Tag Archives: CSE Magazine

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Clean Energy From an Unlikely Source Catches on Across North America

Vancouver is a city known for its beautiful natural surroundings, rich history and a location that today serves as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.

Few people would rank wastewater management on a top 10 list of the city’s best features, but it deserves recognition nonetheless, as there is plenty to deal with, and municipal officials view wastewater not only as an item for mass disposal but also as a valuable resource.

In 2023, Vancouver sought to expand a system that, at the time, heated 5 million square feet of properties, including the 1,100-unit Olympic Village mixed-use community.

The goal it had in mind was to increase that square footage to a total of 22 million, in part by capturing heat from sewage wastewater and recycling it back into the system via a process called wastewater energy transfer, or WET for short.

It was the largest WET project in North America at the time, and a local company by the name of SHARC International Systems (CSE:SHRC) played a central role. SHARC secured a deal to supply and commission five of its WET systems to perform sewage screening for the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility, marking its biggest sale to date.

“We’re part of a system in Vancouver that provides heat and hot water to 22 million square feet of property that includes apartment buildings and stretches for about 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) along Second Avenue,” explains SHARC President and Chief Executive Officer Lynn Mueller.

“Most buildings in that area are connected to the False Creek Energy Centre, which is powered by our system. We also have a project that covers 250 acres in Denver, so the scalability is definitely there, and the systems are only getting bigger as demand increases.”

The benefits of WET technology are easy to understand. The world needs more energy than ever, and millions of potential megawatts in the form of heat flow down drains with regularity. After spending huge amounts of money to heat water, letting it flow down the drain and into the ocean or local watersheds when an alternative to recapture it exists is a wasted opportunity, if not irresponsible.

Now, what if we could capture some of that heat and cycle it back into local heating networks? This is the concept that makes SHARC such an intriguing company.

“Many people think we generate electricity, but what we actually do is move thermal energy,” explains Mueller. “Our systems are thermal energy networks, so we measure in megawatts the amount of heating or cooling we can move. For instance, the system in downtown Vancouver is around 10 megawatts. The big advantage is that we’re reusing the same thermal energy day in and day out. You give people hot water, they use it, throw it away, and we recover that heat from the wastewater. It’s a circular economy at its finest.”

Wastewater, such as sewage from residential or commercial properties, is typically around 15 degrees Celsius to 16 degrees Celsius due to daily activities such as showering and doing laundry. SHARC systems tap into this heat source by diverting a portion of the wastewater into a heat exchanger.

Utilizing the WET approach, the SHARC system extracts the thermal energy from the wastewater and transfers it to a building’s heating or cooling loop. The energy can then be used to heat spaces, provide hot water, or even cool buildings by reversing the process.

Once the heat is captured, the wastewater is returned and the system can extract energy from the next batch of wastewater. The opportunity to reduce dependence on natural gas and other carbon-intensive energy sources, thereby lowering both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions, is obvious. 

By design, SHARC systems are scalable, with solutions available for individual buildings or even entire districts, making them a sustainable solution for urban areas.

The company markets two systems, one named SHARC and the other, PIRANHA.

“They are similar in function but very different in design,” Mueller notes. “The SHARC system is much larger and is meant for institutional-sized applications – think municipal or district-wide systems. The PIRANHA is designed for single-building use, like a residential or commercial property. But the concept behind both is the same.” 

As far back as 2015, SHARC installations were commissioned for use at the Sechelt Water Resource Centre not far from Vancouver.

In 2020, the company put its technology to use for a multi-family residential project spearheaded by Morgan Creek Ventures in Boulder, Colorado.

And today, SHARC technology can be found in residential complexes and campuses across North America.

The company’s revenue for the first half of 2024 reached $1.56 million, nearly matching the total for all of 2023. In the second quarter alone, revenue was $780,000, a 72% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

And as of late August 2024, SHARC’s order backlog stood at $2.7 million.

Clearly, there is demand for the company’s approach to sustainable heating that should only grow as the concept becomes known by more developers and communities. And as it grows, SHARC is virtually guaranteed a large portion of it.

“The market is huge – easily in the billions,” says Mueller. “There are really only two companies in the world that do sewage heat recovery, which would be us and one based in Germany. Every city is starting to look at this technology as a serious alternative to traditional energy sources. When I first got into this, no one had even heard of sewage heat recovery. Now, every major city is exploring it as a way to reduce their carbon footprint.” 

Looking ahead, SHARC is targeting large markets, such as California and New York, that already lean toward clean technology on multiple fronts.

Among the projects for which it has secured orders is one involving four PIRANHA T15 WET systems for a mixed-use development in Berkeley, California. That project, the largest yet for the PIRANHA line, underscores the growing demand for SHARC’s WET solutions in the U.S.

In New York, meanwhile, SHARC will be part of a US$1.2 billion redevelopment project in Brooklyn​.

Hearing all this, one gets the sense that the potential for this technology is as untapped as the renewable resource being released into our sewers.

“We’re seeing a lot of growth, and our sales pipeline is the largest it’s ever been,” says Mueller. “We used to get one strong lead per week, but now we’re getting two or three every day. It’s really exciting to see how far we’ve come and how much potential lies ahead. The opportunities are enormous, and now that people are coming to us, rather than us having to convince them, it’s incredibly rewarding. We have a great team in place, and I’m confident we’ll continue to lead the way in wastewater energy transfer.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about SHARC International Systems at https://www.sharcenergy.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Growing Demand for Natural Fertilizers Sets the Stage for Major Capacity Expansion

Humans could live without cars if they had to, computers too and, yes, even their mobile phones. You could arguably get by without modern forms of shelter as well, but food is non-negotiable – we all have to eat.

Replenish Nutrients (CSE:ERTH) utilizes a natural approach to formulate fertilizers for the farmers who grow our fruits and vegetables. Its products are designed not only to feed the plants in farmers’ fields but to nurture and repair those fields as well. “Treat the soil with respect and it will respect you back” is one way to summarize the company’s way of thinking, and if demand for Replenish products is any indication, it’s working.

Replenish Nutrients Chief Executive Officer Neil Wiens spoke with Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine in early September about business to date, feedback from the farming community and expansion plans designed to take operations to the next level.

The essence of your business is using natural methods over industrial ones to serve a sector we rely on every day: agriculture. Tell us in your own words what Replenish Nutrients does and why you started it.

Replenish is a natural fertilizer company using biochemistry, rather than chemistry, to liberate nutrients from mineral fertilizer sources. We use non-leachable fertilizer products that hang out until biology does what it is supposed to, which is to liberate these elements and make them available to the plant in the right place at the right time.

Let’s use a phosphorous product as an example. We use rock phosphate, just like any phosphate fertilizer company. But instead of putting it through a chemical process, adding sulphuric acid and creating waste, we utilize the full rock phosphate mineral. When we do that, not only phosphate reaches the soil but also calcium, magnesium and iron, so the plant is getting the micronutrients it needs.

Essentially, we are adding micronized sulphur and solubilizing bacteria and fungi that will give the phosphate, calcium and magnesium full availability when the plant needs it the most.

Our products restore soil health while also reducing the sector’s overall carbon emissions by as much as 200,000 CO2 equivalent tonnes annually via a low-emission manufacturing process that produces a low-salt alternative to synthetic fertilizers.

What feedback has the farming community provided along the way that was unexpected or helped you to further refine your products?

I am an animal nutritionist by trade and so I always look at treating the soil as the world’s largest feedlot. You have billions of microbes in the soil, and if you feed it the same as a human – give it a balanced diet – the soil reacts as our bodies would.

I would say the biggest feedback we get from farmers is that they see good things such as ladybugs showing up on their crops and also less fungicide use. These were things I was not anticipating originally; we were just trying to fertilize the plants and get a better nutrient density. But the farmers brought us consistent feedback that they were getting beneficial microbes and beneficial insects that they had not seen on their plants for 10 or 15 years.

What is the economic case for farmers using your products? Do Replenish products offer a greater yield increase per dollar, for instance?

As far as the economics are concerned, we basically say that you are not going to lose yield. You could gain it, but you won’t lose it. So, you are as good as conventional methods.

On the other side, it goes back to my previous answer where farmers are realizing that their crop inputs have decreased. They are not using as many pesticides or fungicides as they typically would, and so that all of a sudden creates a better ROI. And that’s as early as a year or two into the program.

How about product distribution? Farming is a long-established industry. How does a soil replenishment company market its products? What does the sales cycle look like?

We market in two different buckets. Our main bucket has thus far been a blended type of product that we went direct-to-farm with because logistically it was hard to manage. With a blended product, we have all the ingredients to bake a cake, if you will, and we’ve mixed them, but we haven’t put them in the oven.

On the other side of distribution, which we really focus on and believe will eventually show in our results, is that we have spent a lot of dollars and effort on our IP and how we actually bake the cake. We’ve figured that out – we have these ingredients and we know they work together. Now we have to put it in a form that all the farmers are used to using, which is a little granule. It also has to be able to keep microbes alive and play nice with the existing chemical fertilizer because nobody is going to go 100% off of that way of thinking.

So, we utilize that granule and distribute it through our partners who are independent fertilizer dealers such as CropMaxx or AgroPlus.

Our main focus has been Alberta because it is our backyard. But we have moved into Saskatchewan, Manitoba and, most recently, the Fraser Valley in the Pacific Northwest. The Fraser Valley market will probably expand the fastest for us because you have all of these phosphorous regulatory rules in place there, and our product fits what they require. Plus, blueberries and strawberries and vegetables just love our products.

Repeat orders are an important indicator for investors trying to understand the strength of a business like yours. Do customers tend to stay loyal to the brand?

If you look at our financials, we have been pretty consistent around the $15 million per year sales mark for the last few years because we have not expanded our granulation facilities, and those are the same customers every year. So, as repeat business, it has been awesome.  And this is that initial product that I was talking about, the blended product. It is static business and repeat and consistent.

On the granulation side, this is where our growth is coming as we plan to expand to 2,000 tonnes of production per month. This is what the independent dealers are after, and another name I will mention, especially in the Fraser Valley, is TerraLink, who has been using a lot of our granules. Our dealers go through the granules like crazy, and now it’s just a matter of supplying them with what they can sell.

You just mentioned facility expansion. Can you share more detail?

One thing we have done, and unfortunately it’s about a year later than we’d hoped because of technical challenges, is spend the past six to eight months refining the process to the point where we are now in expansion mode at our Beiseker facility, which was our initial commercialization plant. We were at about 2 tonnes per hour capacity potential, and by the end of November or beginning of December, we are looking at expansion to 5 tonnes per hour.

Replenish released quarterly financial statements in late August and revenue was on the soft side. Was that just seasonality that works itself out through the balance of the year?

The main improvement will be that fall is a better time of the year, so Q3 and Q4 are always stronger, and you are going to see those numbers increase.

A lot of farmers had great crops this year, particularly in zones that we have been targeting in the past two years. These farmers have cash flow and liked their product over the past year because it did well for them. So, that will help that end of things.

And really the main thing that is going to guide us into 2025 is going to be that 5-tonne-per-hour capacity, which equates to 2,000 tonnes of granulation per month. That is our main target for our revenue expansion.

Is there anything we have missed?

We’re proud to be a partner of Emissions Reduction Alberta and the Alberta Government. We’ve received a $7 million dollar grant to replicate Beiseker in DeBolt, Alberta. And we have further plans for expansion, too. There are good jobs in rural communities to be had from what we’re up to.  

We also haven’t mentioned that our main product is a zero-waste product, non-chemical and we thrive on small footprints. As a result, the IP we have developed can be replicated anywhere on the globe. So, take that as you will as for what our plan is. But what I will say is that it gives us the optionality to go and do this in Africa, in India or in areas of the Pacific Northwest where being local makes for good logistics. We are potential exporters of made-on-the-Prairies Canadian ingenuity.

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Replenish Nutrients at https://replenishnutrients.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Savvy Business Model Leverages North America’s Race to Build Renewable Energy

While Europe gets much of the credit for leading the global push to adopt renewable energy, the United States and Canada are actually among the world’s top power producers from clean sources, thanks in large part to an abundant water supply for hydroelectric stations.

But solar and wind feature more prominently than most people probably realize, particularly on a total output basis in the United States. In both countries, multiple forms of renewable energy play a role in shaping the supply profile for regional power grids.

The stage is thus set for viable new renewable projects to help North America meet its increasing need for electricity, and NU E Power (CSE:NUE) is playing a role with an early focus on solar opportunities in Alberta.

NU E Chief Financial Officer John Newman spoke with Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine in mid-September about Canada’s renewable energy market, the company’s business model and near-term plans for growth.

Let’s begin with a look at why NU E Power was first established.

NU E was founded in 2021 by Devon Sandford, an electrician who specializes in the construction of utility-scale solar facilities and is also an entrepreneur. His vision was to develop a solar-to-hydrogen model, which was the initial business plan of the company. Back when we were looking for the capital to develop these projects, we were introduced to Low Carbon out of the U.K. and were able to strike what I think is a very unique joint venture with them.

Can you tell us how the joint venture with Low Carbon Investment Management works?

NU E is responsible for sourcing and developing solar projects in North America. We source the projects, we move through the regulatory process to get approval, and Low Carbon is responsible for funding all of the construction and development costs.

Once it gets to the investment decision date, we undertake a third-party valuation and the development is sold by the joint venture to a specific special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up for the purpose of constructing and operating the solar farm. 

At the end of the day, NU E ends up with a 25% share of each SPV. So, for us, it’s basically a free carry on 25% interest in the solar farm. It’s a very unique situation and that’s something we want investors to understand – that this is really a very attractive venture for us as a company.

How long does the process take from beginning to end?

It’s a fairly lengthy regulatory process; from start to finish it can be 12 to 18 months. We source access points into the grid, we source available land, and then once we find suitable locations, we commence the regulatory process. We have a couple of developers on staff and Low Carbon pays 100% of their costs, as well as some of the management costs, and they basically pay 50% of our general and administrative expenses, excluding any kind of public costs and things like that.

Tell us about the joint venture’s first project.

Lethbridge One is an 8.75 MWac (MWac denotes nameplate capacity for a solar power facility) project that should go live this month. The cash flow generated from this project will be used to pay down the financing costs, so in terms of cash flow directly to NU E, it is expected to be $10.4 million over the next two years, meaning 2025 and 2026. Essentially, we’re building asset value at this stage.

As we look to the future, we will see cash flow coming from the sale of developments from the joint venture to the specific operating vehicles that are set up to construct and operate solar farms.

What’s coming up after Lethbridge One?

We’ve got four other projects in the development pipeline, around 500  megawatts worth that are in various stages of regulatory approval. That pipeline is probably worth $750 million to $1 billion of investment into Canada before taking into account investment tax credits or other incentives that the government has put in place to encourage renewable energy development.

Lethbridge One is quite small, but it was good for both Low Carbon and NU E to embark on a project like this just to understand the process. I think we’ve got all of that stuff ironed out, and we’re looking to much larger projects.

Can you talk about the energy market in Canada, the appeal for investors and what levels of government support and subsidies there are?

Our primary focus in Canada is Alberta. We have probably the most sunshine per year of anywhere in the country, so it’s an ideal place for solar farm developments. The preference at this stage is to operate in Alberta because it’s a deregulated market too.

Once you go through the approval process you can access the grid. What I think makes the renewable energy space ultimately attractive for investors is that you’ve got a lot of support from the government, both federally and provincially, in the form of investment tax credits on capital expenditures on renewable projects. For example, if we’re spending $1 billion, we could see up to $300 million of investment tax credits, so it’s a significant impact on project economics.

Another incentive is that Canada is no different than other countries in imposing a carbon tax, which is currently around $80 a ton and I think rising to $170 a ton by 2030, so there’s a big incentive for people to utilize renewable energy.

And when it comes to energy pricing, Alberta is a deregulated market and the price does go up and down, so we look to try and put in place power purchase agreements where we can establish an economic price for our power, which helps with financing and all sorts of things surrounding project economics. We’re also looking at the possibility of putting in place battery storage, so you can store energy and then release it into the grid when the prices are right. 

Having gone through the regulatory process once, what’s the expected timeline for the rest of the pipeline?

Alberta went through a bit of a moratorium on approving new power projects that started last year and ended earlier this year. That’s delayed the approval process and seen some new rules around renewable energy put in place. So, it has impacted the timing to some extent, but I believe in the next 12 to 18 months that we will have approval on certainly the next two projects, Lethbridge Two and Lethbridge Three, which is around 150 megawatts of solar. 

Does working with a U.K. renewable energy company set you apart in Canada?

Low Carbon is a significant player in the renewable market in the U.K. and Europe, so it gives us credibility that they’ve chosen to work with us and are prepared to operate the joint venture under the terms we have, which I think are very favourable to us. And I think it’s positive not only that we have a funding partner but also that they’re a well-recognized player in the renewable sector.

Is there opportunity for NU E to expand outside of the Low Carbon deal?

The joint venture is fairly well defined, and if there are projects that we bring to the table that they’re not interested in then we have the ability to pursue those opportunities ourselves.

We do have a couple of opportunities that we’re working on outside of the Low Carbon deal. The original business plan behind NU E was the production of green hydrogen through solar energy and that remains one of our key targets. We’ve actually just acquired 49% of Diloo Energy, a majority Indigenous-owned and -operated green hydrogen developer in Canada. We need to look as well at opportunities that will generate cash flow in the nearer term.

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about NU E Power https://www.nu-ecorp.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Product Quality and Local Manufacturing Are Just Two of the Key Advantages This Battery Maker Enjoys

Batteries have been around since 1800, when Alessandro Volta employed zinc and silver discs, among other components, to create a device (the voltaic pile) that generated electrical current. Well over two centuries later, Volta’s invention is more important than ever, with battery technology continuing to evolve at a breakneck pace.

Hybrid Power Solutions (CSE:HPSS) is an Ontario-based company with a home-grown take on the power storage industry that is proving to be a good match for today’s competitive landscape.

The company’s focus on batteries that operate to extremely high standards, thanks in no small part to domestic manufacturing with North American components, has won it a list of clients of which any entity would be proud. Colony Hardware, the United States Armed Forces, plus major power utilities and mass transit systems are all part of the customer base. It reflects a commitment to understanding user needs and delivering top-quality products that completely fulfill them.

“When I started Hybrid Power Solutions, the focus was on how to use batteries to transform the way the industrial and commercial sectors operate,” explains Hybrid Chief Executive Officer Francois Byrne. “What I mean by that is better performance, better safety, better ROI and zero compromise to what you are doing.”

A review of product specifications helps to illustrate this concept. Hybrid’s products operate in greater temperature ranges than those of its competitors, most of them from China, which is important given that many of its customers use products outdoors or in environments where operating conditions can reach extremes.

The Hybrid lineup comprises batteries from 3,000 watts up to 150,000 watts, with the ability to go even higher based on client requirements.

“We can power your welder off this battery, your crane off that one and your trailers off these ones,” says Byrne, highlighting a construction site scenario. “We bring the hybrid side as well with solar power generation. Essentially, we are transitioning our customers to a clean future without having to say ‘clean’ or ‘green’ or any of those things. We are selling clean technology based on performance and cost savings, and the side benefit is that we are sustainable and a better option.”

The Hybrid Power Solutions concept traces back to when Byrne was racing hybrid cars as a student while earning a degree in Carleton University’s Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering program. It was clear to Byrne that the torque performance characteristics that worked so well for race cars could be applied in commercial settings and meet industrial standards.

“We made a conscious decision early on that we were not going to be a consumer-grade product. Our focus has always been on manufacturing to a professional standard. Essentially, you are making your living using our product, and if it goes down it is dollars lost, not just an inconvenience,” says Byrne.

That commitment to understanding quality from the customer’s perspective is bearing fruit, with multiple users placing repeat orders after having a good experience with their initial deployment of Hybrid batteries.

Byrne tells the story of a California-based utility that contacted Hybrid after seeing a product review on YouTube.

“They bought a unit and six months went by and we hadn’t heard anything. We contacted them to see how things were going, and they said our battery worked phenomenally and was the only one that did exactly what they needed it to do. We received a second order, and then about three months ago they came back with a third order, this time for 105 units.”

Estimates of the size of the battery energy storage market vary, but one guideline, a recent report published by Fortune Business Insights, suggested US$114.05 billion by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.88%.

With so much at stake, competition is sure to increase. It is going to be the companies that combine effective marketing with modern technology that succeed in the long run, a concept not lost on Byrne.

“Innovative technology is at the forefront of our strategy, but that will only get you so far,” says the CEO. “I’ve seen incredible technology that never gets into a revenue-generating company because the sales process wasn’t there. This is where we differentiate ourselves – our partnerships with large distribution channels and tier-one clients will enable us to scale in a way that other companies cannot.”

And given the geopolitical state of the world, where new global alliances are drawing battle lines that directly threaten the status quo, regional security concerns are playing a role in shaping the future of technology and the opportunities available to the corporate sector.

Byrne says that consumers don’t seem to care that much about where their products are made, whereas attitudes on the commercial side have shifted noticeably over the past few years. Business leaders increasingly feel that the West would be well advised to learn to fend for itself, so local manufacturing is taking on greater importance and becoming more appealing to purchasing managers.

“A lot of our products have parts not only from Canada but from the U.S. as well,” Byrne observes. “And while I’m not saying that it isn’t a challenge, as North America is lagging in certain manufacturing capabilities, we are seeing a transition. It is all leading to a holistic and North American-based manufacturing ecosystem.”

Clearly, Hybrid has established a strong base from which to support management’s longer term plans to aggressively scale the business. The market is there, the technology is there, not to mention accolades from an expanding list of customers.

As with many young companies, now Hybrid mostly needs time to grow to the level of operations it has in mind. And that is one of Byrne’s key messages for the investment community.

“This is a real company with real technology, and our door is open to our investors to come and see what we do,” Byrne says in offering some final thoughts. “How we take a raw cell and build it into something that will power your welder for three shifts straight. That kind of thing is difficult to do, but we’ve done it and we expect this company to grow to new heights. We need investors to believe in what we do in the same way our customers believe and help us scale this to a level where every construction, railway, mine and military site out there is using our product.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Hybrid Power Solutions at https://www.investhps.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Carbon Removal That Powers Itself Is A Step Toward Saving The World

With the urgent need to remove billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere annually by 2050 to mitigate the impact of climate change, BluSky Carbon (CSE:BSKY) is stepping up with a cutting-edge solution designed to store carbon for thousands of years while at the same time producing low-cost energy.

Carbon removal is set to become a huge business, according to BluSky Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer William Hessert, who spoke recently with Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

“There’s quite a bit of money being poured into this industry, and this is catalyzing it and creating opportunities for reputable suppliers like BluSky,” Hessert explains. “Carbon removal will likely generate more revenue in 2050 than many major tech companies put together.”

Hessert sees governments pivoting to a compliance market for carbon dioxide in coming years, with the U.S. government set to essentially become a carbon credit consumer when tax credits become technology-neutral.

“There are 66 gases regulated in the U.S., and carbon dioxide will become number 67,” he says.

“The companies building the voluntary market like BluSky are the bridge to the compliance market. That is how carbon removal becomes a multi-trillion-dollar market.” 

BluSky captures carbon through the pyrolysis of biomass such as organic waste, which involves heating the waste to a very high temperature with low oxygen levels. 

When undergoing pyrolysis, the waste splits into a char and a gas. The char, known as biochar, can store carbon for thousands of years. Meanwhile, BluSky’s pyrolysis process produces enough gas to power itself, thus making it self-sufficient. 

The company’s biomass pyrolysis pilot system, the Vulcan II, was successfully commissioned in January 2024 and is designed to remove up to 800 tonnes of CO2 per year. 

BluSky is now developing Vulcan Heavy, described by Hessert as the “crown jewel” of pyrolysis, which will convert 5 tonnes of waste per hour into biochar. 

Surplus energy from the pyrolysis process is used to power BluSky’s Kronos system, a direct air capture process that removes more CO2 from the atmosphere. 

“Typical direct air capture systems can be north of 2,000 kilowatt hours for a tonne of CO2. It affects the net amount of CO2 captured,” Hessert points out.

Adding a third dimension, BluSky’s Medusa carbon mineralization system captures the CO2 from the bioenergy’s exhaust. The Medusa then converts the CO2 into stone as a replacement for underground storage wells. The company completed a Medusa prototype in January 2024 with a larger version currently under development. 

BluSky has been able to keep the cost of its system down when compared to other carbon removal technologies due to its feedstock of choice, which requires minimal input costs. 

“It’s waste products like wood chips. The American forestry industry is buried in wood chips right now,” Hessert says. 

The company’s hybrid carbon removal process was designed to be capital-efficient and scalable to effectively address climate change.

“Our focus has been on building something that can essentially be copied and pasted over and over again to take advantage of different geographies and that can add to economic development,” says Hessert.

This includes being able to “mass-produce’” site selection, feedstock selection, permitting and so on.

“Everything we envision should be coming off an assembly line because to remove billions of tonnes of CO2, we need to be deploying millions of tonnes of capacity every week,” Hessert adds.

“For example, the Medusa and Kronos systems are essentially going to be massive stainless steel towers that are going to remove CO2 both from the bio exhaust and from the atmosphere and then ramped up with the ability to accredit carbon credits and be mass-produced over and over again.”

BluSky aims to have a facility capable of removing more than 150,000 tonnes of carbon per year in 2025. 

He compared this to Climeworks’ industry-leading Orca plant in Iceland, which uses direct air capture to remove about 4,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.

BluSky expects to achieve initial profitability from equipment sales and the sale of carbon credits from the production of biochar. 

It has already secured a US$686,155 contract to build pyrolysis machinery for the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

And in late September of this year, the company announced an agreement with a purchaser based in the United States to sell biochar over a 10-year term with a total value of US$105 million.

On the carbon credits side, the company is forging partnerships with various entities that have experience selling carbon removal credits to major companies in the technology, energy and industrial sectors.

Hessert highlights the importance of communicating to enterprises the difference between carbon removal, which involves taking CO2 out of the atmosphere, and carbon offset, which could involve avoiding deforestation or other activities. 

“Quite a few of the largest companies, such as Microsoft, are pouring money into carbon removal, and it’s looking like they’re only going to increase their investments. So having partners that can communicate in a way that allows us to grow and remove more carbon is better for shareholders and better for the planet.”

BluSky has also partnered with Cula Technologies for data verification services to ensure transparency for carbon credit certification. 

Cula tracks machines, feedstock inputs, output quality and shipped products to verify that one tonne of carbon removal is truly equal to one net tonne of carbon. It uses sensors inside biochar machinery to monitor the temperature of the reaction, confirming its quality. Higher temperature pyrolysis creates higher carbon biochar.

“It creates a level of transparency that is truly unmatched,” Hessert says. “It gives greater assurances to a carbon removal credit buyer. The more assurances they have, the more comfortable they’ll feel purchasing carbon removal credits.”

As a carbon removal pioneer, BluSky will benefit from new opportunities as major players enter the space, bringing their own capital and connections. 

“What they are missing is the technology provider and subject matter experts, which paves the way for joint ventures or partnerships,” Hessert notes. “That’s going to allow us to scale even faster.”

While the rate of carbon removal required to achieve climate change goals is daunting, Hessert believes BluSky’s team is positioned to tackle this challenge. 

“We’re trying to save the world here,” he says. “We operate like a sports team. This is the major leagues. The championship we’re fighting to win is billions of tonnes of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. We’re sprinting toward it and this is the team to do it.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about BluSky Carbon at https://www.bluskycarbon.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Israeli Food-tech Company Helps Alleviate Health Concerns Related To Commercial Frying

Beyond Oil (CSE:BOIL) is aiming to improve the health of untold numbers of people who enjoy the occasional guilty pleasure at their favourite restaurant: deep-fried food. Diners will probably never be aware of the healthier cooking going on behind the scenes thanks to this revolutionary technology, but it is important and deserves recognition.

While it took nearly 15 years to perfect, the company now has a powder that addresses the degradation of frying oil. Harmful carcinogens such as acrylamide, as well as free radicals with the potential to cause cell damage, can build up in oil used for commercial frying. Customers and kitchen staff are both exposed to serious health risks as a result.

Beyond Oil’s powder absorbs harmful elements and extends the oil’s lifespan while maintaining its quality. First tested and now selling commercially in Israel and Canada, the product has been shown to improve food quality and support environmental sustainability.

The next phase of the growth strategy calls for expanding adoption of the product across North America. In an interview with Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, Beyond Oil Vice President Robert Kiesman discussed the company’s origins and its efforts toward achieving this important goal.

What inspired the development of Beyond Oil’s solution for improving the health profile of oil when it is used for cooking?

Our Founder and President, Michael Pinhas Or, is the inventor of the product, and he started it due to a personal health condition related to acidity. Like many Israelis, he approached the issue as a layperson, learning everything he could. He studied intensively and spent about seven years in his backyard shed going through trial and error.

Or invested his family’s fortune into developing the product. After his “aha” moment, the inventive breakthrough, he secured a patent, as well as clearance to sell from the FDA and Health Canada. Since then, he has remained heavily involved, and his son, Jonathan, became Chief Executive Officer after the company went public.

One of the reasons Beyond Oil is such an easy story to tell is because it connects to something universal: food. Everyone, no matter where they live, eats fried food, whether it’s fries or other items unique to their region.

When people see the photos comparing black, smelly, smoky oil to a jar of clean Beyond Oil, the reaction is clear. They don’t want to eat food fried in dirty oil; they want food cooked in clean oil. These visuals stick in people’s minds, which is a big reason why our story is catching on so well.

Can you explain how the technology works?

It’s a powder that needs to be filtered out. Most restaurant fryers use built-in filtration, external filtration or paper filtration. The good news is that Beyond Oil works in all three contexts. We are classified by regulators as a filtration aid, not a food additive, which makes it much easier to get regulatory approval in many countries.

The process is simple. You add the powder at the end of each day, the powder mixes with the molecules of toxins and attaches to them and then it all gets filtered out, which removes the toxins from the oil.

These toxins include trans fats, total polar materials (TPM), acrylamide and others. There are dozens of these toxic compounds.

One reason oil smokes when it gets old is that plastic-like molecules form in it, meaning you’re essentially burning plastic into the air. Beyond Oil works to clear that out.

Is there a rationale for restaurants using Beyond Oil’s product aside from serving healthier food to their customers?

The biggest part of our story is that we offer a legitimate health solution with positive ESG outcomes, and we also save restaurants money because they don’t need to replace the oil every two or three days. They can use it longer because the oil stays cleaner. How many stories do you know that have a positive health outcome, provide an environmental benefit and save businesses money?

The environmental benefits are clear. Producing oil requires water, electricity and fuel. By extending the oil’s life, we reduce the demand for oil, meaning less oil production, transportation and disposal. So, in addition to the health and cost benefits, there’s also a legitimate environmental impact.

Could you elaborate on the specific markets you’re targeting?

We’re focusing on two main uses for Beyond Oil. The first is restaurants, and the second, which is much larger, is the industrial frying market. These are large industrial factories that use thousands of litres of oil and typically freeze the fried food before sending it to retailers like Costco or Superstore. This is a much more sophisticated context for us to be working in, and while we’re publicly focused on restaurant deals and the rollout, we’re quietly advancing into the industrial market as well.

In the industrial sector, we’ve conducted pilot programs with several large, multibillion-dollar companies in North America. We also announced that we signed a letter of intent (LOI) with a multinational company that designs and builds highly sophisticated filtration systems for these large frying factories. The goal is to run full-scale pilots with these industrial operations because our powder seems to be compatible with their filtration systems, which is a significant breakthrough for us.

What kind of feedback have you received from these initial industrial tests, and how do you plan to scale this system globally?

The feedback has been tremendous. First, I want to highlight that we have two main distributors – one in Canada and one in Israel. Both distributors, who are now selling our product commercially, made strategic investments in our company during the first six months of this year. This is a significant achievement for a small-cap company and indicates their strong confidence in our product.

We’ve received a range of positive feedback from end users. Firstly, our customers report a decrease in oil consumption. Secondly, they find the product healthier due to fewer toxins. Thirdly, the food tastes better because the oil is cleaner, resulting in crispier, fresher and lighter food that isn’t soaked in oil.

Additionally, we’ve received unexpected ancillary feedback. Customers need less warehousing for oil and experience reduced steam and smoke. Multinational customers examine the outcomes in great detail and are providing valuable insights, such as improvements in flavour. Overall, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with no significant negative comments.

What catalysts can investors anticipate in the near future?

We’re expecting catalysts in all three areas of focus that I’ve outlined: expanding into the West with the two multinational fast food chains that we are now selling to in Israel, adding new U.S. chains as customers and getting fully commercialized into the industrial frying market. I’d also like to point out that we have hit major milestones on a consistent basis since the beginning of the year. 

But as impressive as our performance has been this year, it’s not going to be a major success story until we hit it big in North America. The plan now is to take the success that we’ve had in Israel and Canada and really push it west into Europe and then into the U.S. We have all the regulatory approval we need in Canada and the United States. Success in the U.S. is unlike success anywhere else.

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Beyond Oil at https://www.beyondoil.co/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Innovative delivery technology designed to change the nature of cannabinoid consumption

StickIt (CSE:STKT) has carved out a niche for itself in the cannabis market, despite not exactly being a cannabis company.

Listed on the CSE since October 2023, StickIt develops innovative consumer products resembling toothpicks, as well as straws and spoons, which can be infused with different types of cannabinoids, such as THC and HHC.

StickIt operates primarily through a B2B model that allows the company to leverage its patented technologies by relying on partners to handle mass manufacturing. This facilitates market penetration and scalability across multiple regions without requiring large capital outlays to establish production facilities.

The approach sees StickIt license its delivery technologies to entities who produce and distribute the infused items under the StickIt brand name. And unlike some traditional cannabis products, which vary significantly in dosage and quality, StickIt’s offerings provide a consistent and reliable user experience.

The company’s primary product, the Extra-C “cannabis stick,” resembles a toothpick that can be easily inserted into a pre-roll. The stick consists of cannabis extracts that burn at the same pace as the pre-roll does.

A product that uses a similar concept but in a completely different form factor is the StickIt SipIt straw. The idea here is to provide people the soothing effects of cannabinoids while they enjoy their favourite beverage.

Unveiling the straw in March of this year, StickIt Chief Executive Officer Eli Ben Haroosh said: “This development eradicates the hassle of traditional consumption methods, offering rapid, discreet and precise dosing without compromising taste or experience. It’s a win-win for both consumers and producers, opening doors to untapped markets and elevating the cannabis experience to unprecedented levels. We’re not just changing the way cannabis is consumed; we’re revolutionizing it.”

StickIt is clearly onto something, so there are other products coming to the lineup as well, including a hot drink shaker stick. 

Speaking to Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, StickIt Chief Financial Officer Sophie Galper explains how these new products are intended for people who want to consume cannabinoids without the taste and smell of oil-based products.

“This is what’s unique about the straw. You want to have your juice or water or whatever you are consuming without it being mixed with the taste of cannabis oil,” explains Galper.

“The technology allows exactly this. It’s a delivery system. You’re sipping it but it’s only being activated in your stomach.”

To provide an even clearer idea, Galper draws an analogy with consuming sugar. “If it’s a warm drink, you feel the sweetness of the sugar. If it’s a very cold drink, the sugar is not dissolved, so you can consume sugar in your body without really tasting the sweetness.

“StickIt’s technology is essentially a delivery system that creates almost sand-like granules, and when you sip your drink it’s getting into your body without tasting like oil.”

One big plus is that StickIt-branded products come labelled with the precise dosage amount, so you know exactly what is entering your system.

But perhaps attention to detail should not be surprising, considering how the company views its position. “As much as StickIt is active in the cannabis market, it’s essentially a technology company, not a cannabis company,” Galper says.

And StickIt does indeed have considerable tech credentials behind it. The company’s founder, Dr. Asher Holzer, has decades of experience in starting and growing medical technology companies, including InspireMD, which is focused on the proprietary microNET stent platform technology for the treatment of complex vascular and coronary diseases.

StickIt is in the process of building joint venture partnerships in cannabis-friendly jurisdictions around the world, though Galper admits it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing so far.

“The business model involves licence agreements with local manufacturers in every country. Launching these agreements has taken longer than expected, as is always the case,” Galper explains.

“This is partially because there’s absolutely a shortage of people who want to fund this industry right now.”

Galper is referring to the elephant in the room here. For all of the hype and promise, the regulated cannabis industry has underperformed.

In Canada, in particular, the market has experienced saturation and regulatory hurdles that have made it difficult for businesses to thrive.

Nonetheless, StickIt is moving forward with strategic partnerships with licensees in multiple countries.

In 2023, StickIt entered into a licence and distribution agreement with Ripco Processing in Canada, authorizing Ripco to use StickIt’s raw materials in the manufacturing of products within the Canadian market. Ripco plans to focus on THC-infused sticks for the rapidly growing infused pre-roll segment.

Despite investors being cool toward cannabis investments at the time, StickIt went public on the CSE in October 2023 via a reverse takeover.

Funding was less of an issue for the group, having secured capital via two crowdfunding rounds. Plus, StickIt’s cash burn rate is “very low,” adds Galper.

Going public was a promise to the 600-odd crowdfunding participants and the CSE provided a liquidity venue for their shares.

“The public vehicle is a good platform to continue with M&A,” says Galper. “StickIt is very much oriented to M&A to integrate different technologies.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about StickIt Technologies at https://stickit-labs.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Unique expertise and steady strategy have this cannabis company positioned to reach new markets

Greenway Greenhouse Cannabis (CSE:GWAY) entered Canada’s frenzied cannabis market not long after the country legalized recreational use in October 2018 but with a different game plan than most of its peers.

While the company was smaller than many licensed producer (LP) rivals, the agricultural lineage of its leadership team proved an important advantage after the industry’s initial excitement gave way to hard business realities. 

Greenway is still led by the two men who co-founded the company: Chief Executive Officer Jamie D’Alimonte and President Carl Mastronardi, both of whom co-chair the organization.

D’Alimonte is a third-generation farmer whose family focuses on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and strawberries, which have been on shelves across Canada and in major U.S. retailers since the 1950s. The Mastronardi name is known in North American agricultural circles for their family’s work in greenhouse growing, stretching back to the 1940s.

While the initial frenzy in financial markets for cannabis names led to billions of dollars of investment and the creation of dozens of LPs, the Greenway strategy was more modest by design.

“We wanted to approach it as an agricultural product from the onset and we started very small, with a one-acre facility as well as the nursery back in 2020,” says D’Alimonte.

“We received the certification for our growing facility in 2021 and our intention was to be a B2B wholesale supplier, selling one-kilogram packages to other brands or marketers who could decide whether to sell it as flower, pre-rolled joints or edibles.”

The approach called for learning the market and keeping costs low as the team found ways to leverage its agricultural expertise.

“Honestly, prior to the gold rush and all the hype and hysteria around Canada’s legalization, what brought us to this industry is that we saw a lot of people that we didn’t think were doing it efficiently and going about it from an agricultural standpoint,” D’Alimonte explains.

“There are all kinds of controls required to keep costs down from a plant nutritional perspective and to maintain high production standards. We saw a lot of things going on that we thought fell short of our knowledge base, so we got excited and saw potential for growth over time. We felt we could really do something.”

Thanks to those decades of experience, Greenway’s weighted average cash cost for finished goods inventory was $0.75 per gram at the end of December 2023, amongst the lowest in the Canadian market.

“Even in inflationary times, we have been able to keep costs down and quite level,” he says.

“Early on, and even recently, you’re seeing costs at some other LPs well over $1.50 to $2.00 per gram. That really is the difference with us, as well as production per plant, with some yielding upwards of 250 to 300 grams.”

Situated in Leamington, Ontario, Greenway’s facility is in one of the southernmost and sunniest points in Canada, affording a perfect climate for greenhouse production.

Greenway also captures heat from power generated on site with natural gas, storing the warmth from engines to redistribute when greenhouses need it at night. Meanwhile, the rockwool substrate it uses in place of soil allows nutrients to be preserved, meaning a pasteurization process can be employed so that water gets reused.

“We do not utilize any pesticides but instead rely on integrated pest management,” says D’Alimonte. “In other words, we have an entomological team and we bring in good bugs to eat the bad bugs.”

To control aphids and white flies, for example, the control team uses ladybugs and a type of wasp called Encarsia formosa. “Greenhouse growing in general is very safe for the environment,” D’Alimonte notes.

While the Greenway founders were correct that their approach was robust, the rollercoaster trajectory taken by the broader industry made the first few years a much rougher ride than hoped.

With the rapid entry of large producers, some with facilities 20 or 30 acres in size, oversupply of cannabis, much of it of mediocre quality, sent prices tumbling. 

Canadian cannabis wholesale prices fell more than 40% last year as companies continued to work through stubborn supply gluts.

The fallout, which coincided with slower legalization south of the border than anticipated, undermined share prices and led to many companies collapsing or consolidating. 

D’Alimonte and Mastronardi had been careful not to overreach but still saw profits squeezed by the weak pricing environment. “It really hurt our revenues and returns,” says the CEO.

Nevertheless, in the quarter ended December 31, 2023, Greenway reported the second-best revenue number in its history, up more than 33% over the same period a year earlier to $1,388,200. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at a modest loss of $252,395.

“We have definitely seen a rebound in the market in the last six to eight months,” says D’Alimonte. “There have been a lot of bankruptcies and a lot of facilities closing or downsizing, matching and becoming aligned. Since that’s been happening, we are seeing our revenue increase and the price per gram increase as well.”

Also helping returns is entry into the retail market, with the first shipment of product under the company’s own MillRite pre-roll brand taking place in March. Early sales put MillRite as the number four brand in its segment. The EPIC premium flower brand launched one month later. Both brands are available in Ontario, with Greenway already eyeing other provinces such as British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

MillRite is priced to attract price-conscious consumers, with Greenway’s low production cost enabling it to compete and still anticipate profitability on its sales.

In April, Greenway announced the receipt of CUMS-GAP and GACP certification, bringing with it the chance to ship internationally.

“Some current customers with export arms requested that certification, so we can export through existing customers or through new ones we are currently vetting,” says D’Alimonte.

“Export prices are much higher than we are getting in Canada, and some of our product has already been earmarked for Australia. And with the change in the market, we are being approached by many LPs who decided to pivot and focus on marketing rather than production. We are having discussions with lots of them.”

The timing of this new market dynamic is perfect, as growing facility expansion finished last year, bringing capacity to 167,000 square feet of cultivation space and 22,000 square feet for processing.

This enables annual capacity of 24,000 kilograms and carries with it the potential for a major increase in earnings.

“I envision us probably being fully planted within 12 to 18 months, and it could be even sooner if one or two of the new customers we are currently talking to come on board,” says D’Alimonte.

He acknowledges that it has not been an easy journey for shareholders, of which he is one, with insiders owning about 70% of the 131 million shares outstanding.

“We have been very conservative – lots of sweat equity,” says D’Alimonte. “We have been true to our goals; we didn’t get into processing or CPGs right at the start like our competitors. We gave ourselves time to prove to the public and our shareholders what makes us different, keeping costs down and growing a superior product. We see this industry as a marathon not a sprint, and Greenway is still gathering speed.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Greenway Greenhouse Cannabis at https://thecse.com/listings/greenway-greenhouse-cannabis-corporation/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

Positioned just right as beneficial new rules set to sweep U.S. cannabis industry

U.S. multi-state operator (MSO) Vext Science (CSE:VEXT) is looking forward to big federal and state catalysts that it and others in the cannabis sector have long been preparing for.

The vertically integrated cannabis company has established a significant footprint in its main markets of Arizona and Ohio. Vext is well known for state-of-the-art cultivation facilities, fully built-out manufacturing operations and dispensaries where consumers often choose its Vapen brand, one of the top-performing THC concentrate, edible and distillate cartridge brands in Arizona.

The company has made a big push into Ohio as that state prepares to transition from a medical cannabis market to an adult-use one. In early June, the state began accepting applications for dispensaries seeking to sell recreational cannabis.

This shift is anticipated to significantly reduce the illicit market and provide easier access for consumers who do not want to obtain a medical cannabis card.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s recent announcement about rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug will have beneficial tax implications for companies in the industry and could potentially lower costs for consumers.

Vext generated approximately US$4.4 million in net income after tax in the year ended December 31, 2023, and anticipates significant growth with the upcoming launch of the adult-use program in Ohio. The company will be well positioned with a Tier I cultivation facility, a manufacturing facility and four dispensaries in the state. It also sees potential for three additional adult-use licences based on proposed new dispensary caps in Ohio, which would give it the opportunity to operate a total of seven dispensaries in the state.

In a recent interview with Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine, Vext Chief Executive Officer Eric Offenberger discussed how strategic vision and a commitment to operational excellence position Vext to thrive in a market characterized by constant change, plus what the company’s plans are to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.

Vext is a vertically integrated MSO with operations in Arizona and Ohio.  What sets the company apart from its peers?

One of the key differentiators is our cautious approach to growth. We identified states with vertical integration and a limited number of licences to make better and more sustainable returns. We’ve also been prudent with our capital and balance sheet structuring, always considering what growth we could support and what our shareholder base could support.

Our philosophy differed from others who expanded broadly; we focused on depth rather than breadth. We also entered the market later, going public in May 2019, which allowed us to learn from others’ experiences and avoid some of the pitfalls.

Your Q4 and full-year 2023 results show a slight decline in revenue from a year earlier but a notable increase in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). What were the key drivers behind this improved profitability?

The magnitude of the increase in EBITDA needs to be considered in context as it includes a bargain purchase price for our Ohio asset, which led to an increase in EBITDA. We’ve been funding Ohio from Arizona for a couple of years.

The cannabis industry, like any other, is affected by inflation impacting consumer spending. Until this year, Arizona was the primary operational state funding our Ohio expansion. Now, with Ohio becoming operational, we’re seeing results, and we expect to see both revenue and cash flow ramp up significantly as adult-use comes online through the second half of the year.

With Ohio’s adult-use market projected to reach US$4 billion by 2028, how is Vext preparing to capture market share there?

From day one we knew we wanted to be vertically integrated and to focus on a footprint that would enable us to capture incremental wholesale profit in the early years of the market, while scaling only to the level where we could fully supply our own dispensaries over the medium and longer terms. Being vertical and supply-demand matching within your own operations is key to long-term success in these markets. Additionally, Ohio’s structured limitations on storefronts and cultivation prevent oversaturation, making it an advantageous market for us.

Through acquisitions, we have assembled a portfolio that includes a Tier 1 cultivation facility, manufacturing operations and four dispensaries. The latest of those dispensary acquisitions closed in March 2024.

Ohio’s transition from a medical to an adult-use market is important given our exposure in the state. The potential customer base expands dramatically, presenting an intriguing opportunity. We’ve invested heavily in Ohio, using our Arizona assets and additional capital to fund this growth. We believe this positions us well to benefit from Ohio’s growing market.

The Arizona market is quite competitive. How is Vext positioning itself to maintain and potentially increase market share in that environment?

Arizona is experiencing an oversupply issue, with many cultivators entering the market and driving down prices. Inflation is also impacting consumers’ disposable income, leading to decreased spending.

We’re focusing on cost control and price discipline, ensuring efficiency in our operations. Despite the challenges, our vertically integrated model in Arizona helps us mitigate risks better than those heavily reliant on wholesale markets. While the market is down, we are only down about half as much. And this is a fantastic long-term market as supply and demand come into balance, as they always do in the long term. The population is expected to keep growing.

What strategies are you employing to handle these pressures?

We’re focusing on cost control, price discipline and inventory management. Basic business principles apply here, and we’ve been diligent about maintaining these even during better times. In Ohio, we anticipate a broader customer base, which will allow for growth in a more controlled market environment.

Can you comment on the innovative strategies Vext has implemented at the dispensary level?

We introduced “speed ” windows, similar to bank teller windows, allowing customers to quickly pick up online orders. This innovation improved customer traffic and transaction volume, outpacing state averages. It’s an example of how small changes can significantly impact operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

As someone who has transitioned from COO to CEO and with your background in MSOs and manufacturing, what lessons have you learned about running a successful cannabis company?

My background in retail, distribution and manufacturing shaped my view of cannabis as a commodity like any other. Consumers seek value, convenience and consistency. Whether it’s milk, poultry or cannabis, the principles remain the same. Efficient operations and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour are critical for success.

Industries evolve and cannabis is no different. From my experiences in dairy and other commodities, I’ve learned that consumer expectations drive market dynamics. Understanding these expectations and adapting operations accordingly is crucial. Efficient growth, maintaining control over expansion and ensuring product quality are fundamental lessons that apply across industries.

President Biden’s administration is moving toward rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. How do you foresee this impacting Vext Science’s operations and financial performance?

I think rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule III drug does a few things. It starts to change how people think about cannabis. If it becomes a Schedule III drug, it could lead more people back into the medical market, seeking pain relief or other benefits. It might become easier to prescribe and purchase, and it would have a different tax structure, potentially giving consumers more purchasing power.

Regarding banking, I’m not sure if it changes anything immediately. It might attract investors who have previously not focused on the sector, allowing them to view cannabis in a different light.

Socially, I’m unsure of the broader impacts, but I think it sets the stage for a more favourable environment. For a company like Vext, with a strong balance sheet and asset ownership, it creates a more attractive vehicle for future use, whether through acquisition or collaboration with like-minded companies.

How does your strategy for building the company ensure its resilience and value, particularly with the expected rescheduling of cannabis?

We always aim to build a company that someone would want to acquire one day – and that is not to say the company is “for sale,” because it’s not. However, by focusing on this end state even a long time down the road, you will naturally focus on building an efficient organization with happy and engaged staff and driving profitability and cash flow. Ultimately, this approach brings value to shareholders, employees and investors. 

We believe rescheduling propels us into the next phase of market evolution. If you build the company right, you’ll be able to take advantage of future opportunities, ensuring the success of a strong, unified team.

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Vext Science at https://www.vextscience.com/.

CSE Issuer Stories, Magazine

MariMed succeeds with growth strategy prioritizing conservatism over quick wins

MariMed (CSE:MRMD) has captured opportunities across the cannabis value chain with its “seed-to-sale” approach, encompassing flower cultivation, product development, marketing and distribution, and retail operations in key cannabis growth markets in the U.S.

Importantly, the company chose a deliberate and evenly paced approach over the lure of rapid expansion to reach this point. The resulting financial and operational stability positions MariMed to take full advantage of the expected reclassification of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III from Schedule I following a related submission by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in mid-May. 

The Norwood, Massachusetts-based company was co-founded by Chief Executive Officer Jon Levine and the late Robert Fireman in 2011 with an initial focus on the medical segment to help people improve their everyday lives. It began as an advisory company to cannabis licence holders, and subsequently transitioned to a plant-touching operation that has since built out its business to six states: Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio and Missouri, with plans to enter additional markets.

Levine told Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine that MariMed has taken a conservative approach to operations and acquisitions to ensure it did not overextend itself operationally or financially as so many cannabis companies have done.

“We had a vision of growing this business profitably to multiple states, and that’s where we have been very successful,” Levine says.

“We grew the company slower than most of our multi-state operator (MSO) competitors, focusing on fundamentals and profitability versus rapid, unprofitable growth just to say you are the biggest. We have one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry as a result,” he explains, highlighting that the company has very little debt, nearly all of which has a 10-year maturity, versus maturities of three to five years for most of their larger MSO peers.

MariMed focuses primarily on limited-licence cannabis markets in the U.S. All states in this category issue a predetermined number of licences to cannabis businesses. The high barrier to entry balances patient and consumer access to cannabis products, bringing price stability and other benefits.

But that doesn’t mean the company has seen less success in states that don’t adhere to the limited-licence approach, such as its home state of Massachusetts. Here, Levine says the company’s high-quality products, with their all-natural ingredients and precision dosing, have allowed it to remain competitive without being forced to drop prices nearly as much as the competition.

Under its portfolio are multiple award-winning cannabis products and brands, including Betty’s Eddies fruit chews, Nature’s Heritage flower and concentrates, a full line of InHouse value-priced products, Bubby’s Baked brownies and other confections, and Vibations, a hydrating powder drink mix.

“The winners in cannabis will be the companies with the strongest brands. We’ve believed that right from the start,” Levine explains. “People will trust and pay higher prices for consistent, high-quality brands. Similar to traditional consumer products, customers want to know that they will get the exact same Betty’s Eddies every time they purchase it and no matter the market. It sounds simple but not many cannabis operators deliver on that promise like we do.”

MariMed’s ultimate goal is to grow deeper in the states where it is currently operating until it is fully vertical and has maxed out its licences and then do the same in additional states. The company has applied for cannabis licences in Virginia, New York and Texas, which Levine says present significant growth opportunities in their respective medical markets. The company also intends to apply for licences in Kentucky, which recently approved a medical cannabis program.

In addition to its commitment to high-quality products, MariMed takes its position as an industry leader very seriously. Its advocacy on behalf of others has focused on the removal of U.S. tax code 280E, a provision that results in cannabis companies paying higher taxes than most other U.S. businesses due to marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance. The company last year held a 280E protest event where executives and team members tossed cargo chests emblazoned – but not actually filled – with “weed” into the Boston Harbor, taking inspiration from the famous Boston Tea Party tax protest of 1773 during its 250th anniversary. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to formally approve the rescheduling of cannabis as a lower-risk, Schedule III drug in the coming months, meaning cannabis companies will no longer be burdened by 280E. 

Levine hails the move as “historic” and a big win for the industry and the consumers it serves. “Among the most important benefits of rescheduling is that more credible research will be implemented to show the benefits of cannabis. We should ultimately see an exponential increase in the number of people who embrace cannabis as part of their health and wellness lifestyle.”

It will also result in industry-wide savings for cannabis companies, with MariMed expecting millions of dollars in tax reduction annually from the removal of 280E. Levine says these cost savings will free up funds for MariMed to accelerate growth, including expansion into new markets and investment in product innovation. The company is also adding new stock-keeping units, or SKUs, to its product lineup.

“We’re going to see improvement to our financials in revenue, margins and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) as we grow toward the end of the year,” Levine explains.

The company expects to see revenue growth in the range of 5% to 7% and adjusted EBITDA growth of up to 2% for 2024. 

For the first quarter, MariMed reported a 10% year-over-year increase in revenue, led by significant growth in its wholesale division and solid performance at retail. The strong revenue expansion led to the company achieving its 17th consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Levine says of MariMed’s financial performance. He spotlights that the company outperformed its competition in every market it operates in during the first quarter, including Illinois, where it began selling products through its new wholesale business in January. MariMed expects margins and revenue in Illinois to grow throughout 2024 as it bolsters operations, including opening its first cultivation facility. 

“We are battling additional competition, economic factors and seasonality, but long-term the future is bright for MariMed and the industry,” the CEO explains. “We’re very excited, for example, to continue ramping our Illinois production and cultivation and watch our revenue and margins increase along with that.” 

The company also expects to have its third adult-use dispensary up and running in Massachusetts very soon, which Levine said will drive MariMed’s margins and revenue higher for that state. It aims to open a new processing centre in Missouri as well and to expand the size of its Maryland cultivation facility to meet the growing demand for its products in that high-growth state.

With Ohio recently becoming the 24th state to legalize recreational cannabis use, the company plans to open a second dispensary there. It’s also evaluating opportunities to purchase a processing or cultivation facility and additional dispensaries to maximize its Ohio footprint.

“Those are things we expect to come that will bring more revenue and better margins in the second half of the year,” Levine notes.

MariMed’s momentum has carried into the second quarter. The Illinois brand rollout continues with its products available in over 130 dispensaries. In Massachusetts, the company recently announced a partnership with two iconic Boston music venues, MGM Music Hall at Fenway and Citizens House of Blues Boston. Positioned as each venue’s exclusive cannabis category sponsor, the partnership is generating enormous visibility and goodwill for its Nature’s Heritage brand. 

“We’re very excited that MariMed’s best days are still ahead,” says Levine.

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about MariMed at https://marimedinc.com/.