CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Liberty Health Sciences making high-quality medical cannabis available one state at a time

Around a third of all Florida residents, or some 6 million people, could qualify to use medical cannabis, so there’s good reason for the Sunshine State to be the initial focus for Liberty Health Sciences (CSE:LHS).

“Florida is one of the most populated states in the U.S., but it also offers quite a diverse amount of chronic medical conditions that doctors can prescribe cannabis for,” says George Scorsis, Liberty’s chief executive officer.

At present, the state has just over 36,000 patients registered for medical cannabis, after a 300% rise in registrations in the past quarter.  Liberty is one of only 13 companies licenced to cultivate, process and dispense it by the state government.

Research suggests Florida could be a US$1.6bln medical cannabis market by the end of the decade.  In other words, it has the potential to eclipse Colorado, a pioneering state in legalizing cannabis, as the latter is forecast to be worth US$1.5bln by then.

As we reach the fourth quarter of 2017, 29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of cannabis in some form.  Last year provided something of a tipping point, with five additional states, including Florida, approving medical cannabis use, while states such as California and Nevada also approved the drug for recreational consumption.

At a federal level the market is a greyer shade of green – the state by state legalization does not equate to national legalization, and businesses thus cannot operate across state lines. In other words, each state has its own regulations and within each state businesses must establish internal production and distribution channels.

As a result, Liberty’s strategy is to enter specific state markets and embed their entire verticals within those states. Scorsis highlights the importance of Liberty’s approach to growing its business, where Florida is the initial focus, and new ventures in other states are in the pipeline.  Discipline is a particularly important tenet of the strategy.

“First and foremost, we will only enter into medical markets. There are now a tremendous number of markets that allow medical cannabis, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut, with more on the horizon,” says Scorsis.

“We plan to enter into all of those markets if they follow through with the second criteria in our business strategy, which is the number of chronic conditions that the states permit for medical cannabis treatment.”

Scorsis points out that in Florida, for example, more than 30% of the population could qualify to become a medical cannabis patient.  Meanwhile, in Ohio that figure is around 24%.

Moreover, there are some 3mln potentially qualifying patients in Pennsylvania, equating to 24% of the state’s population, while in Maryland the figure is 1.8mln patients or 30% of the population.   Connecticut is estimated at 20%, or 736,000 people.

Conversely, Scorsis notes that in New York State the medical cannabis program is too “narrow” to meet the company’s investment criteria.

Liberty is targeting states with both large populations and large numbers of qualifying patients not only with revenue in mind, but also cost – producing at a certain scale is a necessity to meet the business objectives in a given market.

“We need to ensure that we can provide what truly differentiates us from all our competition,” Scorsis explains.  “We are experienced commercial greenhouse growers and can produce the lowest cost, highest quality cannabis in the marketplace.  That means we can supply it to the patient at a more accessible price than anybody else in the industry.  We don’t enter into markets that have canopy restrictions because we would like to grow at scales in excess of 100,000 sq. ft.”

With such major ambitions it is nice not to be going it alone, and in this respect, Liberty benefits from the support of successful licensed Canadian cannabis producer Aphria.  That C$1.3bln company owns 36% of Liberty and provides both licenced products and operational expertise.

Notably, since adopting Aphria’s licensed production techniques, Liberty has increased output by about 15%.

Liberty’s current footprint in Florida comprises a 14,000 sq. ft. growing operation on a 36-acre property in Alachua County.  Production capacity is approximately 700kg of cannabis per year.

By March 2018, Liberty aims to be growing 3,000kg per year as it ramps up to 56,000 sq. ft. of growing space.  Over the following years, Liberty expects to be at 13,000kg and an intended 187,000 sq. ft. of room for growing.

Retail outlets are also part of the plan, and before the end of 2017 the company anticipates having dispensaries open in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa.  Locations are planned for Orlando, Tallahassee and Pensacola by June.

With anticipated annual production of 13,000kg and an increased retail footprint, Liberty would be supplying the equivalent of 20,000 patients.

The opening of mass market consumer states like California (where the new legal framework officially comes into effect in January) will hold strong appeal for cannabis companies and their investors.

But Scorsis definitively sees Liberty as a medical cannabis company, with specific competitive advantages.

“Medical cannabis is who we are.  It’s the ethos of our organization,” Scorsis emphasizes.

“We truly believe that cannabis is a product that should be used for medical purposes.  Our intellectual property, our knowhow and the equipment that we have invested in are really designed to produce products for medical purposes.”

“For instance, not only do we produce the highest quality cannabis at the lowest cost, we inspect our products over 500 times before they are released to any patient.  Why?  Because it is medicine.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on December 20, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Liberty Health Sciences Inc. at https://libertyhealthsciences.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/liberty-health-sciences-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Exro Technologies applies new twist to enhance electricity generation

Exro Technologies Inc (CSE:XRO) has developed a technology to enhance an invention that has served mankind remarkably for more than 150 years.

Exro’s dynamic power management technology enables electric generators and motors to work at peak efficiency, even at variable speeds.

Why is that important?

As Exro’s chairman and chief executive officer Mark Godsy explains, electric generators only work efficiently at a single speed, and “if they go too fast, it’s a challenge; if they go too slow, it’s also a challenge.”

For scores of years this has not been a problem because generators have used an energy source – coal, diesel, or gas – that allows the rotating part of the generator to remain at, and operate at, a consistent and optimum speed and torque, but the increasing push towards renewable energy is changing the game.

Exro’s technology adds some smarts to a generator and an electric motor

Mother Nature may be bountiful, but she is not constant, and if you don’t believe it, think of those seemingly paradoxical reports of wind turbine generators shutting down because it is too windy.

“What we do at Exro is, very simply, bring Intelligence to a generator and an electric motor,” Godsy says.

So, what’s the big twist on the ancient technology?

The traditional generator works off a single configuration of coiled copper wires, whereas Exro’s does not.

“We isolate all of the coils. We then create circuits amongst them, driven by a computer that, depending on the speed and torque, will reconfigure the coils in the generator for exactly the right speed and torque, creating an efficient and “Intelligent” generator,” Godsy explains.

The technology was invented by Jonathan Ritchey, Exro’s founder and its chief scientist and designer.

Optimizing power systems is becoming more important in the current economy.

“The problem does not apply only for renewables,” Ritchey declares.

Take electric motors. These are essentially the flip-side of electric generators, and the same conundrum applies: getting the motor to work at maximum efficiency at variable rotational speeds.

“These are the technical issues that Exro is addressing,” Ritchey asserts.

Ritchey sees a lot of applications for Exro’s technology in the high-profile sector of electric and electric-hybrid vehicles.

“Put in our technology and it will allow you to have a situation where we not only gather more electricity when you are braking but that electricity does more for you when you are converting it back into mechanical energy,” Ritchey says.

The potential breadth of applications for the technology is enormous, but initially, Exro is targeting proof of concept in wind energy, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and electric/hybrid vehicles starting with electric bicycles.

The company has built three prototypes to prove its technology’s viability and is now focusing on early market opportunities.

In a capital-intensive, low-margin business, those sorts of efficiency improvements are sure to make wind farm operators sit up and take notice. Exro’s technology can also be used to retrofit existing wind turbines.

As for drones, these will become more efficient, paving the way for smaller drones or bigger payloads, and potentially longer flying times.

Exro has already signed a development agreement with a leading supplier of propulsion systems for drones and is working towards validating the technology for this application.

As for electric/hybrid vehicles, reduced electricity consumption and greater power regeneration when braking could significantly reduce the range anxiety for drivers.

The Exro business model envisages income from licensing fees and royalties

The name of the game for Exro is to prioritize near-term market opportunities with low execution risk.

A key aspect of this strategy calls for securing partnerships with leading companies who have their own design and manufacturing facilities and distribution channels.

Exro’s revenues will largely come from licensing fees and ongoing royalties, in return for allowing the use of its technology to be integrated into generators or electric motors.

“The reason for a licensing/royalty model is to achieve scale and create concurrent value for our shareholders. Our proprietary technology has the potential of creating intelligence in billions of electric rotating machines — be it in generators or electric motors. If we were to do an elevator a day just for the approximate 17 Western European countries, it would take us over 1,000 years,” Godsy explains.

“We need to work synergistically with parties in this space by working with them, not competing against them.

“We want to work with all companies that can benefit from our technology – not unlike Intel wants to provide processors to all computers versus creating its own computer brand and competing with them – working with companies is a much better long-term strategy since our technology is easily integrated into generators and motors,” he adds.

If that sounds like the semi-fabled “win-win” scenario, there’s actually a third “win” to be taken into consideration and that’s the environmental aspect.

It was one of the things that drew serial entrepreneur Godsy to Exro in the first place.

“I was attracted to Exro as I am concerned as much now about the health of our planet as I am about the health of people. Exro has an opportunity to change the way we create and use energy, which can help our planet and reduce the other related issues connected to energy. The win-win here also includes the opportunity to build value for our shareholders,” Godsy says.

Company founder Ritchey believes the drive to a clean power world will eventually come down to economics.

In other words, the bottom line will be the bottom line or, if you prefer, it will happen because “torque is cheap”.

“So, if we’re able to make that economically viable now, it’s not a carrot and the whip; it’s not the subsidies, the tax credits; it’s because it is also the best financial decision.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on December 11, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Exro Technologies Inc. at http://www.exro.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/exro-technologies-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

DOJA Cannabis building value quickly with artisanal quality, expert branding

If there is one thing that Trent Kitsch ingrained in himself while building SAXX Underwear into a multi-million-dollar company, it was the value of a brand.

SAXX entered the men’s underwear market with an innovative line of undergarments sold online at higher than average prices and margins.  The premium quality appealed to plenty of men who were willing to pay a little extra to take care of their bodies, with clothing they felt was made with more care and attention than they could find elsewhere.

It is precisely this approach that Kitsch and his team at DOJA Cannabis Co. (CSE:DOJA) intend to follow in building their newest venture: a collection of cannabis and lifestyle products created with  meticulous care.

“Our background is building brands in the fashion and wine worlds,” says the DOJA CEO, who founded not only SAXX Underwear but also award-winning Kitsch Wines.

“DOJA is a brand built around the uncompromising quality of its product.  We do things differently than most of our peers in how we cultivate, hand-trim and cure the cannabis we grow.”

Kitsch explains that hand-trimming retains the look of the flower better than the more popular approach of machine-trimming, while keeping more of the terpenoids and other desirable components machines tend to rustle off.  Rather than removing buds from plants the moment harvesting begins, DOJA hang-dries and cures its product on the stalk.  “You get a better finish that way,” says Kitsch.  “It brings out superior flavors, trichomes and aromas.”

DOJA is headquartered in British Columbia’s picturesque Okanagan Valley.  With 2mln visitors that come to the region each year, the company plans on leveraging the vibrant tourism market to build a far-reaching brand.

The company also believes it will soon have the opportunity to show the rest of Canada the difference its artisanal approach makes.

DOJA received its license to cultivate under Canada’s ACMPR (Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations) framework on June 16 of this year.

Soon after the first harvests, a request to Health Canada for a Pre-Sales License Inspection was submitted.  The inspection is the final step ahead of the government issuing DOJA a Sales License under the ACMPR.

With license in hand, DOJA’s primary distribution channel would be online sales direct to the customer.

“Channel two will depend on how the provincial governments announce their planned sales structures,” says Kitsch, alluding to the expected legalization of cannabis in 2018.  “We are hoping some of the provinces see opportunities similar to those in the wine industry or agriculture tourism and that some of those channels open up to us.”

DOJA is planning for its products to be very popular, having already invested in a second growing facility that will expand its overall production capacity by more than 700% to just over 5,000kg of dried cannabis per year.  The new 22,580 sq. ft. Future Lab facility, located close to the Kelowna International Airport and the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus, will be home to DOJA’s research into new and unique cannabis strains, processing, as well as exploration of the edible and oil extract markets.

The proximity of the Future Lab to the airport will not only reduce both cost and time required for delivery but the 60,000 travelers who traverse the road in front of the facility each day will be exposed to the DOJA brand on their commute.  Estimates around permitting and construction time have DOJA intending to open the Future Lab in the summer of 2018.

There is one other DOJA initiative helping to create awareness around the brand and the various aspects of cannabis. The DOJA Culture Café in downtown Kelowna will act as a hub for cannabis information within the community.  Here, customers can have a coffee or a meal, while also learning how to access and use cannabis safely, depending on their particular needs.

DOJA, whose shares began trading on the CSE on August 9 of this year, is well capitalized to execute on the first phase build-out of the Future Lab.  Plans also call for borrowing against their newly acquired facility to further bolster the company’s working capital position.

When asked about the outlook for DOJA, Kitsch responded, “The sky is the limit.  Our brands and unique advantages will differentiate us from the pack, and in one to three years I could see us being acquired by a larger company who wants to have a B.C. footprint and a premium lifestyle brand in their portfolio.”

Near term, though, Kitsch believes the investment community would do well to keep some potential share price catalysts in mind.

“Once we receive our sales license I would say we’d be quite undervalued at our current share price and there would be a strong investment thesis for DOJA on a relative valuation basis,” says Kitsch.  “Ahead of legalization, I think positive sentiment will continue to pick up and an increasing number of people will start to see cannabis as a viable investment opportunity.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on December 6, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about DOJA Cannabis Company Limited at https://doja.life/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/doja-cannabis-company-limited.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Ortho Regenerative looks to prevent surgery by turbocharging joint recovery process

Innovation is oftentimes the result of people approaching a problem from an angle that others haven’t considered.  That’s precisely what the team at Ortho Regenerative Technologies (CSE:ORTH) is doing as it tackles some of the world’s most common surgeries – tendon, meniscus and cartilage repairs in shoulders, knees and other joints.

Chief Executive Officer Brent Norton explains that the long-term result of removing damaged cartilage or meniscus is about the same as not having any procedure performed at all.  Similarly, studies show that shoulder tendon repairs fail at an alarming rate.  Missing its natural elasticity and shock absorber, a joint can deteriorate to the point that arthritis sets in, and if things get bad enough movement is very limited and full joint replacement often becomes necessary.

Ortho’s technology is all about leaving these soft tissues in place and treating them so they repair themselves.

“Long term, if we can treat injury versus treating the complications of the injury, that’s the better way,” says Norton.  “The opportunity is to heal the soft tissues, and the result is that we no longer treat complications such as pain and arthritis, have people miss work and be inactive, nor have to bear the expense of introducing an artificial joint.”

Tendons, cartilage and meniscus are close to the last in line to receive blood supply in our bodies and are relatively avascular, meaning they have few blood vessels. The bottom line is that because blood gets little chance to bring revitalization to these body parts, they do not heal well and thus need assistance.

There are medicines that promote healing in tendons and meniscus but they have to remain in contact with them for a meaningful period of time.  Not only do joints naturally involve internal motion, they also contain lubricants, which usher medicines away from the locations that need them.

Ortho’s solution is to apply what in industry parlance is called a scaffold to hold the medicine in place long enough for it to work.  Essentially, it is a special compound made from a naturally occurring protein that a surgical team mixes with a patient’s blood to ensure efficient delivery.

The scaffold will remain in place for several weeks before naturally dissolving, but in the meantime it ensures the medicine is hard at work on the body part that needs to heal.

“Years ago, when we took pills we took them several times a day,” says Norton in drawing an analogy.  “Then someone invented the sustained release formulation, which allowed you to take a pill only once or twice a day because it was sustained release.  It is a similar principle.”

The technology was borne of studies conducted by two of the world’s most prominent researchers in soft tissue repair: PhDs Michael Buschmann and Caroline Hoeman.  Their initial scaffold for joints had promise, but it took 30 or more minutes to prepare for use when the patient was in the operating room, a factor reducing efficiency and contributing to it being cost-prohibitive.

Norton is a medical doctor himself who practiced largely in the field of sports medicine.  Early on, though, he knew that he wanted to mix actual practice with directing innovation to have the greatest impact.  “I decided to do an MBA at Western University because I wanted to be a driver of technology rather than a clinician seeing one patient at a time,” he says.

Norton’s career path would lead him to be that driver in several corporate settings, including with Novadaq Technologies, a medical imaging solutions company acquired in 2017 by Stryker Corp.

“With Novadaq, at times I felt like I was the coach, and was a founding director,” says Norton. “I helped with strategy, building the shareholder base, the board, hiring a professional CEO, recruiting the investment banks to take it public, and ultimately helping to lay down the strategy to get third-party validation and revenues.  We created multiple partnerships, got FDA approval and a TSX listing and then it went on to have a Nasdaq listing and was sold to Stryker for C$900 million.”

All of which, including the chance to return to his career starting point in Montreal, would seem to make Norton a good fit at Ortho.  “When I took this role, I got messages from friends and colleagues saying ‘right back to your roots’.  It is more than coincidental, it’s optimal,” he observes.

Ortho’s product performed well in pre-clinical studies and is now in the final stages of animal studies, with expectations that it will move to human trials in 2018.

Given that Ortho’s product is in the biologic category, the first step with human studies requires the company to prove that it is safe to use, something Norton expects the product to achieve with ease.

The second study in a biologic is the main study, or pivotal trial, which regulatory bodies use as the basis for their effectiveness assessment.  The pivotal trial would likely begin within two years from now.  After that the company would apply for FDA (US Federal Drug Administration) approval.

But that timeline hardly means investors will be left without milestones to cheer on in the near future.  When asked, Norton lays out a pretty full slate.

“This is the first fully patented product of its type in the world and we have an evolving patent family for it,” Norton explains.  “Over the next year we expect to see patents issued around much of the world for this product.”

“Key studies have also been accepted for publication in multiple scientific peer reviewed journals.”  Norton says this means that some of the images and information on the product will take center stage in the related scientific community.

“In my experience, having five papers in the queue to be published is something I have never heard of,” he says.  “In the next short while we will have multiple papers and studies published, and we can anticipate our approval to begin human studies, which typically drives a lot of corporate value.”

Norton emphasizes that it is up to the researchers to assess whether a product works, whereas management’s role at a biotech company is to minimize other risks and drive the strategy.  He points to responsibilities such as making use of capable intellectual property firms, bringing in skilled accountants and hiring an experienced management team.

“In Ortho’s case, the risk profile of getting through to a pivotal trial is nominal,” Norton concludes.  “You can never guarantee biology or the ultimate results, but our goal is to optimize the process in the most cost-effective manner to get through to an FDA approval in the next three to four years.  We are managing the company to reduce the risk of everything else, so that the only thing we are betting on is the results.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on December 7, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Ortho Regenerative Technologies Inc. at http://www.orthorti.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/ortho-regenerative-technologies-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

CannTrust Holdings firms its position amongst Canadian cannabis leaders

CannTrust Holdings’ (CSE:TRST) emergence as a leading player in Canada’s medical cannabis market has enabled it to achieve a market capitalization north of $600mln since debuting on the Canadian Securities Exchange on August 21 of this year.

As impressive as that is, Canada’s plan to legalize recreational use of the drug, widely expected in July 2018, clearly has the potential to take the company to even greater heights.

The licensed producer acquired a 430,000 sq. ft. greenhouse in Niagara, Ontario and has completed a first phase, state-of-the-art renovation of 250,000 sq. ft. that is now in production.

The second phase of 180,000 sq. ft. will be finished by March 2018, and with 430,000 sq. ft. in production the conservative estimate for annual output is 40,000kg of cannabis.

Late 2018 should see an additional expansion of 600,000 sq. ft. on the 46-acre site to meet anticipated growth in demand from medical and recreational users.

A larger long term player…

Chief Executive Officer Eric Paul explains this will cement CannTrust’s position as one of the larger “longer term players” in the Canadian cannabis market.   As it is, the company is already firmly in the top 10.

Canada is one of a handful of countries where medical cannabis is legal, and permitting recreational use will not only fulfill an election promise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but also means it will become the first major industrialized nation with a system permitting both uses.

Paul is bullish on the potential for the recreational market, pointing to projected numbers from groups, including Health Canada, which put its size above $5bln annually.

In terms of users, the medical market is estimated to reach 450,000 to 500,000 people, and the recreational market is projected to be three to five times the size of the medical market, Paul notes.

“Anyone who’s buying in now (to CannTrust) – because they are buying into a company that’s well-structured and has the physical assets to grow high quality product at the right cost structure – is going to win,” suggests Paul.

“I think cannabis will take a seat at the table along with all the other drugs that are out there and be prescribed routinely and used on a regular basis.”

Founded in 2013..

CannTrust was founded in 2013 with a view to getting a license under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) framework, which it accomplished early in 2014.

It started selling product in 2015 via mail based on physician’s prescriptions and now boasts a “menu” for customers of around 12 high quality products, including oils.

These can be used for symptoms ranging from pain to stress to sleeplessness and auto-immune conditions.

The company went public in August of this year, when it was producing from an indoor hydroponic facility with annual capacity for 2,500kg of cannabis.

The shift to a large new greenhouse taking advantage of natural light allows CannTrust to increase output and reduce operating costs, explains Paul.

Taking production to 1mln sq. ft. once the full expansion plan has been implemented should make CannTrust one of the top three Canadian producers.

An expanding customer base..

Paul says the CannTrust customer base has expanded 117% since May to 32,500 active patients, positioning it among the fastest growing players in the industry.

In addition, its greenhouse approach allows CannTrust to produce cannabis for some 50% less than facilities completely dependent on artificial light.  The reduction in costs from around $1.50 per gram to $0.75 can be expected to have a positive influence on margins.

The first phase greenhouse expansion has already been funded and a recent $20mln placement will pay for the second phase, as well as some ancillary improvements to supply channels.

Interestingly, Paul thinks the market that observers refer to as “recreational” is actually being mislabeled.

“We don’t believe that everyone out there is just the sort of person who wants to get high at the weekend. We’re postulating that two thirds of the recreational market is a person over 30 who’s chronically ill and self-medicating,” he says.

With revenue rising quickly, Paul expects the company to be profitable in the 2017 financial year. Analysts see the potential as well.

Analysts upbeat..

Haywood Securities recently began covering the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating and target price of $8.00.

“CannTrust reported Q3/17 growth of 35%, resulting in revenues of $6.1 million. Importantly, the company also announced that 61% of its sales were from oil products that drive higher margin sales,” said Haywood.

“We believe that CannTrust’s % of sales of oil/extract products will continue to increase, particularly as it releases new products, such as capsules it is currently working on, but other novel products that are likely to be developed through its partnership with Apotex (private).”

The broker predicts EBITDA of $5mln on revenues of $20.7mln for 2017.

Canaccord initiated coverage in October with a ‘Speculative Buy’.  “Based on the company’s low-cost production, leading growth profile, and forecast superior margins (driven by its medical strategy), we believe that CannTrust deserves to trade at a premium multiple to peers,” Canaccord stated.

The company’s performance on the CSE has proven the analysts right, with its share price recently cresting $7.50, up some 200% from its August debut.

It is quite a story, but with regulatory change on the horizon and production set to rise several fold, CannTrust looks to just be getting started.

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on December 5, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about CannTrust Holdings at http://www.canntrust.ca/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/life-sciences/canntrust-holdings-inc.

CSE Quarterly

CSE Quarterly – Final Issue

The “final” edition of the CSE Quarterly is now live. It has been a great run, with inspiring stories of ingenuity, intrepidness, and excellence of companies listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange in every issue.

Thank you to the entrepreneurs for helping to make the CSE Quarterly such a success over the past several years.

Though this will be the final issue of the CSE Quarterly, there is another exciting project on the horizon that will carry the entrepreneurial torch forward.

Click to below to read the last issue.

To read previous issues of the CSE Quarterly, click the archives here.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

EnviroLeach Technologies set to overhaul mining sector with eco-friendly gold leaching formula

EnviroLeach Technologies (CSE:ETI) is shaking up the mining industry by offering an environmentally friendly alternative to widely used toxic methods of extracting gold from ores and electronic waste.

Many miners rely on cyanide and acid based leaching to recover precious metals from ores, concentrates and electronic waste. More than 76% of all gold is produced via hydrometallurgical extraction that utilizes cyanide.

While cyanide is an effective extraction medium due to its high gold recoveries and low cost, it is also potentially deadly to humans as well as fish, birds and other wildlife if used incorrectly.

EnviroLeach is trying to change this by producing a non-cyanide, non-acid based formula that is not only eco-friendly but actually contains food-grade additives that are fit for human consumption as nutritional supplements and medicines, including the treatment of some cancers.

Chief Executive Officer Duane Nelson says the formula is mixed with tap water so you can “effectively drink it” before the solution is chemically altered using electrical currents passing through diamond based electrodes supplied by De Beers.

“We’re really the only company that offers any type of environmentally friendly solution for the recovery of metals for both the mining and e-waste sectors,” Nelson says.

EnviroLeach has proven in recent tests that along with being better for the environment, its formula is also just as effective as cyanide leaching for ores and concentrates, and hot acid solutions for e-waste.

During seven months of extensive hydrometallurgical tests of its formula on electronic waste, the company achieved gold recoveries of over 90% in periods of less than two hours.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes devices such as mobile phones, TVs and computer components that are thought to contain as much as 7% of the world’s gold.

EnviroLeach found that when it tested its formula on e-waste – specifically printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) used in electronic devices – it provided similar leach kinetics to conventional acid based extraction methods.

In contrast to current cyanide and acid based extraction, the study found the EnviroLeach reagent was safer to handle and functioned just as effectively at low temperatures and near neutral pH levels.

The formula is also cost-effective because it can be reused. “Not only does it offer an environmentally friendly solution but it offers a sustainable solution,” Nelson says.

The company has caught the attention of more than 140 mining firms, manufacturers and recyclers of electronics in more than 17 different countries.

While he wouldn’t name any names, Nelson states the group is in talks with some large clients in mining and some of the biggest manufacturers in e-waste.

“Everybody that we talk to is very excited by this technology,” he says.  “In the mining sector, there’s been such a lack of innovation.  This is the most exciting innovation since the advent of cyanide.”

EnviroLeach, spun out of Iberian Minerals in December 2016, has started construction of a 10 tonne per day e-waste processing plant with Mineworx Technologies.  It will have initial annual capacity of 2,500 tonnes of PCBAs, making it the largest and most environmentally friendly chemistry-based e-waste processing facility in North America.

The plant, which is expected to be completed by the end of Q4 2017, will handle all aspects of the e-waste recycling process, including material pre-treatment, shredding, grinding, leaching and metal extraction.

Operating costs, capital costs, development timelines and permitting procedures are expected to be much lower than those associated with a typical mining project.

EnviroLeach believes e-waste recycling will play a significant role in the coming decade as the volume of electronic products going into landfills continues to grow at a worrying rate.

“Apple, Microsoft, DELL, CISCO and others are all looking for environmentally responsible recycling alternatives for their components,” Nelson says.

The company sees a continued rise in demand for gold in electronics as the number of mines is limited, the costs are higher, and the mines are often located in challenging political and geographic locations.  Nelson says that by using the company’s formula, miners will also be able to set up shop in areas that are prohibited from using cyanide.

He also believes urban mining provides tremendous opportunity.  “Previously, the only way to get gold out of e-waste was to put it into a smelter or use hot acid solutions, which is not cost effective.  It’s not sustainable, and not healthy for the environment,” Nelson explains.

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on August 23, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about EVI Global Group Developments Corp. at https://enviroleach.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/mining/evi-global-group-developments-corp.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Victory Square Technologies is giving tech entrepreneurs a sporting chance

Young entrepreneurs are typically long on ideas, short on business experience and lack capital resources.

Incubator fund Victory Square Technologies (CNSX:VST) is a potential answer to their prayers.

Victory Square not only invests in innovative entrepreneurs, but provides them with a network of mentors, distribution partners, education programs, access to over 80 accelerators globally, and various other resources.

“We believe tech has become commoditized, which makes distribution and acquisition so important,” says Victory Square chief executive officer Shafin Tejani.

The Canadian company might be better known to some investors as Fantasy 6 Sports, which listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange in May 2016.

Change in busines model occasioned a change of name

In June of this year it changed its name to formally reflect the switch in business model to a venture builder that creates, funds and empowers entrepreneurs predominantly focused on blockchain technology, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, personalized health, gaming and film.

“Our vision is to continue to build a profitable portfolio of technology companies by giving them access to our resources that help accelerate growth,” says Tejani.

The genesis of Victory Square goes back further than 2016, however.

In 2007, Tejani founded Victory Square Labs, and built a successful track record funding seed-stage tech companies with exceptional entrepreneurs and high growth potential.

Successes included BTL Group; Tantalus Labs; V2 Games; a Film Fund deal with Unified Pictures; and partnerships with Launch Academy, Foxwoods Casino, BC Diabetes, and others.

“Given our record of successful results, we decided to create a public portfolio to scale faster. The first company the public vehicle targeted was Fantasy 6 Sports due to its high growth potential and the fact that sports and mobile gaming is global, it transcends geography, language, culture, etc.,” Tejani explains.

The fantasy sports company was, if you like, the advance guard for the rest of the Victory Square army.

“The entrepreneurs, IP [intellectual property], experience, talent, customers and partnerships that we established in these diverse verticals laid the solid foundation for the current and future portfolio of companies in Victory Square Technologies,” Tejani says.

The management team has broad experience in depth

Key to the company’s business proposition is the management team, which has a broad range of experience that matches the company’s areas of specialization.

The team includes former executives in professional sports, entertainment, video, media and film, along with leaders in technology, immersive sports, casinos, horse racing and gaming.

Tejani has successfully launched more than 40 start-ups in 21 countries, employing hundreds of people and generating more than US$100 million in annual revenues.

He’s been there, done it, and he’s not only bought the T-shirt but probably knows the people who designed it and the creators of the technology they used to produce it.

The executive team includes seasoned entrepreneurs and FansUnite co-founders Darius Eghdami and Duncan McIntyre, a chartered accountant and lawyer respectively, who focus on corporate development and operations.

Director Howard Blank has been an executive of the gaming and entertainment sector for more than 30 years, most recently serving as vice president of Media, Entertainment and Responsible Gaming for the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

Fellow director Tom Mayenknecht’s career spans journalism, television, professional tennis, executive management leadership with both the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association, and the start-up of what is now Rogers Arena. He’s probably not the guy to challenge to a game of tennis at the office party.

Peter Smyrniotis, another director, is described as a “technologist”, as well as an entrepreneur and commercialization and growth professional based in Vancouver.

Tejani is adding to the depth of the team as his portfolio grows and expects to announce some pedigree additions in the near term.

The team also leans heavily on thought leaders at the companies it funds, both privately and through the company. The expertise these executives bring has proven invaluable in analyzing business opportunities.

The first moves were into film funding and personalized health technologies

Since its metamorphosis into an incubator fund in June, the company has made two major moves.

The first was to acquire a 40% interest in Unified Film Fund II, an entity that will be producing three major films in 2017 and 2018.

Two of the three could garner worldwide distribution right receipts of around US$14.4 million given estimates projected by talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and other sources.

Victory Square acquired its stake in the fund by issuing five million shares at an assumed price of $0.85, so essentially the stake cost C$4.25 million.

Shortly after strengthening its presence in the film and entertainment arena, it created a new venture, Victory Square Health, to oversee companies in its portfolio working on personalized health technologies.

Victory Square Health’s initial mission will be focused on management and prevention of the modern scourge that is diabetes.

Victory Square Health will make some introductions and provide technical development capabilities to its chosen projects.

Tejani believes personalized health is the future of medicine and that the team and partnerships Victory Square Health has established will allow it to be at the forefront of the rapidly growing health tech industry. Through strategic resources and technical development capabilities, Victory Square Health will use its relationships with seasoned industry experts, including Dr Bruce McManus and Dr Pieter Cullis, institutions such as the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, and organizations such as BC Diabetes with leading endocrinologist Dr Tom Elliott.

Forget Silicon Valley … British Columbia is awash with technology companies

Some might expect Tejani to be carrying out this sort of activity in California’s Silicon Valley, but in fact British Columbia is awash with technology companies.

“British Columbia is a great place to build a tech company,” Tejani asserts.

“There is exceptional talent in B.C. and Canada as well as strong government support through funding and tax credits. B.C. has become a great place to build a tech company and Victory Square is looking to fill the gap by helping to fund promising early-stage companies.”

So, there are plenty of great candidates to go under Victory Square’s microscope, and better still, they won’t be expecting California-style levels of financial backing.

“We take great pride in being based out of Canada, and British Columbia specifically. Both the federal and provincial governments have made it a goal to continue to foster innovation, which can be clearly seen by the provision of integral grants and credits,” says Tejani.

“Victory Square has fostered relationships with these bodies to utilize financial opportunities and continue innovation…we have a ton of support from the provincial government and other groups like the BCTIA and the Vancouver Economic Commission.”

Victory Square’s current market capitalisation is around C$37 million and the group is focused on building businesses with positive cash flow and exponential growth potential.

It’s always difficult placing a value on incubator funds until a sale or spin-off comes along

Which brings us to the subject of valuing Victory Square.

It is the nature of incubators that they fly below the radar for long periods, investing money for little return until they cash in, perhaps through a trade sale or stock market flotation.

It’s at that point that the value is crystallized; otherwise, analysts must make their best guess at the worth of the portfolio, based on values of similar companies.

Having said that, the company is not plowing its cash into money pits.

“We build businesses that generate positive cash flow and continue to grow,” Tejani declares.

If 2017 is earmarked as the year the company scales up, then next year should be the one where it strides toward profitability, powered by revenue from its film investments and personalized health initiatives. Tejani is motivated to find liquidity events along the way that will allow companies in the portfolio to find new funding sources and grow their investor bases.

Few can deny that tech, leisure and healthcare are markets with massive growth potential.

“Tech is exponential and our first goal is to build or acquire businesses we can continue to scale. These profitable companies provide us with the option to take them to the public markets, or exit to a larger player. For example, a healthcare company we have funded will have the potential to be acquired by bigger players in the pharmaceutical space.”

In the meantime, it is just a matter of sitting tight and trusting the skills and judgement of a team that collectively has more than 100 years of award-winning entrepreneurial experience.

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on August 23, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Victory Square Technologies at http://www.victorysquare.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/victory-square-technologies-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Subscribe Technologies helps small businesses with some big computing challenges

SaaS tools, malware, platform integration – businesses in today’s world need to stay on top of a dizzying array of technologies, all of which develop new functionality at such a pace it makes you wonder how small enterprises can possibly keep up. Subscribe Technologies (CNSX:SAAS) is fully aware of that challenge and has an answer in the form of a cost-effective services suite that covers pretty much every digital need a small- to medium-sized firm could have.

Subscribe Technologies is headed by public markets veteran Paul Dickson, a perfect fit given his background in software development spanning some 30 years. Dickson believes that Software-as-a-Service is just getting underway and that all software programs will soon run independently of our personal computer hardware, residing and functioning in the increasingly pervasive “cloud”.

“It ties in perfectly with all of the AI (Artificial Intelligence) advancements taking place, where SAAS applications are being developed with AI in the back end that ups the ability to analyze client data,” Dickson explains. “Nobody is going to run software on their computers locally in the near future. It is all going to be in the cloud.”

Established as a company less than a year ago (December 2016), Subscribe Technologies already has a set of product offerings ranging from accounting and sales software to a security platform for analyzing websites and an alternative to the famous Dropbox filing sharing service that Dickson says comes with fewer restrictions for users.

And that concept is the key to understanding how Subscribe Technologies intends to prosper over time. The idea is not to take on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) or Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) on their home turf, but to offer alternative software to businesses and businesspeople who find that incumbent products don’t fit the bill for them, often because they are too restrictive. Maintaining high functionality at a reasonable cost is the other pillar of the strategy.

As reflected in the company’s name, the cost side of the equation from a customer perspective involves subscribing to use the software and paying a monthly fee. Dickson says that because the targeted customer base is small- to medium-sized entities the monthly cost starts around $10.00, thus hardly requiring a potential user to engage in a make-or-break decision from a financial commitment standpoint.

Working with the company’s chief engineer in Victoria, British Columbia, and supported by a team of software developers in India, Dickson has developed, or acquired and refined, a number of products that were made available for subscription in the past few months.

The first to hit the market was bContact.com, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform featuring both accounting and sales functionality.

“bContact.com is a fully integrated SaaS platform that performs invoicing, collections, reporting, billing and other functions so customers can essentially run their entire small business from any web browser,” Dickson says. “bContact.com is really the ultimate tool for managing your entire business back-end.”

The aforementioned Dropbox alternative comes in the form of a product named FileQ.com.

“With FileQ we wanted to offer a service that had fewer restrictions, as some of the most popular file sharing systems force users to sign up in order to access certain features,” says Dickson. “FileQ allows the user to share files freely with anyone and even plays video files with its integrated media player. Instead of paying a flat fee each month, the uploader of the files pays according to how much storage they require.”

The service most recently debuted is SiteSafe.io, which helps system administrators reduce the chance of having their website infected with malicious code. “SiteSafe is something we came up with to address issues that individual websites are having, as the hacking going on is relentless these days,” states Dickson. “It is definitely good practice to scan your own website for malware, or if you host other websites then you should scan the client websites.”

Sitesafe looks for viruses, worms, trojans and other malware, liaising with a third-party database that is constantly updated to both detect and eliminate programs designed to steal information, interfere with website performance, or worse. In the spirit of keeping things affordable, SiteSafe can be accessed to monitor a site for a monthly price of between $5.95 and $19.95.

Subscribe has other product offerings available as well, and Dickson says that there are more on the way. From a valuation standpoint, the company aims over time to build a reasonable base of recurring revenue and, eventually, profit. But given the value ascribed to some software programs these days, there is also the possibility that a Subscribe product gets hot and hits it out of the park.

As the products available to date have only just been introduced, marketing efforts have thus far been modest, and Subscribe is currently formulating a full-fledged marketing program that will utilize both keyword advertising and affiliate marketing, the latter enabling customers to earn money by referring others to use Subscribe services.

“Pretty much every SaaS company now has a referral program that pays people credits or cash for helping to obtain registered users,” Dickson explains. “The cost of acquisition can be high with online ads, where you are paying and hoping that people click. These days you do some of that, but also recruit others to market your product.”

One can’t deny that Subscribe has positioned itself to go after a huge market. Forecasts for the future size of the SaaS space begin in the tens of billions of dollars and run into the hundreds of billions. To settle on a particular number would be to miss the point – business spending on SaaS is big and getting bigger, and Subscribe need only capture a small piece to make a big difference to its bottom line.

“All we are trying to do is pick up a portion of the people who don’t want to use Dropbox, Salesforce, and the like,” says Dickson. “There is a great deal of business out there, and because there are others in the space capitalizing on this opportunity as well, that’s why we are establishing Subscribe as a multi-faceted SaaS company. In the months ahead, you’ll be seeing us meet a lot of our user targets and bringing new products to market.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on August 28, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Deveron UAS at http://www.subscribetech.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/subscribe-technologies-inc.

CSE Issuer Stories, CSE Quarterly

Torino Power Solutions nears turning point with unique approach for better power grid efficiency

There are more than a few companies worldwide selling equipment to monitor the transmission lines that deliver power to our offices and homes, but none has products like Torino Power Solutions (CNSX:TPS). It should come as little surprise, then, that Torino CEO Rav Mlait speaks excitedly about the company’s outlook, fully understanding, as he does, the clever technology that makes its products so unique.

Before getting to that technology, however, a revealing story about the electricity we use every day is in order.

Power transmission is not nearly as efficient as the general public might think. From the time electricity leaves a power plant to the time it reaches its end user, it is common for somewhere between 6% and 15% of the power to be lost, and many estimates reach even higher. The losses occur for a variety of reasons.

One of these is that the company managing the transmission system needs to make sure its power lines don’t run too hot. Not only can excessive heat damage equipment along the transmission pathway, but when lines get too hot they can damage power lines that are very expensive to install and maintain.

So, how do many electrical utilities gauge the temperature of their lines to optimize the amount of power flowing through at any given time? Would you believe by referring to historical weather pattern charts and ambient temperature readings?

Despite the imprecision inherent in such an approach, Mlait confirms that the practice is common. Now, what if the utility were able to know what the temperature actually was along different sections of a long transmission system such that it did not have to underutilize its infrastructure?

That’s the issue that Torino addresses. And with over $10 million spent on R&D, plus patents in place, the time to push for widespread adoption of the company’s solution is at hand.

Torino’s “Powerline Monitoring System” is a combination of a hollow aluminum sensor placed on a power line, combined with a nearby “interrogator” that reads microwaves bouncing back from the sensor. The sensor expands and contracts according to the heat of the line, and an algorithm in the interrogator converts the signal to a temperature reading that is then relayed to the utility in real time.

“As populations grow and distributed connection resources such as wind and solar gain prominence, it is putting the existing electrical infrastructure under more strain and causing wear and tear,” Mlait explains. “Part of the solution is better data, and it all ties into the industrial Internet of Things concept whereby real-time information enables system administrators to make better decisions.”

Torino is not the only company to conclude that there must be a better solution for monitoring line temperatures, but it is the only one with a passive sensor. Mlait says that all competing line sensors require power sources, in the form either of batteries or the power lines themselves. “So, if a power line goes down, their sensors can go down with it. Ours won’t, and that is part of our competitive advantage.”

Another advantage comes in the form of economics. Torino will deploy a system, which is comprised of three sensors and one interrogator, for between US$40,000 and US$50,000, or approximately half the cost of its rivals’ installations.

“Having more data from more lines, and thus a richer data set, is a better way for utilities to manage their assets and conduct dynamic line ratings,” explains Mlait. “That is one of the reasons we priced our technology where we did, so that utilities can deploy more sensors for the same cost.”

Mlait claims that utilities can quite easily recover up-front costs within 12 months, enabling the return on investment to stack up quickly.

Consistent with the early stage of the product roll-out, Torino’s solution is being used by a single utility at present. Tri-State Generation and Distribution Association installed the system on a trial basis last year in eastern Colorado. In what can only be taken as a good sign, it added to the trial in June of 2017 by moving a second system to a more critical location in western Colorado.

“Utilities are conservative when it comes to adopting new technologies, and understandably so,” says Mlait. “They want to really examine new equipment before deploying it extensively throughout their expensive infrastructure.”

Mlait says that he and his team are in discussions with a number of utilities both in North America and overseas, and while nothing has been finalized, observers shouldn’t be too surprised if additional installations make news before long.

Another component of the marketing strategy is to potentially ally with distribution partners with reach into markets that Torino has yet to develop. “We are a relatively small company, so the idea of partnering with a large distributor is pretty significant,” Mlait says.

Word is definitely getting out because Torino has started developing new products based on feedback from potential users. The company recently initiated development of a system for distribution lines, which are the smaller power lines operating inside urban areas. Urban power lines often heat up and sag, causing a host of challenges such as power outages and clearance issues, so a robust solution in this environment would be most welcome.

The other development program announced recently involves underground sensors. Mlait says that potential clients have asked if products are possible for applications such as subways and other underground infrastructure.

“People in cities such as New York, London and Toronto know that there are significant down times associated with underground systems, largely owing to deterioration of aging lines,” says Mlait. “We have heard about the need to better monitor these cables as they continue to deteriorate and are looking to provide a solution down the road.”

With a cost/benefit ratio that makes sense and a need within a crucial industry that cannot be denied, the potential clearly exists for Torino’s sensors to gain broad acceptance. Installation of a mere 100 systems could bring in over C$5 million on the top line, and there is the possibility for ongoing revenue streams from installations as well.

“It is not too often that you see new technology in this industry. We have something that is unique and some highly respected companies have suggested to us that we might have a game-changer on our hands,” according to Mlait. “From an investment standpoint, we have an advanced product starting to make headway, but a pretty small market cap. Throw in our ability to develop new products as well and we feel very positive about our future.”

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on August 29, 2017 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Learn more about Torino Power Solutions Inc. at http://www.torinopower.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/torino-power-solutions-inc.