).

Hero Technologies (OTC: HENC), a cannabis company working toward a vertically integrated business model, has plans to expand into two states that have legalized cannabis — Colorado and Massachusetts. Cannabis genetic engineering, farmland for medical and recreational cannabis cultivation, production licenses, distribution licenses, consumer packaging, retail operations and dispensaries are all part of HENC’s strategic multistate model. The company owns a majority stake in BlackBox Systems and Technologies LLC. BlackBox is an aeroponic cannabis cultivation system that provides optimal growing conditions to enhance photosynthesis and cultivation of large flowering plants, creating increased harvest efficiencies. A recent article discussing the company’s growth plans reads, “HENC’s Colorado expansion will come through its wholly owned subsidiary Mile High Green LLC, while expansion in Massachusetts is planned through another wholly owned subsidiary, MassCannabis LLC.” To view the full article, visit https://cnw.fm/NymGn

Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC) is a cannabis company with a vertically integrated business model and plan that includes cannabis genetic engineering, farmland for medical and recreational cannabis cultivation, production licenses, distribution licenses, consumer packaging, retail operations and dispensaries that make the organization a multi-state operator (MSO).

The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Dover, Delaware.

Portfolio

The company holds the majority stake in BlackBox Systems and Technologies LLC, an aeroponic cannabis cultivation firm focused on providing optimal conditions to enhance photosynthesis and cultivation. Hero Technologies is planning expansion in cultivation and dispensary operations in Colorado through wholly owned subsidiary Mile High Green LLC, while expansion in Massachusetts is planned through another wholly owned subsidiary, MassCannabis LLC.

Hero Technologies also owns and operates HighlyRelaxing.com under Highly Relaxing LLC and recently acquired the assets of V Brokers LLC, now operating as Veteran Hemp Co. at VeteranHempCo.com.

BlackBox Systems and Technologies LLC

BlackBox Systems and Technologies LLC markets a proprietary cannabis aeroponic cultivation system designed for the large-scale production of top-shelf cannabis products. BlackBox offers the optimal conditions to enhance photosynthesis and promote the cultivation of large flowering plants. The system’s dry room, process room and secure storage were designed for precise control through each phase of the cannabis lifecycle. Weekly harvests are achieved using 13 separate BlackBox systems in independent modules.

The system provides a series of key benefits, including:

• High-pressure nutrient delivery, with no nutrient or PH deficiencies
• Sterile, 100% nutrient solution
• Drain to Waste (no reuse of wastewater)
• Low water usage (1 gallon per plant per day)
• Constant PH and EC in reservoirs
• Modular design (1 to 100 pods in any configuration)
• Innovative proprietary engineering
• Minimal cleanup
• Media-less growing, suspended in the air, with no media waste
• No pesticides

Highly Relaxing LLC

Highly Relaxing LLC is an emerging Henderson, Nevada-based operation dedicated to providing customers with honestly labeled, high-quality hemp-derived CBD products. Its current offerings include a topical CBD cream that provides localized relief from potential discomfort.

Veteran Hemp Co.

Veteran Hemp Co.’s mission is to provide a quality, consistent and delicious product for Americans looking to enjoy the hemp smoking experience. Its product is brought in by only the finest farming operations delivering the best genetics. Veteran Hemp Co. has its own custom harvest plans, drying facilities and all of the logistics that fall between. Veteran Hemp Co. prides itself on being a veteran-approved company.

Market Outlook

The global legal cannabis market is anticipated to reach $84 billion by 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 14.3% from 2021 to 2028. The driving factor for this forecast expansion is the increasingly widespread legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational use. Recreational use accounted for 60.3% of industry revenue in 2020.

North America provided the largest revenue share in the cannabis market, accounting for 91.1% of the global market in 2020. Due to the early legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in the region, the customer pool has increased exponentially (https://nnw.fm/snpHh).

The global CBD market was valued at $2.8 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.2% and reach $13.4 billion by 2028. North America is considered the most progressive region for cannabis and its derived products, with the highest number of CBD companies being based on the continent. The B2B (business to business) segment dominates the CBD industry, accounting for the largest revenue share at 59.6% in 2020 (https://nnw.fm/cGxXQ).

With its vertically integrated business model and development into a multi-state operator across multiple sectors of the cannabis industry, Hero Technologies is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the fast-growing market and the growing number of opportunities emerging as a result of legalization and increased popularity among consumers.

Management Team

Gina Serkasevich, CPA, CMA, is the Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of the Hero Technologies. She previously worked for Holloman Corporation as its Director of Finance beginning in June 2012 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Holloman Energy Corporation in August 2014. She has more than 30 years of domestic and international corporate accounting and finance experience. She served as U.S. Controller for EFLO Energy Inc., a company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and gas assets in North America. Prior to 2012, Ms. Serkasevich worked in the oil and gas tanker transportation industry as a Regional Financial Manager for AET Inc. Limited (2011-2012), as a Financial Consultant for OSG Ship Management Inc. (2009-2011) and as a Financial Controller/CFO for Stena Bulk LLC (1998-2008). During her 11-year tenure at Stena Bulk LLC, she established the financial, accounting and reporting requirements for its new joint ventures and tanker pools with Sonanagol USA and held the Company Secretary position on both of those companies’ boards of directors.

Dan McCarthy is the company’s Corporate Development Manager. He has spent more than 12 years in the institutional investment community, holding various investment banking and private equity executive roles. Thus far, he has been a part of over $1 billion in transactional value ranging from debt and equity to acquisitions and diversities throughout his career. Mr. McCarthy’s most recent role was Managing Director at Petro Capital, a Dallas-based private equity and investment bank. He began his career working for a private international consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., helping corporations and funds expand into non-G7 countries utilizing World Bank financing. He is also a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Business and completed the Mergers and Acquisitions program at the New York Institute of Finance.

James Rowland is Hero Technologies’ Marketing Advisor and an expert in marketing and e-commerce. He has held many high-level marketing and business-related roles. He is the Founder and current CEO of PerfectCheckout.com and the current Business Development Specialist at Fulfillment.com. Mr. Rowland has held multiple high-level positions throughout his career, which have provided him with the experience needed to bring success-backed marketing leadership skills to his current role with the company.

Hero Technologies Inc. (HENC), closed Friday's trading session at $0.0415, up 1.2195%, on 72,088 volume with 8 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 72,088 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.032/$0.113.

Recent News

• Hero Technologies Inc. (OTC: HENC) - CannabisNewsBreaks - Hero Technologies Inc. (HENC) Focused on Vertical Integration, State Expansion
• Hero Technologies Inc. (HENC) Looks to Expand as States Report $3.7B in Cannabis Recreational Tax Revenue in 2021
• Hero Technologies Inc. (HENC) Eyes Passage of Marijuana Act as Plans Include Expansion into Colorado, Massachusetts

Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD).

Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD) is a product and brand marketing company investing in operations and technologies with disruptive potential. The company is focused on collaborating with real people in real-time to identify the emerging desires and behaviors poised to unlock new opportunities and pathways for growth. Sugarmade seeks to redefine the marketplace by nurturing an innovative and compelling relationship between brand, botany and business – resulting in both undeniable consumer value and an intriguing cross-pollination of revenue sources.

The company’s core strategic plan is centered on expanding its end-market access as a central player in the growing California cannabis delivery marketplace while developing its in-house cannabis production capacity to verticalize operations in the space. Through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Sugarmade intends to develop a full farm-to-door vertically integrated cannabis business.

Brand Portfolio

Sugarmade has investments in a number of subsidiaries with active operations in the California cannabis sector. These include:

• NUG Avenue – Sugarmade owns a 70% stake in NUG Avenue, a cannabis delivery service based in Southern California providing hand-selected top-shelf products from Stiiizy, Kanha, PlugPlay and more.
• BudCars – Sugarmade is an investor in cannabis delivery service of BudCars’ first operating location in Sacramento, California. BudCars is an online-shopping experience designed to provide new customers with an easy way to discover and order cannabis products within minutes.

Acquisition of Lemon Glow Company

On May 17, 2021, Sugarmade took a major step toward closing the loop on what its management team believes to be one of the most promising vertically integrated cannabis models in the thriving California market when it announced the signing of a definitive agreement for its acquisition of Lemon Glow Company Inc.

The Lemon Glow acquisition includes 640 acres of property, 32 of which have already been designated for outdoor cannabis cultivation. Per the company’s news release, the annual potential cultivation yield at the property is estimated to be approximately 4,000 pounds of dry trimmed cannabis flower per acre per year, which represents approximately 128,000 pounds, or 64 tons, of dry trimmed cannabis flower per year in total.

Notably, Sugarmade also benefits from the acquisition in terms of team capital, as Lemon Glow executive team members will stay on and become the core management team at the cannabis cultivation site, granting the operation over 30 years of cannabis cultivation experience.

“The Lemon Glow team are tremendous additions to the Sugarmade team,” Jimmy Chan, CEO of Sugarmade, commented in announcing the definitive agreement. “They have vast experience and established skills, as well as intricate knowledge of the property and its local grow context. That’s an enormous added value proposition in this deal. We look forward to bringing them on board, ramping up operations at the property, and taking key steps toward delivering on the promise of Sugarmade’s farm-to-door vision.”

Market Opportunity

The California cannabis industry has continued to record tremendous growth since voters approved a measure to legalize recreational use of the plant in 2016. According to data from MJBizDaily, California’s legal market hit $4.4 billion in sales in 2020, up from $2.8 billion in 2019 and $1.4 billion in 2018.

Those figures highlight California’s status as the largest legal cannabis market in the world. With roughly 28 million residents over the age of 21, California is more than twice the combined size of the four states (Arizona, New Jersey, Montana and North Dakota) that legalized cannabis in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a key driver in the growth of cannabis delivery services throughout the state in 2020. One California cannabis delivery firm reported a 60% increase in new delivery customer sign-ups in the 30 days following the March 13, 2020, declaration of a national emergency. As a result of this boom, tech companies in cannabis ecommerce were able to dramatically increase their market share.
Sugarmade’s continued efforts to develop a farm-to-door vertically integrated cannabis business position it to capitalize on these trends as the California cannabis industry continues to expand moving forward.

Management

Jimmy Chan is the CEO of Sugarmade. He is an experienced business executive instrumental in growing multiple business operations with a strong expertise in international trade and banking, international manufacturing and importation. He is also the founder of CarryOutSupplies.com, a company that revolutionized the custom-printed paper supplies subsector of the quick service restaurant industry, which merged with Sugarmade in 2014.

Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD), closed Friday's trading session at $0.0005, up 25%, on 119,249,695 volume with 97 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 99.25M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.0003/$0.0042.

Recent News

• Sugarmade Inc. (OTC: SGMD) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Sugarmade Inc. (SGMD) Announces Expansion of Cannabis Delivery Business, New Distribution Model with Dining Partnership
• CannabisNewsBreaks - Sugarmade Inc. (SGMD) Establishing Competitive Advantage, Verticalizing Operations in Growing Marketplace
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Sugarmade Inc. (SGMD) Exploring Potential Move into Omakase Sushi and Cannabis Venture Space

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF).

EverGen (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF), a leading Canadian renewable energy company and Canada’s renewable natural gas (“RNG”) infrastructure platform, uses innovative systems to capture and process into RNG (energy) harmful greenhouse gases that would otherwise be emitted by organic waste. “Instead of letting methane from animal waste and other biomass sources go directly into the atmosphere, EverGen’s solutions capture the harmful gas and convert it to RNG for use in the natural gas grid. As a result, the negative impact on the environment is substantially reduced since the released greenhouse gases are materially less potent than methane. Using RNG means that the carbon already circulating in the environment is recycled instead of increased,” a recent article explains. With a business deeply rooted in its Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) values, which enable it to contribute to a sustainable future while making a meaningful impact in the communities where it operates, EverGen currently runs a compelling portfolio of three projects. “Fraser Valley Biogas is an anaerobic digestion facility that utilizes local agriculture and commercial food processing waste to generate renewable natural gas and renewable fertilizer… Net Zero Waste Abbotsford Inc. works with communities toward a Zero Waste goal by using composting technology for a cleaner and greener environment… EverGen’s Sea to Sky Soils Project is an organic waste processing facility in Pemberton, B.C., handling organics to produce high-quality soil products such as stable compost.” To view the full article, visit https://ibn.fm/VZ3No

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) is developing Canada’s Renewable Natural Gas Infrastructure Platform, starting on the west coast in British Columbia. The company is combating climate change and helping communities contribute to a sustainable future by acquiring, developing, building, owning and operating a portfolio of renewable natural gas (RNG), waste-to-energy, and related infrastructure projects.

While EverGen is currently focused on British Columbia, its continued growth is expected across other regions of North America. RNG is produced differently than conventional natural gas, without drilling wells. RNG is derived from biogas, which is captured from decomposing organic waste in landfills, food waste, agricultural waste matter and wastewater from treatment facilities. This waste feedstock is supplied to an anaerobic digester which contains bacteria that breaks down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. The resulting biogas is captured and cleaned to create carbon neutral or carbon negative RNG to be used by the existing North American gas pipeline grid. By capturing these emissions and transforming them into RNG, then combusting into CO2, the overall greenhouse gases (GHG) impact is materially less potent than allowing natural decomposition to release methane into the atmosphere. Liquid and solid digestate matter is a byproduct of the RNG production process and is used as fertilizer and in other applications.

EverGen operates three projects in British Columbia. The company was incorporated in 2020 and went public in 2021, with its common shares listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under ticker symbol ‘EVGN’. In February 2022, EverGen’s common shares began trading on the OTCQB Venture Market in the U.S. under ticker symbol ‘EVGIF’. The company is headquartered in Vancouver.

Portfolio Projects

Fraser Valley Biogas is one of three projects in EverGen’s portfolio. Located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, the facility has been digesting manure and off-farm organics since 2011 and was the first agricultural digester in Canada to produce RNG. The RNG generated through this project is part of a FortisBC program to supply renewable gas to homes, businesses and other customers. Fraser Valley Biogas also provides Abbotsford farms with renewable fertilizer via the digestate produced. EverGen acquired Fraser Valley Biogas early in 2021 and is currently enhancing and expanding the facility. These optimization projects resulted in record production during the month of September 2021, supporting the growing demand for RNG in British Columbia. Optimization activities contributed an additional 18% of RNG production for September and a 9% higher year-to-date production compared to the previous year. The facility produces approximately 80,000 gigajoules of RNG, enough to heat more than 1,000 homes for a year.

Net Zero Waste Abbotsford, a wholly owned EverGen subsidiary and portfolio project, is an existing composting and organic processing facility and RNG expansion project. The British Columbia Utilities Commission recently approved a 20-year offtake agreement between the facility and FortisBC, an electricity and gas utility. Under this agreement, FortisBC will purchase up to 173,000 gigajoules of RNG annually for injection into its natural gas system upon completion of an anaerobic digester project at Net Zero Waste Abbotsford. Once construction is complete, this project is expected to produce enough energy to meet the needs of more than 1,900 homes.

Sea to Sky Soils, a wholly owned EverGen subsidiary and portfolio project, is an existing composting and organic processing facility and potential future RNG expansion project which has been operating near Pemberton, British Columbia, on Lil’wat Nation land since 2012. The Lil’wat Nation is a key partner and supporter of the facility, which has employed a majority of its staff from the First Nation since inception. The Sea to Sky Soils facility processed approximately 160 percent of its forecast tonnage in the second half of 2021. In total, Sea to Sky Soils processed approximately 36,000 tons of organic waste in 2021. The facility is working with the Ministry of Environment to expand its operational capacity in 2022. EverGen has partnered with local municipalities – including Metro Vancouver and the municipality of Pemberton – for the delivery of additional organic waste to the facility. The facility is an important part of EverGen’s RNG infrastructure platform and serves as a source of valuable feedstock to support the company’s existing and future operations.

Market Outlook

A report from Global Market Insights states that the biogas market is projected to see significant growth over the next few years, driven by a shifting preference to utilize biogas to reduce emission levels from traditional fuels. Escalating RNG usage by gas utilities as a sustainable and low carbon alternative to supply heat and electricity in industries and buildings will further stimulate growth. RNG is increasingly deployed across the transport sector, especially for heavy vehicles and vessels, to abate GHG emissions.

Many North American gas utilities have set RNG targets of 5% to 15% of production by volume in 2030, compared to less than 1% by volume in 2020. FortisBC has a goal of including 15% RNG in its gas supply by 2030. EverGen believes this presents a potential C$16 billion+ opportunity for RNG producers.

Management Team

Chase Edgelow is co-founder and CEO at EverGen. He has over 15 years of specialized private investment, finance, and technical expertise in the energy and infrastructure sectors. His background is as a Facilities Engineer with Petro-Canada, independently managing energy infrastructure capital projects located in western Canada. He holds a Professional Engineer designation from the province of Alberta.

Mischa Zajtmann is co-founder and President at Evergen. He has 15 years of experience providing consulting and management for Canadian and American companies in the natural resources and energy space. He is a corporate securities lawyer who began his career at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. His J.D. is from the University of Saskatchewan Law School. He’s a member of the British Columbia Bar.

Sean Mezei is COO at EverGen. He has 20 years of experience in the RNG industry, having served previously as the president of Greenlane Biogas and as a senior manager at QuestAir, and founder and president of Dekany Consulting. He was a co-chairman of the American Biogas Council’s RNG working group for six years. He has been a Registered Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia since 1994.

Natasha Monk is CFO at EverGen. She is a CPA with 12 years accounting, financial reporting, and tax experience in public practice and industry. She is currently a partner at Affirm LLP, where she advises and consults to a wide variety of companies in multiple industries across public and private sectors. Prior to joining EverGen, she worked at KPMG. She graduated from the University of Calgary.

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (OTCQB: EVGIF), closed Friday's trading session at $3.14, even for the day. The average volume for the last 3 months is 1,200 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $2.78/$4.21.

Recent News

• EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) - GreenEnergyBreaks - EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) Creating Energy Resources While Solving Growing Waste Problem
• From Shell (NYSE: SHEL) to EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) Renewable Natural Gas is a Market Investors Should be Watching
• InvestorNewsBreaks - EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) to Host Update Call, Release Q4 and Year-End 2021 Financial Report

American Cannabis Partners

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight American Cannabis Partners.

American Cannabis Partners (“ACP”), a sustainable Jamaican experience canna-business innovator, currently operates in Michigan and California and is also in the process of exploring land acquisition and project development strategies for expanding operations to two more states this year. “With a total of 12 cannabis licenses, including 560,000 square feet of cultivation licenses in California and Michigan and one retail license in Michigan, ACP is committed to becoming a leader in the U.S. cannabis industry,” reads a recent article discussing the company. “ACP is focused on multiple business segments: real estate, acquisition and development of proprietary assets, and ongoing cultivation operations. Led by a seasoned management team with more than three decades of canna-business experience, ACP is guided by its strategy to capture opportunities in real estate and licensing in states that have recently passed cannabis legalization legislation, thereby equipping the company to capitalize on federal interstate commerce opportunities… Through its current cultivation operations, ACP supplies approximately 80% of its whole flower products for manufacturing, distribution and retail licenses. With the remaining 20%, the company supplies its proprietary strains to select California distributors and its own Michigan retail location under its exclusive in-house brand, ZÜK.” To view the full article, visit https://ibn.fm/XZYtL

American Cannabis Partners (ACP) is a multi-state cannabis company with 560,000 square feet of licensed canopy space for cultivation and one retail license. The company is nationally headquartered in Trinity County of Northern California’s Emerald Triangle.

ACP is focused on three complementary business segments: real estate, acquisition & development of proprietary assets, and ongoing cultivation operations. Led by a seasoned management team with 30+ years of canna-business experience, ACP’s strategy is to capture opportunities in real estate and licensing in states that have recently passed cannabis legalization legislation, thereby equipping the company to capitalize on Federal interstate commerce opportunities.

Through its current cultivation operations, ACP supplies approximately 80% of its whole flower products for manufacturing, distribution and retail licenses. With the remaining 20%, the company supplies its proprietary strains to select California distributors and its own Michigan retail location under its exclusive in-house brand, ZÜK.

History of American Cannabis Partners

In 2014, Stephen Jordan, President of ACP, took on the Director of Operations position for a U.S.-based company operating in the Jamaican cannabis space. Over the course of his three-year tenure in this role, Jordan developed a number of relationships that would help serve as the basis of American Cannabis Partners.

One such relationship was with Junior Gordon, a cultivation lead grower from Jamaica’s Westmoreland Parish. Jordan immediately saw the value of Gordon’s unique skillset and credentials, and Gordon recognized Jordan’s heartfelt vision of bringing Jamaican culture to the rapidly developing U.S. cannabis space.

Guided by that mission, ACP’s unchanging goal is to improve the lives of individuals through cannabis and business.

Current Operations

Since its founding in 2018, privately-owned American Cannabis Partners has established a foothold in two key U.S. cannabis markets – California and Michigan. In total, the company has acquired 12 cannabis licenses, including 20,000 sq. ft. of cultivation licenses in California and 540,000 sq. ft. of cultivation licenses & one retail license in Michigan.

ACP’s IP portfolio features three proprietary strains sold exclusively through the company’s wholly owned ZÜK brand, as well as proprietary data collection and mining systems supporting its cultivation and retail operations.

Plans for Expansion

American Cannabis Partners is pursuing additional growth in the cannabis sector through multiple planned initiatives. These include:

• Submitting applications for additional cultivation licenses at the company’s Trinity County, California, location;
• Planning land acquisition and project development strategies for expanding operations to its third U.S. state beginning in the second quarter of 2022; and
• Planning land acquisition and project development strategies for expanding operations to its fourth U.S. state beginning in the second quarter of 2024.

ACP is currently exploring expansion opportunities through partnerships and joint ventures in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Nevada, Arizona, Missouri and Massachusetts.

Management Team

Stephen Jordan is the CEO of American Cannabis Partners. He is focused on the first and last steps of legal cannabis – cultivation and retail. To date, Mr. Jordan has provided the company with ownership of 12 licenses, three proprietary cannabis strains and multiple real estate assets. His background in cannabis operations and financial strategies has guided American Cannabis Partners’ efforts to produce consistently high-quality product for both the medical and recreational segments. Mr. Jordan has operated under cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, medical research (Univ. of West Indies), retail and exportation licenses in multiple countries, further strengthening his network within the cannabis industry.

Gary Coltek is the company’s Chief Operating Officer. He has credentials based in the culinary, hospitality and sustainability industries spanning over 40 years, including taking three companies public. Mr. Coltek has held management positions internationally with Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Trump Hospitality, Phymatrix and International Oncology Network. For 17 years, he was the founding member and partner of a private boutique consulting firm. He is currently a guest speaker and visiting professor at universities in Israel, China, Italy, the Netherlands and Peru, covering topics that include culinary sustainability, sustainable cannabis farming, organic sustainable farming and cannabis clinical studies.

Scot C. Crow is the Lead Corporate Counsel for American Cannabis Partners. He has extensive experience in corporate mergers & acquisitions and tax law. His clients rely on him to advise them with respect to their complex financial transactions and provide outside general counsel. Mr. Crow provides his clients proactive advice with respect to sensitive management matters, litigation management, day to day transactional needs and objective assessments for the development of successful business strategies. His experience includes serving as lead counsel for numerous mergers & acquisitions, private equity investments, private offerings, venture capital financings, mezzanine debt offerings, divestures and other related transactions, with an emphasis in the legalized marijuana segment.

Jacob Frenkel is the company’s Lead Compliance Counsel. He is the current Chair of Dickinson Wright’s Government Investigations and Securities Enforcement Practice. Mr. Frenkel’s solutions-minded approach to issues has earned him a reputation as an aggressive, tenacious, creative and proactive defense lawyer and litigator. After 14 years as a Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, U.S. federal criminal prosecutor and New Orleans Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Frenkel has practiced in the private sector for 20 years. His unique mix of corporate transactional, litigation and investigations defense clients extend well beyond the cannabis industry and cover a wide range of industries worldwide.

Junior Gordon is the Director of Cultivation for American Cannabis Partners. With 30 years of international cannabis cultivation experience in both the Caribbean and United States, Mr. Gordon is recognized as one of the top growers in the world. His skills span both controlled indoor and large volume outdoor harvest programs, giving him proficiency in nursery, propagation and indoor & outdoor grow strategies. As a winner of High Times and other notable Cannabis Cups, his focus is on connecting the dots between propagation, soil, irrigation, planting, harvesting, curing, processing and inventory control, bringing Jamaican cannabis cultivation best practices to American Cannabis Partners’ operations.

Recent News

• American Cannabis Partners - InvestorNewsBreaks – American Cannabis Partners Leveraging Focus on Key Business Segments to Capture Opportunity
• InvestorNewsBreaks – American Cannabis Partners Looking to Expand to Additional States
• InvestorNewsBreaks – American Cannabis Partners Buoyed by Positive Look-Ahead Market Evaluations

Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN).

Cepton Technologies (NASDAQ: CPTN), a Silicon Valley innovator and leader in high-performance Micro Motion Technology(RM) (“MMT”) lidar solutions, announced that it anticipates releasing its 2022 first-quarter financial results on May 11, 2022; the company will also provide a business update at that time. The information will be released after market close. In addition, Cepton announced that it will hold a conference call and webcast that same day at 5 p.m. ET. Those interested in participating on the call can dial 844-826-3035 or watch the webcast live. Those unable to participate in the live event can listen to a reply of the call by dialing 844-512-2921 and entering the passcode 10166805; they can also watch a replay of the webcast on the company’s investor relations page. To view the webcast, visit https://ibn.fm/xx6rk. To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/5Hedo

Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) is a provider of state-of-the-art, intelligent, lidar-based solutions serving a range of markets, including automotive (ADAS/AV), smart cities, smart spaces and smart industrial applications. General Motors (NYSE:GM) has granted a series production award for Cepton’s lidar, the biggest such award to date in the automotive space. Cepton’s is the lidar component of GM’s Ultra Cruise autonomous driving platform. By leveraging its patented Micro Motion Technology (MMT®) lidar platform, the company develops reliable, scalable and cost-effective solutions that deliver long-range, high-resolution 3D perception for smart applications.

Cepton was established in 2016 by co-founders Dr. Jun Pei and Dr. Mark McCord. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, and serves a fast-growing customer base through an international presence spanning North America, Germany, Japan, India and China.

Micro Motion Technology (MMT®)

Cepton was built from the ground up to meet key lidar industry challenges for mass market adoption. This company’s portfolio of proprietary technology is uniquely aimed at facilitating this industry growth through a combination of performance, reliability, affordability and design integration.

Key among its innovations is MMT®, a mirrorless, frictionless, rotation-free 3D imaging platform designed specifically for lidars. Its benefits for OEMs and system integrators include:

• Reliability – The durable design uses common, easily attainable materials.
• Versatility – The platform is capable of achieving near- to ultra-long range with a wide field of view.
• Efficiency – MMT® features a compact form factor, low power usage and inexpensive components.
• Scalability – Its simple design means that scale-up to high manufacturing volumes is easily attainable.

Because of their compact form factor, Cepton lidars are embeddable and ideally suited for advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) integration, whether behind windshield, in headlamp or in fascia.

Agreement with KOITO

KOITO Manufacturing Co. Ltd., the world’s premier Tier 1 auto lighting supplier, originally started an evaluation of Cepton’s MMT® based lidars in 2018. In 2020, KOITO made an investment in Cepton aimed at accelerating the company’s development and enabling KOITO’s industrialization of high-performance and high reliability lidar sensors for ADAS and autonomous vehicle (AV) applications.

Through this collaboration, Cepton was able to secure the largest ADAS lidar series production award[1] with General Motors as a sole source in the automotive space. The award covers GM vehicles for the initial period of 2023-2027.

On August 5, 2021, the two companies deepened their relationship when KOITO committed to invest a further $50 million in Cepton’s business through its participation in a Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) offering of shares of common stock of Growth Capital Acquisition Corp. in connection with Cepton’s recent merger.

Collaboration with GM

On July 13, 2021, Cepton announced that it had secured an ADAS lidar series production award from a leading, Detroit-based global automotive OEM – the biggest lidar production award by any OEM to any lidar company. It was later clarified that the OEM was General Motors, and Cepton’s lidar is part of GM’s ADAS Ultra Cruise system.

GM is “expected to deploy Cepton lidars in its next generation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) across multiple vehicle classes and models – not just luxury cars.” As such, the agreement marks the potential for “an industry-first, mass-market adoption of lidar technology for automotive ADAS, with an anticipated deployment in consumer vehicles starting in 2023.”

On July 28, 2021, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) distributed an article on Medium noting, “Ford has been engaged with Cepton almost since their inception in 2016, both for R&D collaboration and small-scale deployments. Cepton LiDAR are deployed in some of [Ford’s] smart city projects. Based on Ford’s guidance, Cepton delivered a custom version of their LiDAR to enable R&D on advanced ADAS features.”

Market Outlook

Driven by increasing development and adoption in automobile safety applications, environmental mapping and 3D-modeling, the global lidar market is forecast to experience considerable growth over the coming years. A research report published by MarketsAndMarkets suggests that the sector will grow to an estimated $3.4 billion by 2026, achieving a CAGR of 21.6% over the next five years.

The report further highlights increasing investments in lidar startups by automotive giants as a driver of growth opportunities in the sector, particularly in North America.

In 2020, ground-based lidar accounted for the lion’s share of the overall lidar market, and this trend is expected to continue as the automotive sector continues to rapidly advance adoption across the full spectrum of vehicle classes. One factor not to be underestimated is the high barrier of entry and the exceptionally long time required for automotive OEMs to vet and award a production win to a lidar company. It is a commonly held view that the over 50 lidar companies will inevitably coalesce into a handful serving all OEMs.

Cepton, having a head start through its established partnership with leading global OEM GM, is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this market growth in the years to come.

Management Team

Cepton’s founder-led team is made up of lidar industry pioneers with decades of collective experience across advanced lidar and imaging technologies.

Jun Pei, Ph.D., is the company’s CEO and Co-Founder. He is a technology specialist with a focus in optics and electronics. Prior to founding Cepton, Dr. Pei founded AEP Technology, a firm focused on developing advanced 3D optical instruments. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Mark McCord, Ph.D., is Cepton’s CTO and Co-Founder. Prior to founding Cepton, he led advanced development at KLA-Tencor. Dr. McCord also formerly served as an associate professor at Stanford University, where he earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering.

Winston Fu, Ph.D., is the company’s CFO. Dr. Fu is the founder of Silicon Valley venture capital firm LDV Partners. Prior to joining Cepton, he served as CFO and Chairman of Active-Semi before its acquisition. Dr. Fu has also helped to build many technology companies as an entrepreneur and/or board member. He received his Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University, as well as an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

[1] Largest known ADAS lidar series production award based on number of vehicle models awarded

Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN), closed Friday's trading session at $3.05, off by 1.6129%, on 83,850 volume with 993 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 83,127 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $2.78/$80.16.

Recent News

• Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Cepton Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) Schedules Release of Q1 2022 Financial Report, Conference Call
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) Using Innovative Solutions to Transform Transportation Infrastructure, Public Venues, Large Commercial Facilities
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Cepton Inc. (NASDAQ: CPTN) Appoints Seasoned Lawyer as General Counsel

Lottery.com Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRY)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Lottery.com Inc. (LTRY).

Lottery.com Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRY) is a next generation platform where consumers can play the lottery online – in browser or via smartphone app. The platform offers users access to official lottery games sanctioned by their individual states and also provides lottery data to more than 400 digital publishers, including Google and Amazon Alexa.

Lottery.com was founded in 2015, launching at the LAUNCH festival and soon turning into a leader in the industry. With headquarters in Austin, Texas, the company is dedicated to helping advance the lottery industry into the digital age and works closely with state regulatory bodies to achieve this goal.

The company recently entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination with special purpose acquisition company Trident Acquisitions Corp. (NASDAQ: TDAC) (“Trident”), which will result in Lottery.com becoming a publicly listed company. Once the transaction is complete, the combined company will be trademarked as Lottery.com, with its common stock to remain listed on Nasdaq under ticker symbol ‘LTRY’.

Lottery.com Online Platform

The Lottery.com online platform works closely with state regulators, advancing the lottery into the digital age. With the online platform, the company offers enhanced regulatory capabilities by leveraging innovative blockchain technology and capturing the untapped market of digitally native players.

Players go online in a browser or through a mobile application to use the interface. The process includes:

• Players Choose a Game: Players can play officially state sanctioned multi-state games and other games offered in the states in which they live. Players can also find winning numbers, jackpot totals, draw dates and more for hundreds of other lottery games around the world.
• Players Pick Numbers: Players can play their lucky numbers or do a quick pick of randomized numbers in as simple as two taps. “Tap, Tap, Ticket!”
• A Safe and Secure Way to Play: Purchases for up to 50 tickets can be made at one time through the online interface. Lottery.com handles everything after purchase, letting users know when they win.
• Collect All Winnings: Consumers keep 100% of their winnings. All winnings stay in the Lottery.com balance for future ticket purchases, or a cashout can be requested. Company representatives contact winners who hit big jackpots, instructing them on the redemption process.

A Better Way to Play the Lottery

Lottery.com has an innovative e-commerce platform that is using blockchain to maintain an accurate ledger. From 2016 to 2020, Lottery.com grew gross revenue at a CAGR of 363%, and it forecasts gross revenue equal to approximately $71 million in 2021, $279 million in 2022, and $571 million in 2023.

Lottery.com is leveraging a successful playbook, with $398 billion in global lottery sales but only 6.7% online penetration. The large market opportunity is expected to shift to online transactions within the next decade.

The platform is currently available in 12 states across the United States, and the company plans to expand to 34 by the end of 2023. Global expansion is also on the horizon, with partnership plans in Turkey and Ukraine.

Key features that make the Lottery.com experience unique include:

• All the Games Users Love – For consumers who live in applicable LIVE states, Powerball and Mega Millions are available right from the mobile application.
• Convenience – Lottery.com makes playing the lottery on mobile devices easy. After setting up an account, users can begin playing in moments or set reminders to play when the jackpot is high.
• Easy Cashouts – Users can cash out winnings straight to a bank account, safely and securely, with no commissions.

The company is also gamifying charitable giving, fundamentally changing how nonprofits engage with donors and raise funds. WinTogether.org is a platform designed to offer charitable donation sweepstakes to incentivize donors to take action by offering large cash prizes and once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Strong Advisory Board Presence

Lottery.com is expected to continue to gain support, leaning on the experience of its advisory board and notable investors from the venture capital, gaming and entertainment industries. These include:

• Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG)
• Ben Narasin, Venture Partner of NEA
• Peter Diamandis, Chairman of XPRIZE Foundation
• Matthew Le Merle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Fifth Era and Keiretsu Capital
• Paraag Marathe, President of Enterprises and EVP of Football Operations for the San Francisco 49ers
• Jamie Gold, The Poker Philanthropist

Management Team

Tony DiMatteo is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lottery.com. He is a serial entrepreneur and highly sought-after industry speaker and thought leader. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, VentureBeat, TechCrunch Inc. and more for his approach to entrepreneurship, the gaming industry and cryptocurrency.

Matt Clemenson is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Lottery.com. He is responsible for the company’s strategy. Mr. Clemenson was steeped in corporate and enterprise engineering processes at Hotwire and Expedia before going on to be CEO at LesConcierges, the world’s largest concierge company, which merged into John Paul and sold to Accor Hotels. Clemenson and DiMatteo have been partners for more than 10 years.

Ryan Dickinson is the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer. He has a diverse background in business, technology, product, design and sales, which has aided him in producing many successful outcomes throughout his career. Notably, as Senior Vice President of a SaaS company, Mr. Dickinson produced profitability from a negative $1.4 million division within the first year by reinventing the product offerings, streamlining processes and establishing a go-to-market strategy. Additionally, he produced three record breaking revenue years in a row for AccuWeather, the world’s largest weather provider, by increasing every KPI for all flagship properties by no less than 5%.

Luc Vanhal is the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He has served in C-level executive roles since the 1990s, including a nine-year tenure for The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) from 1990 to 1999. From 2001 to 2004, he managed the development of the World of Warcraft massively multiplayer game, which, by the end of 2020, still had over five million active subscribers. As the CFO of Lottery.com, Mr. Vanhal leads the company’s global finance organization, with treasury responsibility, accounting, analysis and financial planning.

Lottery.com Inc. (LTRY), closed Friday's trading session at $2.38, off by 7.0312%, on 328,628 volume with 1,752 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 328,628 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $2.32/$17.50.

Recent News

• Lottery.com Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRY) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Lottery.com (NASDAQ: LTRY) Releases Q4, Full-Year Results
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Lottery.com (NASDAQ: LTRY) Announces Upcoming Q4, Full-Year Results Conference Call
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Lottery.com (NASDAQ: LTRY) Announces Strategic Board and Executive Appointments

Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC).

Flora Growth’s (NASDAQ: FLGC) executives Luis Merchan and James Choe are scheduled to participate at the upcoming Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference. The two-day event is scheduled for May 5–6, 2022, in New York City. The premier B2B CBD, hemp and cannabis event — the first of its kind — is an ideal venue to shine a spotlight on FLGC’s impressive line of lifestyle products and brands. The conference is designed to bring together premium CBD, hemp and cannabis brands and their founders with representatives from top mainstream retailers, global media, leading dispensaries and investors. Flora Growth is a leading all-outdoor cannabis cultivator and manufacturer. Flora Growth CEO Merchan will be involved in the first offering of the conference, the Business Insider Live at LMCC 2022: New York Is Ready for Youevent hosted by Business Insider’s Yeji Jesse Lee and Jeremy Berke. Choe, the company’s chief strategy officer, will participate in a panel scheduled for the second day of the conference. Panel members are slated to discuss essential insights into the voice of the cannabis consumer. “We are looking forward to sharing our excitement for the global opportunity of CBD, hemp and cannabis with other business leaders and industry experts at the Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference in New York,” said Flora Growth CEO Luis Merchan in the press release. “We’re continuing to execute on our strategy to build a global house of brands servicing consumers across the globe, and firmly believe the future of cannabis has a meaningful place in the luxury retail market.” To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/HTysX. A bipartisan pair of attorneys general from Ohio and Colorado recently penned a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate urging the chamber to quickly pass a bill protecting financial institutions that accept marijuana businesses as clients in states that have regulated marijuana markets. This letter from Ohio AG Dave Yost and Colorado AG Philip Weiser is the latest in a series of communications imploring legislators to expeditiously pass the SAFE Banking Act, which seems to be caught in a vicious cycle of being passed by the House of Representatives and then stalling in the Senate. The federal legalization of marijuana would allow established companies such as Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) to expand quickly across the country and serve a lot more people with their skin-care, pharmaceuticals and wellness products, in addition to serving the international market.

Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) is an internationally focused cannabis brand builder that leverages natural, cost-effective cultivation practices to supply cannabis derivatives to its diverse business divisions, including cosmetics, hemp textiles, and food and beverage. Flora Growth operates one of the largest outdoor cultivation facilities in the world with an aim of marketing a higher-quality premium product at below-market prices. By prioritizing natural ingredients and value-chain sustainability across its portfolio, the company creates premium products that help consumers restore and thrive.

Flora Growth completed the first traditional cannabis IPO on Nasdaq in May 2021. Although currently headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with plans to relocate its head office to Miami, Florida, the company’s base of operations is in Colombia, where it has built an extensive distribution network that includes Colombia’s largest distributors.

Currently, Flora Growth is organically growing market share for its existing brand portfolio (pharmaceuticals, textiles, cosmetics, and food & beverage) while seeking revenue-generating acquisitions that offer an accretive distribution network to amplify revenue growth.

Existing Brand & Product Portfolio

Flora Growth’s portfolio spans a number of verticals – each with a thoughtful brand designed to resonate with its intended end consumer. In line with the company’s mission, each brand prioritizes natural ingredients and value-chain sustainability.

Flora Lab S.A.S

Flora Lab is the company’s GMP certified manufacturing and R&D center focused on producing pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals for domestic and international markets. Its offerings include product lines that are private label, white-label, and custom formulas.

Through Flora Lab, Flora Growth has relationships with 1,500+ distribution channels, manufactures 63+ OTC products registered with INVIMA (Colombia National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute), and holds multiple GMP certifications enabling international export in an effort to leverage Flora Lab’s capacity to produce a wide range of CBD-infused products.

Flora Beauty

Flora Beauty is the company’s CBD beauty and cosmetics division founded by fashion and beauty industry icon Paulina Vega. Its current offerings include two CBD skincare brands targeting the U.S. and Latin American markets – MIND NATURALS and AWE. These lines exemplify Flora Growth’s socially conscious approach to business.

Currently, Flora Beauty products are offered globally through e-commerce, as well as through Falabella’s 111 retail locations across Latin America. The company is in negotiations with major department stores to launch the line in the U.S. and is also exploring opportunities in the U.K. and other European markets.

KASA Wholefoods

KASA Wholefoods is a Colombian manufacturer of food and beverages leveraging responsibly sourced exotic fruits from the Amazon. KASA has a $10 million+ distribution agreement with Tropi, Colombia’s largest food distributor, which has 130,000+ distribution points across the country.

Mambe, KASA’s leading brand, is already offered through over 980 distribution points across Colombia. Flora Growth expects this network to grow to over 1,200 distribution points in 2021, including one of Colombia’s largest coffee chains, Tostao Café & Pan.

Hemp Textiles & Co.

Through its Hemp Textiles division, Flora Growth intends to utilize its large land package and cultivation infrastructure to capture market share in the rapidly growing hemp industrials segment.

The company’s first brand through this division, Stardog Loungewear, offers a line of comfortable loungewear made from natural, organic materials. Stardog has been distributing globally through e-commerce and brick and mortar channels in Bogota since fall 2020, and the company intends to open U.S. brick and mortar locations in 2021.

Accretive M&A

Flora Growth is targeting transactions to complete the supply chain via key infrastructure to enhance its global distribution with the aim to compete on low-cost, high-quality inputs paired with premium brands that create business lines with robust margins.

To date, Flora has announced two major transactions.

Koch & Gsell (Acquisition)

• Amplify CPG portfolio’s revenue growth through leading brand, Heimat, currently with TTM revenues of $7.6 million.
• Leverage Koch &Gsell’s distribution network of 2,500+ stores to introduce Flora to the Swiss, European and Asian markets.
• Bring patented hemp cigarette manufacturing technology into new markets utilizing Flora’s high-quality cannabis.

Hoshi International (Investment)

• Equity Investment of €2 million into Hoshi to establish Flora as a preferred supplier to two EU processing facilities.
• Opens gateway for Flora Growth’s cannabis through international distribution agreements in the EU and U.K.
• Hoshi’s experienced team and increased access to the EU cannabis market to serve as a catalyst for revenue growth.

Cultivation

Key to Flora Growth’s expansion efforts is its cultivation strategy. The company’s Cosechemos farm, located in Bucaramanga, Colombia, is currently licensed to cultivate 247 acres of cannabis. Through three successful pilot crop plantings, the location has demonstrated a production cost of just $0.06/gram. For comparison, the average cost of North American cannabis (based on 2019 figures from Aphria, Tilray, Sundial, and Aurora) equates to roughly $1.89/gram.
Flora Growth is uniquely positioned to capitalize on Colombia’s favorable growing conditions, low-cost infrastructure, and affordable local workforce as it looks to ramp up its cultivation efforts moving forward.

Leadership Team

Bernard Wilson is the Chairman of Flora Growth. A senior financial professional, Dr. Wilson is the former Vice-Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and is the Chairman of the Founders Board of the Institute of Corporate Directors. He has also served as Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce – Canada; and Member of the Canada/U.S. Trade Committee. Dr. Wilson draws on this experience to ensure Flora Growth adheres to effective corporate governance practices.

Luis Merchan is the company’s President and CEO. He is a proven executive with over a decade of experience in enterprise sales management, corporate strategy, merchandising and expense management, and customer experience. Mr. Merchan previously served as Macy’s Inc.’s Vice President of Workforce Strategy and Operations, where he managed the enterprise’s multi-billion-dollar P&L expense line for the entire 540 store portfolio. Throughout his tenure at Macy’s, he led various sales and marketing initiatives, including the B2B corporate sales team that was responsible for $160 million in annual revenue. Mr. Merchan obtained his Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from Pontifical Xaverian University in Bogota, Colombia, and his MBA from McNeese State University. He also holds a Graduate Certificate in Marketing Management from Harvard.

Juan Manuel Galan is a Strategic Advisor to the Flora Growth management team. Mr. Galan currently serves as a senior consultant to The World Bank. He is a politician and former senator of Colombia, serving three terms from 2006 to 2018 as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. He is also a former professor at the University of Rosario and holds more than 20 years of journalistic, academic, governmental and parliamentary experience. During his time as a senator, Mr. Galan was a key leader, with 29 bills and 27 debates on political control, and 17 laws to his name. The most relevant of those laws was authoring the medical cannabis law that resulted in the legalization of medical cannabis in Colombia.

Stan Bharti is a Director of Flora Growth. Mr. Bharti currently serves as Executive Chairman of Forbes & Manhattan. He has more than 30 years of professional experience in business, finance, markets, operations and more, with a focus on the resource and technology sectors. To date, Mr. Bharti has amassed over $3 billion worth of investment capital for the companies with which he has worked and their shareholders. He is a Professional Mining Engineer and holds a master’s degree in engineering from Moscow, Russia, and University of London, England.

Javier Franco is the company’s VP of Agriculture. Mr. Franco is a master horticulturist with more than 25 years of experience in the design, implementation, and management of cultivation and propagation facilities of more than 30 species of cut flowers in Latin America. He completed his agricultural studies at Zamorano University in Honduras and later at an International Exchange Program at Ohio State University. Mr. Franco has directed technical, commercial, and research groups in the cut flower, fruit and vegetable markets in Latin America and has participated in the commercial development of new technologies applied in agribusiness. He has also led the agri-management of organic crops and certifications of Good Agricultural Practices.

Flora Growth Corp. (FLGC), closed Friday's trading session at $1.5, off by 2.5974%, on 208,927 volume with 1,091 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 207,177 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.31/$21.45.

Recent News

• Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) to Participate in Luxury Meets Cannabis Conference
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) Achieves Integration Milestone with First-Ever Sourcing of Its CBD into Market-Ready Products
• 420 with CNW - Marijuana Firms Boost Online Sales by Leveraging UX Design

Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (OTCQX: RWBYF).

• Red White & Bloom and its wholly owned subsidiary RWB Michigan LLC recently announced the rollout of Platinum Vape(TM) Live Resin in Michigan
• The debut marks the company’s entry into the live resin in Michigan, which yield higher margins than the company’s existing distillate vape products
• RWB expects to release its full-year 2021 results on May 2, with the management hosting a conference call on May 3

Red White & Bloom Brands (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF), a multistate cannabis operator on a mission to become the most recognizable cannabis company in the United States, is celebrating the fulfillment of its promise to consumers to introduce a steady stream of new products and consumption options to satisfy demand in Michigan, recently announcing it will roll out the Platinum Vape(TM) (“PV”) Live Resin in Michigan. The company, working in conjunction with its wholly owned subsidiary RWB Michigan LLC, will make the product available in nearly 400 Michigan dispensaries in due course (https://cnw.fm/Au7WC).

Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF) is a torchbearer blazing a new frontier in American cannabis by adhering to the highest ethical, manufacturing, educational, branding and employment standards available in the industry.

Red White & Bloom is a super state operator, leveraging a sizable footprint to dominate the areas in which it operates. CEO Brad Rogers and other management members have seen the struggles of multi-state operators who have spread themselves too thin, which is why Red White & Bloom is intent on dominating each state it enters before expanding further.

Although targeting individual states in the United States, the company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Red White & Bloom was established after privately held MichiCann Medical Inc. merged with publicly traded Tidal Royalty in 2019.

Brands

Red White & Bloom has entered strategic brand acquisitions and partnerships aimed at helping the company expand its presence and position as one of the largest players in the United States cannabis market. Red White & Bloom is always diligently searching for brands to acquire that will provide additional value to the company and expand its national footprint.

The company’s current brand portfolio includes:

• Platinum Premium Cannabis Products (PV): Platinum uses innovative thinking, honesty and responsibility to remain at the forefront of the cannabis industry. PV holds itself and its partners to the highest standards, providing clean and safe CBD and THC products. In the company’s press release dated January 13, 2021, it reported system-wide sales of Platinum-branded products exceeding $2.8 million for the first week of January alone.
• High Times®: In June 2020, the company acquired the licensing rights and branding of High Times dispensaries and High Times cannabis-based CBD and THC products in Michigan, Illinois and Florida. The company also acquired branding of High Times hemp derived CBD products nationally in the United States carrying the Culture® brand.
• Mid-American Growers: Mid-American began as a family operation in 1971 in Granville, Illinois. The original 8-acre greenhouse has expanded to a 3.6-million-square-foot, state-of-the-art technology and science facility under glass. Mid-American’s product offerings include its CBD Icy Relief Salve, CBD Icy Relief Roll-on and CBD Gummies.

Retail Focus

Red White & Bloom is working to establish a significant retail presence across multiple jurisdictions. In Michigan, the company is invested in and has the rights to acquire (subject to regulatory approvals) a licensed operator that controls the assets of 18 dispensary locations throughout the state. Red White & Bloom is also pursuing opportunities in Florida aimed at making its proposed retail footprint compelling and attractive to the majority of cannabis consumers within each state.

Cultivation

Red White & Bloom is focused on standardization and quality, with everything guided by a relentless commitment to the highest standards. The company acquired a 3.6-million-square-foot standardized facility dedicated to helping it achieve premium value for the products it intends to cultivate.

As it continues to expand, the company remains committed to the practices that have guided its success in the past, including:

• A top-down approach to cultivation developed under the guidance of PhDs with expertise in growing principles, SOPs and, most importantly, the science behind it all.
• Commitment to exceeding the requirement of the states in which it operates. The company cut its teeth under the world’s first national cannabis purity regime – a regime that most new markets use as a benchmark – so quality is in its DNA.
• Science-driven production methods supported by automated, perpetual, standardized operations that enable craft cannabis-like quality at an industrial scale.

Footprint

Assuming completion of the currently proposed investments and acquisitions, Red White & Bloom will be among the cannabis market’s largest companies, joining the ranks of a select few multi-state operators dominating the industry. Red White & Bloom currently has assets (closed and in closing stages) in Michigan, Illinois, Florida, California, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

The company’s strategic acquisition and super state operator model, combined with its commitment to top-quality product and service, position it to become a leading player in the North American cannabis market.

When evaluated beside competitors in the cannabis space, Red White & Bloom boasts an extremely attractive valuation. While large cap cannabis firms serving North American markets averaged enterprise-value-to-EBITDA multiples of 14.9x as of December 2020, Red White & Bloom’s enterprise multiple was just 3.4x, as noted in the company’s latest investor deck.

In 2020, the cannabis market worldwide was valued at $24.6 billion. This amount is expected to expand at a CAGR of 14.3% from 2021 to 2028, resulting in a market size of $84 billion in 2028 (https://nnw.fm/f09ZL). Of the 2020 valuation, the largest revenue share (91.1%) was attributed to North American consumers (https://nnw.fm/vObW6).

Management Team

Brad Rogers is the CEO and Executive Chair of Red White & Bloom. He is a visionary for the future of cannabis and CBD products in the United States market, with a proven track record of building successful and profitable businesses in the rapidly expanding and new economic sector. Mr. Rogers was a part of the team that built one of the first commercially scaled production facilities in the world for medicinal cannabis. He also served as President for one of the leading licensed producers in Canada. Both of his ventures were successful, with a combined market cap of $2 billion.

Michael Marchese is the company’s Co-Founder and Marketing Advisor. He has played a crucial role in its development and organization, overseeing capital raises, acquisition strategy and brand identity. Mr. Marchese has a strong reputation and presence in the cannabis industry. He also co-founded and directed the branding of Aleafia Health Inc., which he continues to counsel. Through his branded company, Marchese Design, he has served as a highly trusted counselor to top-level execs, including C-Suite level employees, offering insights into the process of creating, building and maintaining brand identities.

Theo van der Linde is the CFO and Director of Red White & Bloom. He is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years of experience in finance, administration and public accounting. The experience he has acquired spans multiple industries, including mining, oil & gas, financial services, retail and manufacturing. For the last nine years, he has primarily focused his career on the mining industry, working with junior exploration and producing mining companies at various stages of growth in several jurisdictions. Mr. van der Linde is also the current President of Executive Management Solutions Ltd.

Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (RWBYF), closed Friday's trading session at $0.215, off by 0.370714%, on 105,101 volume with 36 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 105,101 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.1923/$1.21.

Recent News

• Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF) - Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTCQX: RWBYF) Extends Michigan Expansion with Debut of Platinum Vape Live Resin; Announces Plans to Release Full-Year 2021 Results on May 2
• 420 with CNW - New Poll Says Most Americans Want Cannabis Federally Legalized
• 420 with CNW - Schumer Postpones Tabling Cannabis Legalization Bill as Consultations Continue

FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight FuelPositive Corp. (NHHHF).

FuelPositive (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) aims to offer solutions that are not only sustainable but also accessible, even to the ordinary farmer. With its decentralized agriculture positioning for its green ammonia, the company’s product aims to give farmers fertilizer and energy independence. “With every farm housing a FuelPositive production unit scaled up or down based on its needs, the farmers will produce sufficient ammonia to fertilize their crops and even power their internal combustion engines in their farm equipment and generators,” reads a recent article. “This opens even more opportunities for farmers, including converting propane and natural gas crop-drying systems to burn green ammonia as a way to realize an exceptional environmental benefit. This decentralized approach eliminates the traditional supply chain, which is wildly unpredictable, both in supply and cost. Farmers will have control over the amount of ammonia and fuel they produce and when it will be available to them. They will be able to plan on a steady price, giving them a chance to increase their margins and improve their livelihoods from their farming activities. In addition, from an environmental standpoint, the unique ammonia production process eliminates reliance on fossil fuels, and the decentralization of the production facilities negates ammonia’s overall carbon footprint, allowing for a healthier planet.” To view the full article, visit https://ibn.fm/1Gdpl

FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF) is a growth stage company focused on licensing, partnership and acquisition opportunities building upon various technological achievements. The company is committed to providing commercially viable and sustainable clean energy solutions, including carbon-free ammonia (NH3), for use across a broad spectrum of industries and applications.

FuelPositive is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Hydrogen Economy Problems and FuelPositive’s Carbon-Free Technology

The hydrogen economy is currently facing many challenges. Traditional NH3 manufacturing exists on a massive scale, but centralized facilities result in some of the world’s most concentrated CO2 emissions. In total, an estimated 200 million metric tonnes of NH3 are consumed each year, with greater than 80% utilized by the agricultural sector. NH3 is also being positioned as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

FuelPositive’s flagship carbon-free ammonia technology provides an innovative solution to these environmental concerns. Developed by Dr. Ibrahim Dincer and his team, the company’s platform allows for the in-situ production of NH3 in an entirely sustainable manner, using only water, air and sustainable electricity.

The production of hydrogen is energy intensive, but it is just one variable hindering the growth of the hydrogen economy. Other hurdles include:

• Storage – The storage of hydrogen by compression or liquification are both cost prohibitive and unsustainable.
• Distribution – The distribution network for effective hydrogen deployment has yet to be developed, as the extreme high-pressure distribution requirements to transport hydrogen would result in enormous infrastructure costs.
• End Use – R&D on the transportation-related end use applications for hydrogen is in its infancy, but almost any vehicle on the road today can be easily converted to run on NH3 at a considerably lower cost per mile traveled when compared to traditional fossil fuels.

A key benefit of FuelPositive’s patent-pending, first-of-its-kind carbon-free NH3 technology is its flexibility. The process allows for small, medium or large-scale production of NH3 on location, minimizing or even eliminating the challenges and volatility associated with storage and transportation to end use. As such, with an appropriately sized FuelPositive system and access to renewable energy, the end use applications for the company’s platform are nearly infinite.

Manufacturing Partnership

On May 19, 2021, FuelPositive announced its selection of National Compressed Air Canada Ltd. (“NCA”) to undertake manufacturing of the company’s Phase 2 hydrogen-ammonia synthesizer commercial prototype systems for carbon-free ammonia production.

In a news release detailing the partnership, FuelPositive CEO Ian Clifford noted, “This critical milestone for FuelPositive will confirm the broad application potential for our technology and is the backbone of our Carbon-Free Hydrogen-NH3 offering. Partnering with the knowledgeable and experienced team at NCA on this commercialization project will bring our development-stage program to life.”

Global Ammonia Market Outlook

The global ammonia market was valued at $52.71 billion in 2017 and is forecast to reach $81.42 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.59%, according to data from Fior Markets (https://ibn.fm/1OfOB).

The agricultural industry consumes more than 80% of global NH3. Smaller percentages can be attributed to the waste, water treatment, refrigerants, antiseptic, textile, mining and pharmaceutical industries.

One of the most polluting industries on the planet consists of conventional agribusinesses. These polluters are responsible for more greenhouse emissions per year than transportation. This is where FuelPositive’s technology is expected to be extremely beneficial.

Management Team

Ian Clifford is Director, CEO and Founder of FuelPositive Corp. He has over 25 years of experience in the fields of technology and marketing and has successfully led the company to global brand recognition through its unique energy solutions. Since 2006, Mr. Clifford has raised over $50 million in equity financing for FuelPositive. He also co-founded digIT Interactive, a full-service internet marketing company serving Fortune 500 clients, which he sold at the peak of the market in 2000.

Greg Gooch serves as a Director and President of FuelPositive. His multifaceted career in the electronics and finance industries has positioned him as a key advisor and funding partner to start-ups and new technology companies for over 40 years. Mr. Gooch has been involved with FuelPositive since its early days and has remained a significant supporter and consultant to the company over the years. He has a bachelor’s from McGill University and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Ibrahim Dincer is a scientific advisor to FuelPositive and is recognized as a pioneer and international leader in the area of sustainable energy technologies. Along with his team, Dr. Dincer invented the modular carbon-free ammonia (NH3) production technology that FuelPositive is commercializing. His area of specialty covers various topics including ammonia, hydrogen energy and fuel cells; renewable energy systems; energy storage systems and applications; carbon capturing technologies, and integrated and hybrid energy systems He is currently managing an exemplary team of researchers in this commercialization project.

Marek Warunkiewicz is the company’s Communications & Branding Specialist. He brings more than 40 years of entrepreneurial expertise to the FuelPositive team, having held marketing, branding, advertising, project management and graphic design positions with various companies. Mr. Warunkiewicz has successfully created business-to-business marketing and advertising campaigns for a diverse group of clients ranging from high-tech to agriculture. He co-founded digIT Interactive and ZENN Motor Company alongside Ian Clifford.

Luna Clifford is the Director of Communications for FuelPositive. She has over 10 years of experience as a business owner and advisor, helping build and operate several successful start-up enterprises while managing complex stakeholder relationships. Ms. Clifford excels in strategic planning and team building, and she has completed extensive studies in the fields of communications and health care.

FuelPositive Corp. (NHHHF), closed Friday's trading session at $0.15265, off by 0.553746%, on 613,419 volume with 88 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 613,419 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.09/$0.326.

Recent News

• FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF) - GreenEnergyBreaks - FuelPositive Corporation's (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) Decentralized Agricultural Approach Eliminates Traditional Supply Chain
• FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) Nears Rollout of First Green Ammonia-producing Onsite System For Canadian Agriculture
• FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) Emphasizing Decentralized Food Systems to Deal with Unpredictable Ammonia Supply Chains, Price Fluctuations