Simply Sonoma Inc. produces healthy CBD medicinals and beauty products for the environmentally conscious consumer. The company strives to create the best sustainably grown natural medicinal alternative products and is committed to minimizing its carbon footprint by powering operations off-the-grid using solar energy. Simply Sonoma is creating unique medicinal hemp strains that are alternatives and supplements to traditional, chemically manufactured therapies. The company believes in all-natural, organically sun-grown, plant-based medicinals, and it provides consumers with science-based education on CBD for disease and lifestyle needs.

Simply Sonoma is focused on being a leader in the industry for plant-based medicinal health and beauty products and partnering with like-minded organizations. The company strives to develop broad-spectrum CBD products for therapeutic applications from a scientific perspective. Its products come from the farm rather than from a lab, with the goal of achieving fewer side effects and more efficacy for patients. The company believes in published, science-based trials and research with regard to its CBD creations.

Simply Sonoma is a different kind of natural company. From seed to sale, it owns or contracts the organic grow, extraction and product formulation operations. The company has been developing products since 2017 based on scientific research and data and has several ready to launch. Its nationally available organic CBD products employ the company’s own proprietary formulations.

For example, the company’s nonalcoholic CBD Pinot Noir beverage uses grapes specially grown for Simply Sonoma and is infused with CBD from the company’s farm. The company expects to generate revenue through national sales of its CBD products via e-commerce, as well as through a variety of chain stores, pharmacies and small businesses throughout the U.S.

Products

Simply Sonoma has three tiers of products:

1. Organic CBD formulations for consumer medicinal applications.
2. Organic whole plant extracts of CBD and cannabinoids – providing the whole plant synergistic effect and giving a dose response for a variety of diseases.
3. Organic extracts paired with traditional over-the-counter functionality, delivering all the benefits of traditional OTC products but the bulk product is organic and plant derived for a more natural healthy approach, minimizing synthetic chemical components and adverse effects.

An example of tier three would be the company’s sleep aid. Current over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids like benzodiazepines, antihistamines and sleeping pills disrupt normal sleep brain patterns including REM, resulting in abnormal sleep. CBD and cannabinoids have efficacy as sleep aids and do not disrupt the normal sleep cycle.

Depending on the application, the company’s products can be delivered via:

1. Teas
2. Pills
3. Inhalers
4. Skin patches
5. Gummies
6. Tablets
7. Sublingual sprays
8. Tinctures
9. Topicals
10. Juices

Simply Sonoma has partnered with Sonoma Biologics, a premium hemp cultivator that has completed considerable research on the scientific nature of hemp and cannabis, to grow proprietary medicinal strains specifically for the company. Additionally, Simply Sonoma is working with Organic Vineyards on the company’s antioxidant, alcohol free, CBD wine product, as well as its low carb, low sugar Pinot Noir CBD sparkling product. All partner companies are environmentally conscious, solar first and organic-equivalent. Simply Sonoma’s CBD products will contain less than 0.3% of THC.

Market Outlook

Simply Sonoma competes with numerous nondescript CBD companies in the market today. The company feels its major competitive advantage is its scientific staff and product formulation expertise. Simply Sonoma products are focused on four specific health, beauty and lifestyle markets, including sleep aids, joint pain, probiotics and skin health. The Market Data Forecast valued the global sleep aid market at an estimated $175 billion in 2020. The joint pain and anti-inflammatory market is forecast to be worth approximately $41 billion in 2026 by Persistence Market Research. The market for gut health and probiotic products is expected to hit $65 billion by 2023, according to Global Market Insights. Allied Market Research valued the global beauty and skin product market at $380 billion in 2019.

Management Team

Simply Sonoma’s dynamic team has a unique combination of experience that positions them well with the company’s wellness and lifestyle products in the CBD space.

Margaret C. Caracciolo is the CEO of Simply Sonoma. She has spent most of her career in biotechnology, in the areas of clinical research and financials. She has worked for notable biotech companies including Heartport, an innovator of heart therapies. She spent time at Aviron, supporting the development of its innovative nasal flu inoculation product, and Genitope, which created personal gene therapies. She has spent the last 10 years co-managing her family’s farm and vineyard and creating wines and other products from the farm’s organic gardens.

Angela Miller is Vice President of Operations at Simply Sonoma. She has extensive experience in cross line-of-business, global project management, and analysis from inception to post-go-live. She spent more than 20 years working at Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., where she obtained expertise in global products, team building, troubleshooting, and customer relations. She also worked seven years with Schwinn Cycling & Fitness, doing everything in the Fitness Division from project management to marketing and public relations.

Splash Beverage Group Inc. (NYSE American: SBEV) is a portfolio company of successful beverage brands with the objective of driving value through superior production, supply chain efficiency and global distribution capabilities.

Specializing in manufacturing, distributing, sales & marketing of various beverages across multiple channels, the company operates in both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage segments, allowing it to leverage efficiencies and dilute risk. The company’s business strategy is to quickly develop and/or accelerate pre-existing brands to exit for cash events. Led by a highly successful management team, the company only works with brands it perceives to have highly visible preexisting brand awareness or pure category innovation, thus breaking through the clutter. Splash seeks out brands offering products that:

• Deliver natural quality, health benefits, freshness and refreshment within their beverages;
• Are on trend with consumers;
• Have a high level of brand awareness;
• Maintain highest performance standards and focus on execution;
• Help distributors and retail partners achieve and exceed all goals; and
• Offer unapologetic support for members of the U.S. armed forces, first responders and health care professionals.

Splash was founded in 2013 and is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Splash Portfolio

The current Splash portfolio includes four unique beverage brands. Each of these brands offers one or more of the qualities that the company specifically seeks in an acquisition.

• TapouT Performance is a natural isotonic hydration & recovery sport drink featuring a 3-in-1 advanced formula. TapouT Performance restores what the body loses through physical exertion, delivering hydration and cellular recovery. Perfectly balanced with key vitamins & minerals and all five necessary electrolytes, TapouT increases nutrient absorption, allowing the body to recover quickly and more efficiently. TapouT is the official training partner of the WWE (NYSE: WWE).
• Salt Naturally Flavored Tequila is a 100% blanco agave 80 proof tequila that offers a clean and delicate taste. Salt is grown, distilled and bottled in the Jalisco region of Mexico. Every bottle of Salt Tequila is the result of hard work, determination and numerous blends. The brand offers a line of tequila flavors for enhanced refreshment, including berry, citrus and salted chocolate.
• Copa Di Vino is the leading producer of premium “wine by the glass” in the U.S. Produced in the Columbia Valley, Copa di Vino is readily available on the go without the requirement of a bottle, corkscrew or glass. Open, drink and enjoy.
• Pulpoloco Sangria is a premium crafted sangria imported from Spain. Its flavor is light-bodied, fruity and refreshing, offering the best blend of Spanish ingredients. The product is filled and packed in a unique eco-friendly biodegradable catocan, allowing Pulpoloco to extend the shelf life of the sangria without the use of preservatives.

Market Outlook

The global beverage industry was valued at $1.5 trillion in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.1%, reaching a market size of $1.9 trillion by 2024 (https://nnw.fm/w1Cx9). The push for non-alcoholic beverages that are healthier and contain zero sugar is expected to be a driving force in the forecast period and beyond.

With a seasoned management team and sufficient capital to fuel sustained growth, Splash is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this market growth. The company is currently preparing a secondary offering and has engaged Kingswood Capital Markets as lead underwriter in order to uplist to the Nasdaq or NYSE in the near future.

Management Team

Robert Nistico is the Chairman and CEO of Splash Beverage Group. He has 28 years of experience in the beverage industry and was the fifth employee and SVP/General Manager of Red Bull North America. In this role, he led the start-up from zero sales to $1.65 billion in annual sales. Mr. Nistico was a founder and President of Marley Beverages and was responsible for framing the company’s long-term vision. Mr. Nistico held executive positions at DIAGEO, Republic National Distributing Company and the Gallo Wine Company resulting in decades of successful experience in the ‘Three Tier Beverage System’. In the spirit of his true entrepreneurial nature, he is a motivated, results-driven, creative and passionate leader.

William Meissner is the company’s President and CMO. He boasts over 20 years of success in growing consumer brand companies with large and medium-sized entrepreneurial organizations, both locally and internationally. His résumé includes multiple CEO roles, leading efforts to revamp both healthy and distressed companies. Before joining Splash, Mr. Meissner was the President and CEO of Sweet Leaf and Tradewinds Tea. He has held multiple positions with leading companies in the beverage sector, including Sparkling Ice, Jones Soda, SoBe Beverages, Fuze & NOS (Coca-Cola) and many others.

Sanjeev Javia is the Vice President of Product Development for Splash. He is the founder and President of Javia Wellness Group, a firm focusing on the innovation, research, formulation and design of healthy exercise and wellness initiatives. Mr. Javia is a sports nutrition expert, allowing him the advantage of developing innovative functional beverages that include health benefits for consumers. Since 2000, he has advised and written nutritional plans for hundreds of the world’s most famous athletes, including Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Curt Schilling and more.

Dean Huge is the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He brings 35 years of public and private sector accounting and finance experience to the Splash Beverage team. Mr. Huge has led four public offerings as CFO and guided the growth efforts of numerous companies, including Catalyst Energy Corp., which was named Inc. Magazine’s ‘Fastest Growing Company’ within 36 months of his joining. His expertise spans financial services, manufacturing, distribution and SAAS-type programs.

Aida Aragon is the company’s Senior Vice President of National Accounts. She is a sales, marketing and brand management executive with years of experience working in the sports supplement and beverage industry. In her previous positions, Ms. Aragon was vital in leading successful store rollouts for brands including Muscle Milk. Her passion for brand development comes as second nature, but her true passion has always been focused on increasing sales for brands in the sports nutrition industry.

SRAX Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX) is a digital marketing and consumer data management technology company. SRAX’s technology unlocks data to reveal brands’ core consumers and their characteristics across marketing channels.

Through its BIGtoken platform, SRAX has developed a consumer-managed data marketplace where people can own and earn from their data, thereby providing everyone in the internet ecosystem choice, transparency and compensation.

SRAX’s tools deliver a digital competitive advantage for brands in the CPG, automotive, investor relations, luxury and lifestyle verticals by integrating all aspects of the advertising experience, including verified consumer participation, into one platform.

SRAX Verticals

• SRAX Core: SRAX Core is a custom digital media management platform that enables brands and agencies to surpass the challenges of omnichannel marketing campaigns. It offers one comprehensive dashboard to manage digital media campaigns, inventory and reporting.
• SRAX Social: SRAX Social is a free social media management tool that makes it easy for brands, agencies and individuals to grow their digital presence. It offers free and unlimited users, Facebook auto boosting, and a custom analytics dashboard. Its managed services team can also build and execute marketing plans for your unique specific needs.
• SRAX IR: SRAX IR unlocks stock buyers’ behaviors and trends for issuers of publicly traded companies. The platform provides insights on shareholders and market makers, investor relations management, shareholder outreach tools and data-driven marketing.
• SRAX Auto: SRAX Auto unlocks auto intenders’ data to create measurable connected experiences on the road to purchase. It offers proprietary auto intender profiles, multi touchpoint communication and custom location-based ads.
• SRAX Shopper: SRAX Shopper delivers a cross channel, premium digital experience at scale to high value shopper audiences. It offers proprietary shopper profiles, cost per click pricing, and custom text and add to cart ad units.
• SRAX Lux: Launched in June 2019, the SRAX Lux platform targets and reaches luxury consumers at luxury retail stores, high-end art, music, film, fashion and sports events, across all consumer devices.

BIGtoken

BIGtoken, available for download on the App Store and Google Play, revolutionizes data collection. BIGtoken is a platform that creates a secure and transparent environment for consumers to own and earn from their data. To date, there are 15.9 million BIGtoken registered users worldwide.

The optimization and monetization of data is a multibillion-dollar business. Worldwide spending on big data and business analytics solutions reached $166 billion in 2018 and is projected to surge to $260 billion by 2022. BIGtoken’s consumer vision is committed to delivering choice, transparency and compensation to the individual.

Through BIGtoken, consumers earn rewards when they opt into sharing their data and when that data is purchased. Consumers decide what data is shared, who can buy it and how it’s used, and advertisers reach real, responsive audiences. The benefit of this is two-fold: consumers know how their data is used and advertisers gain verified consumer data for targeting.

Users of the BIGtoken app can officially be paid in cash or gift cards in exchange for giving brands access to their anonymized data, answering questions, checking into locations, recruiting new members, and more. Users can deposit their earnings directly into PayPal accounts or be paid through gift cards from favorite retailers such as Walmart.

SRAX has also partnered with several high-profile, nonprofit associations to provide BIGtoken users the ability to donate their earnings. Partnerships include the American Heart Association, dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke; HealthCorps, which helps high school students make better choices about health and physical fitness; and the ALS Association, which recently launched its Challenge Me campaign.

International Expansion

BIGtoken is formally launching into several international markets and partnering to foster local support. SRAX recently signed a joint venture with the Yash Birla Group to launch BIGtoken in India. Based in Mumbai, the Yash Birla Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has diversified interests in consumer and industrial products.

The partnership will bring BIGtoken’s platform to India, which has a digital population of 627 million. The India digital advertising market is $3.6 billion and is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32%, making it one of the largest growing digital ad markets in the world.

SRAX Mexico is led by Moe Avitia, who has more than 18 years of experience in business development and building high-tech teams. SRAX Mexico includes a team of 90 employees, including 70 engineers.

BIGtoken Europe is currently evaluating data centers in individual countries for privacy laws.

Leadership

Christopher Miglino is CEO and founder of SRAX. He has spent the past 20 years working in the digital advertising space and has successfully launched and sold two internet companies. Both of these companies were sold to publicly traded companies on the NASDAQ. He has a detailed understanding of how technology interacts with brands.

Kristoffer Nelson is COO of SRAX and a founding member of BIGtoken. With over 15 years of technology and creative business experience, Nelson has been a guest speaker for Loyola Marymount University among other academic institutions, the National Association of Broadcasters, the IAB and numerous other professional and media organizations.

Standard Lithium Ltd. (NYSE American: SLI) is focused on unlocking the value of existing large-scale U.S.-based lithium brine resources that can quickly be brought into production. The Company believes new lithium production can rapidly be brought on stream by minimizing project risks at selection stage; resource, political & geographic, and regulatory & permitting; and by leveraging advances in lithium extraction technologies and processes.

The Company’s flagship project is in southern Arkansas. The more than 180,000-acre “Smackover Project” is in the most prolific and productive brine processing region in North America. Agreements with large commercial brine operators in the region will allow Standard Lithium to utilize the extensive existing infrastructure, including brine supply and disposal pipelines, water, power and a trained workforce to fast-track project development timelines.

“Arkansas produces about 9.4 billion gallons of brine per year, according to 2010-2016 average statistics reported by the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission.”

Standard Lithium signed a binding MoU with global specialty chemicals company LANXESS Corporation and its U.S. affiliate Great Lakes Chemical Corporation with the purpose of demonstrating the commercial viability of extraction of lithium from brine (“tail brine”) that is produced as part of LANXESS’ bromine extraction business at its three Southern Arkansas facilities.

LANXESS’ land operations in Southern Arkansas encompass more than 150,000 acres, 10,000 brine leases and surface agreements and 250 miles of pipelines. LANXESS extracts the brine from its wells located throughout the area, and the brine is transported to the three Arkansas plants through a network of pipelines. The three bromine extraction plants currently employ approximately 500 people and process and reinject several hundred thousand barrels of brine per day.

Standard Lithium has developed a breakthrough rapid lithium extraction process that reduces the recovery time of extracting lithium from brine to as little as several hours vs. the current industry method that takes years. The process is also much more environmentally friendly with a significantly smaller footprint than the conventional processes. The company has a signed agreement to locate a demonstration scale lithium extraction plant inside one of LANXESS’ chemical plants in Southern Arkansas.

The Company has also signed an option agreement with NYSE-listed Tetra Technologies for the lithium rights for exploration, extraction, and possible commercial development on approximately 30,000 acres of brine leases in Southern Arkansas. The largest available land package.

Recent laboratory results of four brine samples recovered from two existing wells in Standard Lithium’s project area showed lithium concentrations ranging between 347-461 mg/L lithium, with an average of 450 mg/L lithium in one of the wells and 350 mg/L in the other. Geological modeling of the project area is complete, and a maiden resource report is on the horizon.

Market Opportunity

World demand for lithium continues to surge. The global lithium compounds market is projected to reach U.S. $5.87 billion by 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 13.22% between 2015 and 2020. Lithium-ion batteries are the fastest growing segment of the market.

Leadership

Standard Lithium’s commitment to being a premier, innovation-driven company focused on developing and commercializing new modern processes for lithium extraction is bolstered by the leading experts that comprise the company’s Scientific Advisory Council. Each member was selected because of their experience and expertise in areas that are central to and/or complement Standard Lithium’s current development plans. Standard Lithium recently welcomed to the Council world-renowned chemist Dr. Barry Sharpless, the recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions.

Standard Lithium is led by a team of professionals with proven strong technical and project development skills. CEO Robert Mintak has a global network of industry contacts and is a pioneer in the rapidly evolving lithium space. COO and President Dr. Andy Robinson is an experienced geoscientist with 20+ years of experience and a PhD in Geochemistry from the University of Bristol, UK. Dr. Robinson has worked on a wide range of projects in the resource, power and energy sectors in Europe, Africa, and North and South America.

The company recently appointed Robert Cross as non-executive chairman. Cross is an engineer with 25 years of experience as a financier and company builder in the mining and oil and gas sectors. He co-founded and serves as chairman of B2Gold, a top-performing growing gold producer which is expected to achieve nearly 1 million ounces of low-cost gold production in 2018. He was also co-founder and chairman of Bankers Petroleum Ltd.; co-founder and chairman of Petrodorado Energy Ltd.; and until October 2007 was the non-executive chairman of Northern Orion Resources Inc. He also was previously the chairman and CEO of Yorkton Securities Inc., and a partner in investment banking with Gordon Capital Corp. in Toronto. Cross has an engineering degree from the University of Waterloo (1982) and received an MBA from Harvard in 1987.

Following a multi-million-dollar financing in Q1 2018, Standard Lithium is well-positioned to meet its upcoming milestones including two maiden resource reports and the launch of its breakthrough rapid lithium extraction technology.

StorEn Technologies Inc. delivers proprietary vanadium flow batteries aimed at revolutionizing the world of residential and industrial energy storage. With an expected life of 25 years and more than 15,000 cycles, the company’s batteries satisfy market demand for efficient, durable and cost-effective energy storage, enabling self-consumption of self-produced electricity and the transition toward a carbon-free economy.

The company is currently accepting investments through a Reg A+ offering on StartEngine. For more information, view the company’s Offering Circular. To date, StorEn has raised more than $6.7 million from over 5,000 investors on the crowdfunding platform, along with venture capital from the ANYSEED Fund.

StorEn’s growing intellectual property portfolio currently features four international PCT patents and five trademarks, securing its innovative IP in all major regions and countries in the world.

A Disruptive Approach to Energy Storage

StorEn’s patent-pending all-vanadium flow battery technology offers a variety of benefits over existing lithium and lead acid batteries, including:

• Eco-Friendly: StorEn vanadium flow batteries are 100% recyclable, featuring a 100% reusable electrolyte and low GHGs emissions.
• Safe: The company’s batteries are both non-flammable and non-explosive.
• Cost Effective: StorEn’s cost/kWh is comparable to that of lithium batteries, but its cost/cycle is up to four times lower than lithium batteries, thanks to the exceptional duration of over 25 years or 15,000 cycles.
• Efficient: The company’s vanadium flow battery technology offers the highest power density thanks to MULTIGRIDS™, +35% in energy storage capacity with the same volume and +5% round-trip efficiency in harsh climate thanks to its proprietary THERMASTABLE™ geothermal design. StorEn’s solution is also virtually maintenance-free, leveraging its proprietary RESAFE™ and EQUILEVELS™ technologies.

StorEn batteries are modular and configurable in either 20kWh or 30kWh versions sharing the same Power Module, ensuring that customers only pay for the energy capacity they really need. The ability to connect additional modules allows for maximum flexibility.

Traction in the Market

To date, the total investment in the company’s technology has exceeded $2 million, and it is already putting these efforts to work. StorEn secured a $500,000 order in Australia to provide 30 kWh StorEn vanadium flow batteries to a renewable hydrogen plant at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), where researchers will develop safety standards for the future use of vanadium flow batteries. The first battery – the first of its kind in Australia – was installed in Brisbane in November 2020 at the National Battery Testing Centre (NBTC), a flagship project of the Future Battery Industries CRC. Additional units are being manufactured.

StorEn has also entered into a supply chain deal with Multicom Resources, an Australian mining company which is the owner of two vanadium mines. Through this agreement, StorEn has secured the exclusive availability of vanadium for up to 20 years with either a price cap or at market price, whichever is lower.

Capitalizing on the Australian government’s support to fulfil the country’s energy storage opportunity, Multicom’s subsidiary, Freedom Energy, has agreed to assemble StorEn batteries within Australia and distribute them widely across the wider Asia Pacific region. In addition to an initial pilot plant, Multicom has completed a concept design for a full-scale manufacturing facility for StorEn batteries.

Market Opportunity

The shift to renewable energy sources is on, with governments around the globe discussing and implementing initiatives to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. McKinsey & Company research suggests that, by 2035, more than 50% of global power generation will come from renewable sources.

Spurred on by this transition, demand for reliable energy storage systems is expected to attain exponential growth in the coming years, positively influencing the energy storage industry landscape, according to Grand View Research.

Data from Fortune Business Insights projects that the global battery energy storage market will reach $19.74 billion by 2027, recording a CAGR of 20.4% from 2020 to 2027. The research firm suggests that improving access to electricity across the globe will be a prominent trend shaping the growth trajectory of this market, which is particularly noteworthy for StorEn and its TITANstack™ grid-scale energy storage solution.

Over a billion people still do not have access to electricity. The electrification of these unserved communities can become a reality with mini grids, using solar plus energy storage. StorEn’s vanadium flow batteries could be a key technology toward providing universal access to affordable, longer lasting and dependable energy. In support this critical mission, StorEn Technologies is a member of the Alliance for Rural Electrification and the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association.

Management Team

StorEn is led by an executive team with decades of experience in the vanadium flow battery industry.

Founder Carlo Brovero has served as the company’s chief executive officer, treasurer and director since its inception in January 2017. From 2013 to 2019, Mr. Brovero served as a consultant for eCaral Ltd., a management consulting firm. From 2013 to 2015, he served as an advisory board member for Proxhima S.r.l., a vanadium flow battery company, which was sold to the Gala Group, a utility listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Brovero served as International Sales and Marketing Director for iVis Technologies, the manufacturer of an excimer laser therapeutic and refractive platform for corneal surgery. He holds an MBA from Aston University in Birmingham, UK.

Founder Angelo D’Anzi has served as StorEn’s chief technology officer and director since the company’s inception. He is primarily responsible for the technical development of StorEn’s products. Since May 2018, Mr. D’Anzi has also served as a director of Arco Fuel Cells S.r.l., where he is responsible for the company’s fuel cell technical development activities. Mr. D’Anzi co-founded vanadium flow battery company Proxhima in 2013. In 2000, he founded ROEN-EST, a fuel cell company that was eventually acquired by the Morphic Group, a cleantech holding company listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Mr. D’Anzi holds 14 international patents and received the 2003 Sapio Award in the Energy and Transportation category. He holds an MBA from the LUISS Business School in Rome.

Founder Gabriele Colombo has served as secretary of StorEn since its inception. Since 2012, he has also served in various roles ranging from regional manager to CEO with Leonardo Hispania S.A., a subsidiary of the Leonardo Group of Italy, an aerospace, defense and security conglomerate. Mr. Colombo co-founded vanadium flow battery company Proxhima in 2013. He holds an honors degree in computer engineering from the University of Pisa and a master’s degree in business leadership from the University of Genova.

StraightUp Resources Inc. (CSE: ST) (OTCQB: STUPF) is a public company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets in North America. The company’s flagship properties are located in the Red Lake Mining District of Ontario, Canada, renowned for over 30 million ounces of historic gold production. Other key projects extend into the neighboring Meen-Dempster Greenstone Belt of the Uchi Subprovince. The company’s management team is led by dedicated professionals, aiming to maximize shareholder value while employing modern exploration techniques and principles to achieve its goals.

The mission of StraightUp Resources is to maximize shareholder wealth through mineral discoveries at projects with robust potential, maintain long-lasting partnerships, and continue to focus on the acquisition, development and exploration of mineral resource properties in North America. The company’s objective is to continue to locate and develop economic, precious and base metal properties of merit.

The company’s 10,000-hectare (almost 25,000 acres) RLX Projects are contiguous to various Evolution Mining, Great Bear Resources, Pacton Gold and Dixie Gold properties. Its 2,000-hectare (just under 5,000 acres) Belanger Project is contiguous to Infinite Ore’s Fredart and Garnet/Arrow properties. StraightUp intends to conduct exploration on the RLX North, RLX South, Belanger and Ferdinand Gold properties located in the Red Lake District, a location touted as having one of the best metal-endowed greenstone belts in the world. The Bear Head Gold Project is located within the Meen-Dempster Greenstone Belt of the Uchi Subprovince, approximately 80 kilometers west of the Pickle Lake Gold Camp and 14 km northeast of the former gold mine, Golden Patricia. It amassed 620,000 ounces of gold at an average of 15.2 g/t Au from 1988-1997. The property is bordered by an Australian miner massive gold project. Known gold occurrences are already mapped on the Bear Head property, as are previous drill holes and results. Once the data is re-examined, an exploration budget and subsequent plans will be announced by the company.

Projects

Ontario’s Red Lake Mining District is one of Canada’s most prolific gold mining districts, renowned for its high-grade gold deposits. This is a mining-friendly, politically stable jurisdiction with a skilled labor force and infrastructure specifically built around meeting the needs of the mining industry.

RLX North & South Projects
At over 10,000 hectares, the RLX North and RLX South Projects represent a district-scale exploration opportunity. The RLX North and RLX South Projects are well positioned on-strike to the southeast of the district’s largest gold deposit (Red Lake Gold Mines – Evolution Mining). The project is adjacent to Great Bear Resources’ Sobel Project. Great Bear Resources is also in the process of evaluating the area for significant regional-scale structural controls and has proposed additional work on its neighboring project in the near term. These properties are highly accessible, with the southern boundary only eight kilometers from the paved highway into Red Lake, and can be accessed by forest service roads which traverse throughout the properties.

Belanger Project
Historic exploration work on the 2,000-hectare property has identified three significant surface exposures of gold, copper and silver. Early exploration work will focus on validating historic sampling results and following the occurrences along strike with a view to better understanding the nature and controls on mineralization. The property has excellent forest road access from the town of Ear Falls.

Ferdinand Gold Project
The Ferdinand property is situated within the southeastern extension of the Confederation-Uchi greenstone belt, one of the most metal-endowed greenstone belts in the world by square kilometer. It consists of 17 contiguous mining claims covering approximately 7,143 hectares (17,650 acres), located 13 kilometers northwest of the town of Slate Falls. Access is currently by logging roads, with forestry logging operations scheduled for expansion on the property. StraightUp recently completed a heliborne magnetic survey consisting of 1,994 line-km at 50m line spacings covering the entire property. The MAG survey was designed to provide geological and structural details of a 25km long southeast extension of the Confederation-Uchi greenstone belt along the Fry-Bamaji Deformation Zone.

Bear Head Gold Project
The Bear Head Gold Project comprises 31 mining claims totaling 1,944 hectares (4,800 acres) in the Meen-Dempster Greenstone Belt of the Uchi Subprovince, host to the Golden Patricia former gold mine, which produced 620,000 ounces of gold from 1988 to 1997. The Dorothy Main gold deposit owned by Ardiden lies only one kilometer from the Bear Head Gold Project. The Dorothy Main gold deposit holds noncompliant historical resources of 46,600 ounces of gold at 6.17 g/t Au. The company looks forward to adding the Bear Head Gold Project to its exploration efforts, with a work program to be conducted later in the fall of 2021.

Management Team

Mark Brezer is CEO, President, and Director of StraightUp Resources Inc. He is a successful businessman and holds a Geography/Geology degree from the University of Arizona. He has worked as a Project Manager and has overseen quality control, environmental monitoring and safety programs related to road construction. He has also held roles in media relations and marketing. He has been actively involved in the research and investment of junior mining companies for over 25 years. Time in the field and personal interest led him into extensive first aid training, and he is certified as a paramedic and firefighter.

Daniel Cruz is CFO and Director at StraightUp Resources. He is an experienced financial industry professional, having worked for 12 years as a senior investment advisor at Canadian broker-dealers, where he gained experience in equity research, asset management, investor relations, corporate finance and venture capital. He was one of the youngest Senior Investment Advisors at Canaccord Financial Inc. in 2010. He is also the co-founder and current director of Liquid Media Group Inc., a Nasdaq-listed issuer. During his tenure as CFO, he helped that company list on Nasdaq and raise over $20 million.

Matthew Coltura is a Director at StraightUp Resources. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Okanagan College, where he specialized in finance. He has worked in the finance industry for more than three years. Currently, Mr. Coltura is the CFO of Cayenne Capital Corp. He was also a director of PreveCeutical Medical Inc. from July 2016 to September 2019, a director of Sproutly Canada Inc. (formerly Stoneridge Exploration Corp.) from March 2015 to July 2018, and, since March 2018, has worked as a financial specialist at Quip Finance.

Streamlytics provides ethical, people-powered data, spanning millions of data points from today’s fastest growing communities across the United States. The company unlocks the power of actual data usage, reflective of how people create data today – simultaneously across all types of platforms, not by rigid panels or unethical tracking. By partnering with consumers across the nation, the company has gained unparalleled access to audiences’ and shoppers’ content consumption and purchasing patterns across Netflix, Google, Amazon and more.

Streamlytics’ first consumer facing data acquisition app allows African American consumers to own their data through a data license, value their data with its proprietary data valuation algorithm, and get fairly paid for their data. The result is ethical data transactions and unmatched insight into the decisions that consumers are making across platforms. The company’s data signals are not limited to purchase and content consumption. The breadth of activity spans fitness, health and universal mobility. The current archaic model of consumer data collection across many industries is to use second- or third-party assumptive data based on cookies or affinities, which has a high margin of error causing an enormous amount of waste in financial resources for client organizations. Streamlytics provides clear, accurate, full-spectrum data, delivering the true picture of a coveted consumer group’s activity across their digital footprint.

Since its founding, the company’s mission has been to disrupt the deceptive online data collection processes that have become commonplace. Streamlytics’ drive to prioritize consumer data collection transparency and ethics has led to tremendous growth. The company recently announced it had reached a milestone of more than a quarter-billion data points. Streamlytics’ impressive growth over the past year is largely due to expansion, adding platforms like Apple, Uber, Uber Eats, Postmates and others. The company’s patent-pending data standard, Universal Data Interchange Format (UDIF), powers the unification of cross-platform data sources and formats into a single unified data format. Streamlytics leads the industry in consumer data unification, which is increasingly valuable as companies look to navigate away from third-party data solutions and integrate ethical first-party data across corporate strategy, product innovation, artificial intelligence, marketing and more.

How it Works

Streamlytics unifies consumer data from today’s fastest growing communities across popular platforms spanning over 400 million data points. We ethically unlock the power of actual usage data (directly from the source) and help companies grow by enhancing their 1st-party data strategy across sales, marketing, product, and artificial intelligence.

Streamlytics data enhances existing measurement tools by focusing on density. The company’s approach provides a number of benefits over traditional data sourcing platforms, including:

• Multidimensional data that offers visibility into consumption behaviors that define decision drivers for consumers
• An integrated approach that connects a variety of data sources and types to paint the clearest picture of consumer behavior
• A clear understanding of the consumer, allowing for greater targeting precision that directly impacts the effectiveness of campaigns
• Ethical sourcing, with consumers directly compensated for their data
• Protection of all personal identifying information (PII) to ensure privacy and security

The company sells data that has been ethically sourced through a Standard Datastream (a streamlined feed consisting of roughly 22.5 million data points) and a Custom Datastream (a full spectrum feed spanning over 150 million data points). Client organizations subscribe to either datastream, based on the specific audiences they want to reach. Organizations most often use Streamlytics data to enhance their first party data strategies in an effort to increase revenue and sales, refine corporate strategy and enhance machine learning training data to reduce algorithmic bias.

Market Outlook

The global alternative data market was valued at $1.06 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 40.1% to reach more than $8 billion by 2027. The global artificial intelligence market was valued at $62.35 billion in 2020 and is expected to achieve a CAGR of 40.2% from 2021 to 2028, according to data from Grand View Research.

Streamlytics believes a new market space is emerging at the intersection of these two thriving industries called ‘Community Driven Data’, which will comprise consumers who have opted in to share their data, and companies that decide using ethically sourced data is better than fines and negative media coverage they could get from continuing to do it the old way.

Streamlytics has positioned itself as the leader of this emerging new market space as consumers increasingly opt out of sharing their data under the current model, and as new laws – like Prop 24, the California Consumer Personal Information initiative passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2020 – mandate greater privacy protections for, and limits on corporate use of, consumer data.

Management Team

Angela Benton is founder and CEO of Streamlytics. She is a pioneer of diversity in the technology industry and of raising awareness around the inequalities that exist in the industry. In 2011, she founded NewME, the first entrepreneurial accelerator globally for minorities. Through her leadership, NewME has accelerated hundreds of entrepreneurs, helping the nascent companies to raise more than $47 million in venture capital funding. That company was acquired in 2018.

Arisha Smith is the Chief Revenue Officer of Streamlytics. An innovator in advertising technology, she has designed growth strategies for businesses leveraging digital, social and mobile platforms for over 20 years. She has held marketing positions at Accenture and Microsoft, as well as at Vibe Media. She earned an MBA from Florida A&M University.

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

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

Brand Portfolio

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

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

Acquisition of Lemon Glow Company

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

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

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

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

Market Opportunity

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

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

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

Management

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

Sustainable Green Team Ltd. (OTC: SGTM) is currently incorporated and in good standing in the State of Delaware. The company conducts business activities principally through its two wholly owned subsidiaries, National Storm Recovery LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and Mulch Manufacturing Inc., an Ohio corporation.

Through its subsidiaries, the company provides tree services, debris hauling, removal and biomass recycling, mulch manufacturing, mulch packaging, sales of next-generation mulch products and sawmill operations manufacturing specialty cypress lumber.

The company’s primary corporate objective is to provide a solution for the treatment and handling of tree debris that has been historically sent to local landfills and disposal sites, creating an environmental burden and pressure on disposal sites around the nation, by converting the biomass into a marketable beneficial use product.

The company’s solutions are founded in sustainability, based on vertical integration efforts that begin with collecting tree debris through its tree services division and collection sites and then, through its processing division, recycling and using that tree debris as a feedstock that is manufactured into a variety of organic, attractive, next-generation mulch products that are packaged and sold to landscapers, installers and garden centers.

The company plans to expand its operations through a combination of organic growth and strategic acquisitions that are both accretive to earnings and positioned for rapid growth from the resulting synergistic opportunities identified. The company’s customers include governmental, residential and commercial clients.

Company Products and Services

Tree Care, Removal and Services

National Storm Recovery LLC (“NSR LLC”), d.b.a. Central Florida Arborcare (“CFA”), was initially founded to provide tree maintenance, disaster recovery, debris hauling, removal and disposal services. Each of these services is provided to residential, commercial and governmental customers and was structured to drive revenue for the company. Examples include:

• A multi-year contract with the Town of Oakland, Florida (an area known for its large old oak trees), for emergency debris hauling and tree removal and
• A multi-year contract with the Orange County, Florida, School District (covering 267 properties that include schools, administrative sites and maintenance facilities) for tree removal, trimming and maintenance services.

In each case, these contracts are renewable following their initial multi-year terms, with aggregate terms of five years.

NSR LLC has spent years perfecting its technique for proper tree care, removal and services. From tree removal, stump grinding and tree care to grapple hauling and storm recovery, NSR LLC/CFA ensures properties remain safe and business can continue as usual.

NSR LLC/CFA was established as a company to provide tree maintenance, disaster recovery, debris hauling (Rose Transport), removal and disposal services – services that provide it with access to a large amount of wood or tree debris.

Thought of from a different perspective, the company has access to a large amount of “feedstock” that is required to manufacture wood-based mulch products. However, unlike traditional wood-based mulch manufacturers who purchase ALL their feedstock, the company is paid to cut it, paid to haul it and paid to dispose of large volumes of clean wood debris. Its cost, in that limited equation, was its own disposal cost. However, by processing the tree material into mulch and selling it, the company:

1. Eliminates its disposal costs;
2. Receives the feedstock it would need as a mulch manufacturer at a much lower net cost;
3. Does not have to police its suppliers to ensure responsible tree harvesting, because the trees and material the company handles are either from trees and branches downed in storms or cut as part of the care and maintenance of the trees for which it is paid to care; and
4. Has a “cost structure” for its feedstock that is even better than a competitor that secures feedstock using unscrupulous or irresponsible harvesting methods and/or sources.

So, by grinding, screening and packaging the tree material that it is already receiving (and is paid to receive), the company is able to leverage its existing activities, create additional value and position itself to substantially increase its overall revenue and earnings prospects – all while decreasing the burden that this material would otherwise place on local landfills or collection sites.

Mulch

In February 2020, SGTM acquired 35-year-old industry leader and innovator Mulch Manufacturing Inc. (“MMI”). Structured as a share exchange, this strategic partnership provides the company with a significantly larger footprint in the mulch industry.

MMI will strive to become more vertically integrated by receiving a substantial volume of wood fiber recovered from CFA’s operations and its Rose Transport Grapple fleet to feed the growing raw material needs to augment its long-standing fiber procurement process. MMI has the product line and distribution system to address a substantial customer base, which can be expanded. MMI offers many mulch variants, including cypress, cypress bark, pine bark, IPEMA certified playground chips, numerous colored mulches and its proprietary patented ‘SoftScape’.

The acquisition includes MMI’s national distribution agreements, an increase in production and packaging capacity and its sales contracts with numerous big box retailers. MMI includes mulch production, sawmill operation, Nature’s Reflections colorant manufacturing and equipment manufacturing.

Next-Generation Products

The company’s vision and commitment to the environment is paired with MMI’s revolutionary “next-generation” mulch product, Nature’s Reflections Softscape®.

Softscape mulch products, created from natural forest products, are color-enhanced with environmentally safe colorants to provide four-year color retention and are free from contaminants. Safe for people and pets, Softscape allows water and air to penetrate soil and roots, which is vital to plant health.

Cypress Sawmill

Mulch Manufacturing’s Homerville Sawmill Operation is located in Homerville, Georgia. The mill was founded in 1981.

The mill currently operates as the nation’s only mill to exclusively saw cypress and has capacity to saw 6.5 million board feet annually. The mill has a drying capacity of 3.1 million board feet annually, as well as milling capabilities, and it produces in excess of 2,500 trucks of mulch products annually.

The mill is sourced through a network of timber companies, timber dealers and private landowners. Mulch Manufacturing ensures that best management practices are employed when harvesting cypress logs to ensure the sustainability of the product.

Room for Expansion

The company has received final zoning approval for its 100-acre site, located in Lake County, Astatula, Florida, which will serve as the company’s flagship tree debris collection site. The facility will also house the company’s mulch manufacturing, soil composting and production bagging. This prime location includes a 5,000-square-foot building that contains warehouse and office space. The 100-acre property can accommodate millions of cubic yards of organic debris and will allow the company’s debris hauling division to realize significant savings on its transportation costs.

The company has chosen as its new headquarters the Mulch Manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida, comprising a 100,000-square-foot warehouse/truck terminal. It is located on 26 acres for centralized operations of MMI and NSR LLC, and it has ample room to expand as needed. The facility recently began new operations to provide grapple truck services, wood/biomass recycling and operation of a new mulch production/bagging facility in the Jacksonville area.

Leadership

SGTM’s leadership team boasts more than 40 years of next-level experience with mulch manufacturing and treating and caring for trees. This team is guided by a roster of highly qualified professionals:

• Tony Raynor, Chief Executive Officer
• Edward Lee, Chief Operating Officer
• Scott Siefker, Chief Financial Officer

TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. (CSE: TAAT) (OTCQX: TOBAF) is a life sciences company dedicated to giving legal-aged smokers the choice to keep the smoking experience that they enjoy with no nicotine and no tobacco.

The key players of TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness are from leading tobacco brands. They are guiding the mission with the company’s proprietary product, TAAT(TM), which uses the company’s proprietary Beyond Tobacco(TM) base material. The base material undergoes a 14-step process to taste and smell just like tobacco and uses a patent-pending refinement technique.

This provides the company with unique opportunities on the global tobacco market, which was estimated at $849 billion in 2019, with approximately 1.3 billion people using tobacco in some form worldwide (https://nnw.fm/bvKFL).

TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, with operations in Las Vegas, Nevada.

TAAT(TM)

TAAT is a smokable alternative to tobacco cigarettes using the Beyond Tobacco base material, which contains zero tobacco and zero nicotine. The current TAAT offering comes in three varieties: Original, Smooth and Menthol, which were launched during Q4 2020 in Ohio. The company’s Ohio tobacco wholesaler also distributes for major tobacco industry names such as Altria, RJ Reynolds (a subsidiary of British American Tobacco) and ITG.

The TAAT Beyond Tobacco experience was created to replicate the sensory elements of smoking a tobacco cigarette. Market testing in California and Nevada reached a consensus that TAAT products offered no significant differences in experience when compared to tobacco cigarettes, in terms of the following aspects:

• Visual – the nearly identical product packaging and enhanced smoke volume
• Auditory – the “crackling” sound of the base material when it is ignited
• Smell – when burning, TAAT emits a tobacco-like scent
• Taste – the patent-pending Beyond Tobacco base material undergoes a refinement process that creates a tobacco-like taste
• Touch – TAAT satisfies the “hand-to-mouth” fixation and motor habits, such as flicking ashes

TAAT Beyond Tobacco Targeting Current Smokers

TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness is currently targeting the market of legal-aged smokers with its proprietary product. The company aims “not to create a new problem, but to solve an existing one.” TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness offers a non-addictive alternative to tobacco, with several competitive advantages making it a promising option on the United States market, such as:

• Price – TAAT can be offered at a lower price than competing products in the tobacco category, which adds to the propositioned value for current legal-aged smokers.
• Experience – TAAT appeals to current smokers who wish to give up the tobacco and nicotine but keep the smoking experience they enjoy.
• Branding/Packaging – TAAT is American-grown and American-made, with its Beyond Tobacco base material serving as a legacy to the combustible tobacco products.

The current alternatives to cigarette smoking do not offer a comparable experience. Previously marketed products, like vaping, proved difficult for some legal-aged smokers to adopt, as the experience was too different from traditional cigarettes.

Market Outlook

In 2016, the United States tobacco market was valued at over $100 billion, a number that’s expected to grow over the next decade (https://nnw.fm/yd8oP). In terms of volume, over 215 billion cigarettes were sold to roughly 34 million adults in the United States in 2018. These numbers represent almost 14% of the adult population. Of those, almost two-thirds smoked more than 15 cigarettes in one day. A standard pack is comprised of 20 cigarettes.

The company’s Beyond Tobacco, as a non-tobacco product, has a price-driven consumer advantage in many states. While state taxes on traditional cigarettes vary, most tend to average around $1.82 per pack. Washington D.C. is on the higher end of the tax spectrum at $4.50 per pack, whereas Missouri is only $0.17 per pack (https://nnw.fm/D3WnT).

TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness estimates that, if one pack of TAAT Beyond Tobacco was sold at 20% of all United States tobacco points of sale, the product would capture 0.25% of the market, the equivalent of approximately 2.7 million cartons of cigarettes per year.

Management Team

Setti Coscarella is the Chief Executive Officer of TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Ltd. He is experienced in investment banking, private equity and entrepreneurship. In 2017, Mr. Coscarella was the lead strategist for Reduced-Risk Products at Philip Morris International. While there, he worked with thousands of smokers to better understand how to position smoking alternatives, developing programs that could help smokers convert to reduced-risk products. Mr. Coscarella holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, specializing in finance, marketing and corporate strategy. He also has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics from the University of Toronto.

Tim Corkum is the company’s Chief Revenue Officer. He has a lengthy history in the tobacco industry, having served 21 years at Philip Morris International. Mr. Corkum has experience leading the international commercialization of combustible cigarettes and working on reduced-risk product offerings. During his 21-year tenure, he held senior positions in business development, sales strategy, key account management and corporate affairs. He holds a BA from Carleton University with a concentration in law.

Joe Deighan is Founder of TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness and oversees research and development. He is the founder of vape liquid ‘JJuice’, created in 2012. JJuice was distributed across all of the United States and in 26 other countries, alongside the private label production that was done for other brands. Mr. Deighan sold JJuice in a cash deal that was valued at over $800,000 in 2017. He currently handles all R&D and production for Beyond Tobacco, knowing the product better than anyone else in the company.

Founded in 2012, The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (NASDAQ: WTER) (CSE: WTER) is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Its flagship product, Alkaline88®, is a leading premier alkaline water brand available in bulk and single-serve sizes, along with eco-friendly aluminum packaging options. With its innovative, state-of-the-art proprietary electrolysis process, Alkaline88® delivers perfect 8.8 pH balanced alkaline drinking water with trace minerals and electrolytes and boasts the company’s trademarked label ‘Clean Beverage’. Quickly being recognized as a growing lifestyle brand, Alkaline88® launched A88 Infused™ in 2019 to meet consumer demand for flavor-infused products. A88 Infused™ flavored water is available in six unique all-natural flavors, with new flavors coming soon. Additionally, in 2020, the company launched the A88CBD™ brand, featuring a broad line of topical and ingestible products. These products are made with lab-tested full and broad-spectrum hemp and include salves, balms, lotions, essential oils, bath-salts, CBD infused drinks, tinctures, capsules, gummies and powder packs.

Innovation and Expansion

Founded in 2012, The Alkaline Water Company began with a mission to create the best-tasting water in the world. At the time, there were two emerging trends in health-conscious consumers: a growing interest in the alkaline diet and perceived health benefits of pink Himalayan rock salt. By combining these two concepts in an alkaline water and trademarking the name Alkaline88, The Alkaline Water Company began offering what it calls the smoothest tasting Clean Beverage™ in the U.S. enhanced-water category.

Now a top bulk alkaline-water brand (the company reported record sales in March and April 2020, surpassing March and April 2019 numbers by 114% and 171%, respectively), The Alkaline Water Company is committed to growing its national footprint through innovation and expansion. That mindset was evident as the company introduced eco-friendly aluminum bottles and branched out into flavor-infused waters; the company currently offers six different flavors: peach/mango, lemon/lime, raspberry, watermelon, blood orange and lemon.

The company’s commitment to innovation may be most evident in its newest product line: A88CBD. This line of CBD-infused products includes tinctures, capsules, gummies, salves, balms, hand and foot lotions, essential oils, bath bombs and bath salts, as well as CBD-infused drinks, water and beverage shots. These quality, CBD-infused offerings are all made with lab-tested, full-spectrum hemp and are conveniently packaged and perfect for on-the-go or at home use.

In addition, The Alkaline Water Company has implemented an aggressive growth strategy, with numerous organic initiatives focused on national multichannel, mass-market expansion through a direct-to-warehouse model and co-packing facilities that are strategically located within 600 miles of 95% of the U.S. population. In addition to this strong brick-and-mortar approach, the company recently launched a B2C e-commerce platform (www.A88CBD.com) and aggressive digital-marketing campaigns.

Clear Advantages in a Growing Market

With consistent growth year over year, the company reported $32.2 million in revenue in fiscal 2019 and has emerged as a growth leader in the functional (value-added) waters space, which is the fastest-growing segment of the bottled water industry.

The Alkaline Water Company’s efforts are focused on its clear competitive advantages, including its strong marketing (the inclusion of alkaline in product names); existing grocery channels, which feature excellent relationships and a nationwide broker network; distinctive branding; proprietary technology, which produces great-tasting, high-quality water, infused drinks and other products; and price, with a broad range of products in all formats, from bulk bottles to single serve.

As the company focuses on strategic growth, it is eyeing the impressive potential of a market that is on a strong upswing. Annual bottled water sales have now surpassed soda consumption, with soda sales in the United States having declined by $1.2 billion over the past five years. Some research indicates that the global bottled water market will reach an estimated $280 billion this year, while the CBD market is forecast to top $20 billion by 2024.

With its products available in all major trade channels, including grocery stores, drug stores, c-stores and big-box retailers, The Alkaline Water Company is also looking to expand into new spaces, such as health and beauty, hospitality and specialty retailer locations.

Seasoned Management Team

The Alkaline Water Company is led by an experienced team focused on the company’s core strategy of building a national retail footprint and extending its lifestyle brands into other consumer packaged goods categories.

Richard A. Wright, President, CEO and Co-Founder of The Alkaline Water Company Inc., oversees all aspects of the business, successfully guiding the company through strategic opportunities and delivering greater than 50% growth since the company’s inception. A passionate and versatile leader with a strong track record of innovation, collaboration and achieving goal-driven results, Wright is a serial entrepreneur with more than 41 years of experience. Early in his career, he spent years at one of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms, working his way up to Regional Director of Tax and Financial Planning. As a CPA, entrepreneur and former CFO, Wright brings extensive knowledge of finance, operations, sales and marketing to the team, and he has participated in hundreds of M&A transactions throughout his career.

David Guarino, CFO, Secretary, Treasurer and Director, earned a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a Master of Accountancy from the University of Denver. From 2008 to 2013, Guarino was President and a Director of Kahala Corp., a worldwide franchisor of multiple quick-service restaurant brands with locations in 49 states and more than 25 countries. From 2014 to 2015, Guarino was President of HTI International Holdings Inc., a technology company focused on forward osmosis water filtration technology.

Frank Chessman, National Sales Manager, is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. He spent 25 years with Ralph’s Grocery, Kroger’s largest division, working at many levels before ultimately becoming Vice President of Advertising & Marketing. He then served 14 years as Executive Vice President at Simon Marketing. Chessman has more than a decade of experience in the beverage manufacturing industry.

Brian Sudano, Director, is managing partner of Beverage Marketing Corporation and BMC Strategic Associates. Sudano’s experience covers nearly the entire beverage industry, from energy drinks to wine, with special expertise in beverage alcohol by virtue of varied industry experience across a broad range of projects. Sudano manages several major clients, providing ongoing strategic and market advice and leading projects in strategic planning, market entry analysis and planning, sales/distribution, business modeling, brand repositioning and international opportunity assessment. He has spoken at many beverage industry events and is a contributing editor at Beverage World magazine.

Aaron Keay, Chairman, has been a successful investor, entrepreneur and financier to multiple small cap and startup companies over the last decade. During his time with these companies, he served in advisor, board-member and senior-management roles. His experience ranges across multiple sectors in mining, biotech, health and wellness, tech and cannabis, where he has invested and raised more than $500 million.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Businesses

Tingo has four core businesses:

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

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

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

Market Opportunity

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

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

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

Management Team

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

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

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

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

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

Tryp Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: TRYP) (OTCQB: TRYPF) is a pharmaceutical company focused on developing clinical-stage compounds for diseases with high unmet medical needs through accelerated regulatory pathways.

The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Innovative Drug Pipeline

Tryp’s current focus is on advancing its two drug development platforms: its Psilocybin-for-Neuropsychiatric Disorders (PFN™) program targeting fibromyalgia, eating disorders and chronic pain conditions; and razoxane for soft tissue sarcomas. The company intends to explore opportunities to monetize these platforms after generating Phase 2b clinical data.

The company’s development plans cover three strategic initiatives:

• Develop: Tryp intends to utilize the FDA’s 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway with available third-party preclinical data to shorten the timelines and lower the cost of its development programs.
• Protect: Tryp plans to utilize regulatory exclusivity, patents, trade secrets and proprietary know-how to protect the commercial lifespan of its drug candidates.
• Monetize: Tryp intends to seek out licensing, acquisition and co-development opportunities for drug candidates following their Phase 2 stages of development.

PFN™ Program

Through its PFN™ program, the company is focused on developing psilocybin-based drug therapies for certain neuropsychiatric disorders that have distinct advantages over other drugs currently on the market or in development. These advantages include:

• Increased efficacy
• Natural blood-brain barrier penetration
• Enhanced safety and toxicity profiles
• Reduced risk of abuse
• Reduced risk of addiction

Tryp’s PFN™ program features its lead drug candidate, TRP-8802. The company’s initial indication for TRP-8802 is fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is believed to be a neurosensory disorder characterized in part by abnormalities in pain processing by the central nervous system. The three drugs with FDA approval for the treatment of fibromyalgia are Pregabalin (Lyrica®), Duloxetine (Cymbalta®) and Milnacipran (Savella®), which are only effective for a portion of patients suffering from the condition.

Tryp plans to seek FDA approval to proceed directly to Phase 2 clinical trials evaluating TRP-8802 as a treatment for fibromyalgia based on existing preclinical and clinical data for the active pharmaceutical ingredients in TRP-8802.

Tryp’s pipeline of indications for TRP-8802 also includes eating disorders and certain forms of chronic pain. The company expects to initiate Phase 2a clinical trials in these areas in 2021.

Tryp recently partnered with Albany Molecular Research Inc. (“AMRI”) for the manufacture of the company’s synthetic psilocybin using proprietary methods. AMRI has initiated the process of manufacturing a 200g non-GMP demonstration batch of psilocybin and will produce a batch of GMP psilocybin in mid-2021. As the holder of the Drug Master File, Tryp expects to be the only U.S.-based manufacturer of synthetic psilocybin in the industry.

Razoxane

Tryp’s second drug candidate, TRP-1001 (razoxane), is being developed as a treatment for soft tissue sarcomas and has been evaluated in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials conducted by clinicians unaffiliated with Tryp. The company believes that existing clinical data regarding razoxane will likely allow TRP-1001 to be studied in a Phase 2 trial without the need for extensive preclinical or Phase 1 trials.

Sarcomas are rare tumors that are derived from connective tissues in the body and comprise 7% of all cancers in children. In 2018, an estimated 13,000 new cases of soft tissue sarcoma were diagnosed, with the tumors resulting in over 5,000 deaths during that year in the United States alone (https://ibn.fm/nWOGq).

Market Outlook

With its drug development programs targeting multiple indications, Tryp is well positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities spanning a range of therapeutic markets. The global oncology drugs market, in particular, represents a sizable opportunity.

In 2018, oncology indications accounted for 25% of all drug sales, representing approximately $151 billion in market revenues. By 2024, spending on oncology-targeted therapeutics is expected to top $200 billion and account for roughly 30% of total drug sales, according to a study by Cowen Equity Research (https://ibn.fm/9iZhM).

Valued at $764 million in 2020, the global fibromyalgia treatment market presents unique opportunities for development due to the limited number of approved therapies. With treatment trending upward, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% and reach $1.4 billion in value by 2027 (https://ibn.fm/G66e7).

Management Team

Greg McKee is the Chairman and CEO of Tryp Therapeutics. He has more than 20 years of life sciences management and venture investment experience that he brings to the company. Before taking his role at Tryp, he was the founder of Torrent Ventures, an early-stage digital health and medical technology venture fund. Mr. McKee also served as the CEO of CONNECT, the largest Southern California start-up accelerator. Before this, he was the chairman, president and CEO of then publicly traded Nventa Biopharmaceuticals, which successfully merged with Akela Pharma. Mr. McKee earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington, an M.A. in International Studies from The Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) since 2006.

James Gilligan, Ph.D., is the company’s President and Chief Science Officer. He has over 35 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including research and development, clinical development, international regulatory affairs and manufacturing. Before joining Tryp, Dr. Gilligan was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Bracken Group, a life sciences consulting firm. He was also the Co-Founder of Unigene Laboratories, which develops technology for the recombinant manufacture of peptide hormones. Dr. Gilligan received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Connecticut and a MSIB from Seton Hall University. He continued his post-graduate education at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.

Tom D’Orazio is the Chief Operating Officer of Tryp Therapeutics. He has extensive experience in leading the development and commercialization of vaccines, drugs, radiopharmaceuticals and biologics. His prior leadership experience has been in commercial planning, marketing, partnership and business development roles. He was formerly the CEO of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (NASDAQ: IPA), where he led the transition from a private company to a public one. He co-founded and served as CEO of Superna Life Sciences, a specialty-pharma company focusing on niche drugs for cancer patients in Canada. Mr. D’Orazio has an MBA from Vanderbilt University with a primary focus in both finance and marketing and a B.Sc. in chemistry from Loyola University of Chicago.

Luke Hayes is the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He has played an active role in the life science industry for over 20 years with technology transfer, venture capital and finance experience. His career started with business development for Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), with responsibility for pharmaceutical customers such as Eli Lilly and AbbVie. Mr. Hayes has spent more than a decade doing venture capital investing while supporting companies as a director and advisor. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Trxade Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDS) is an integrated pharmaceutical services company that offers a unique combination of a web-based purchasing platform (www.trxade.com) for transactions between independent pharmacists and drug distributors (B2B); a network of pharmacies with E-Hub software; a mail order pharmacy; and warehouse and drug delivery services. This synergistic combination of product offerings and superior data analytics is poised to benefit all stakeholders and consumers within the pharmaceutical industry.

Trxade will leverage and scale its fully integrated model to execute the following growth strategies:

• Increase share of pharmacist drug purchasing
• Additional SKUs and expand product breath
• Partner with Specialty and International Mfg.
• Expand mail order licenses to all 50 states
• Scale Delivmeds for consumer delivery nationwide
• Integration with telemedicine
• M&A Opportunities within drug value chain

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Trxade’s overarching corporate strategy is to penetrate the existing retail independent pharmacy marketplace and diversify the company’s pharmaceutical mix with additional specialty and acute care products. Trxade is advancing on this mission by focusing on three key niches in the health care market.

Business-to-Business (B2B)

The $330 billion U.S. pharmaceutical industry is comprised of more than 65,000 pharmacy facilities and 1,500 state-licensed suppliers. Roughly 24,000 of these facilities are independent pharmacies, which collectively spend approximately $93 billion a year on branded and generic drugs.

Trxade targets these independent pharmacies, leveraging a robust, “E-Bay/Kayak-like” technology platform with optimum buyer/seller pricing algorithms, product availability, and predictive data analytics features.

Trxade currently serves and transacts with more than one-third (10,250) of these independent pharmacies and facilitates over $10 million of drug purchases a month!

Consumer

Trxade also targets the “consumer side” of the pharmaceutical industry, aiming to lower prescription drug costs by attacking the inefficient value chain; offering drug price transparency and efficient buying; and, delivering drugs DIRECT to independent pharmacists and consumers.

The company operates a full-service mail order pharmacy for U.S. consumers, as well as a mobile app called “Delivmeds” (http://www.delivmeds.com) which enables SAME DAY home delivery of dispensed prescriptions.

Retail

Trxade’s Managed Services Organization (“TrxadeMSO”) enables its member independent retail pharmacies to get patients, process orders, and deliver or ship prescriptions to patients. TrxadeMSO provides access to encompassing network of pharmacies through the E-Hub software, allowing for timely and comprehensive medication fulfillment.

These offerings ensure the best-suited pharmacy receives the patient’s information, thereby ensuring appropriate medication coverage based on the patient’s location, payor coverage, and medication access/inventory. This will save the clinicians and their staff time as they benefit from efficiency and enhanced workflow management in script processing and fulfillment.

Health Care Market 

The U.S. health care market currently hovers near $4 trillion and is expected to grow as the general population ages. This growth will have greater impact on consumers as out-of-pocket expenses also rise. Additionally, drug costs are paced to increase faster than the overall health care and well above inflation.

Drug pricing is variable, and reimbursement is squeezing profits. This provides significant opportunity for the Trxade model of price visibility and profit optimization.

Trxade’s fair online market platform targets the nation’s retail community and independent pharmacies, of which there are approximately 24,000 nationwide. TRxADE has found that independent pharmacies, in order to be cost-effective, often operate with minimal staff and conduct up-to-the minute price checks. The TRxADE S2P platform gives these pharmacists the ability to easily compare the price of drugs offered by various suppliers and select the most favorable deals, saving money by taking advantage of best purchase pricing.

TRxADE’s programs include:

• TRxADE Exchange, which opens and widens the distribution channel to the retail, community pharmacy. A purchasing pharmacy can view products from manufacturers, buying groups, and wholesalers on a real-time and continuous basis. This approach significantly enhances the competitive spirit of the exchange where the lowest price exists for each product at any given point in time. TRxADE has become a competitive tool for all progressive entities and is recognized for its easy searching of hard-to-find generic pharmaceuticals at substantially reduced prices.  
• RX Guru™ is an industry-leading price prediction model that integrates product shortage insight into pharmacy acquisition benchmarks (“PAC”) to ascertain trends and pricing variances that result in significant purchasing opportunities. RX Guru affords members the opportunity to continuously benefit from real price purchasing opportunities that are concealed from the rest of the industry. 
• Product Shortage Database – TRxADE maintains the most comprehensive retail, specialty and acute care pharmaceutical product shortage database in the country. Other industry competitors mainly restrict their efforts to specialty and acute care product shortages and narrowly research oral generic products. TRxADE’s advanced prediction tools help members source those hard-to-find products at affordable costs in a timely and easy-to-search process. 

Management Team 

Trxade’s management team is rich in expertise within the pharmaceutical supply chain and is supported by a base of advisors and contractors who are experts in related fields of the pharmaceutical sector.

Suren Ajjarapu – Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary
Suren Ajjarapu has served as Trxade’s chairman of the board, CEO and secretary since 2014, and as the chairman of the board, chief executive officer and secretary of Trxade Nevada since its inception. Ajjarapu also serves as a chairman of the board for Feeder Creek Group Inc., since March 2018. Ajjarapu formerly was a founder, CEO and chairman of Sansur Renewable Energy Inc., a company involved in developing wind power sites in the Midwest, United States; a founder, president and director of Aemetis Inc., a biofuels company (AMTX.OB); a founder, chairman and CEO of International Biofuels, a subsidiary of Aemetis Inc.; and a co-founder, COO, and director at Global Information Technology Inc., an IT outsourcing and systems design company. Ajjarapu holds an M.S. in environmental engineering from South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, and an MBA from the University of South Florida, specializing in international finance and management. Ajjarapu is also a graduate of the Venture Capital and Private Equity program at Harvard University.

Prashant Patel – Director, President and Chief Operating Officer
Prashant Patel has served as Trxade’s full-time president and COO, and as a director since the company’s acquisition of Trxade Nevada in 2014, and as the COO and president and as a director of Trxade Nevada since its inception. He has been a president and member of the board of Trxade since August 2010. Patel is a registered pharmacist and pharmaceutical consultant with over 10 years of experience in retail pharmacy and pharmaceutical logistics. He is the founder of several pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area, in Florida. Since 2008, Patel has been managing member of the APAA LLC pharmacy. Since 2007, Patel has been a vice president of Holiday Pharmacy Inc. Patel graduated from Nottingham University School of Pharmacy and practiced in the United Kingdom before obtaining his masters in Transport, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School, City University, UK.

Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC) is a U.S.-based uranium mining and exploration company that controls one of the country’s largest historical uranium exploration and development databases. Founded in 2003, UEC is headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas. Properties acquired by the company are primarily located within the United States, including Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming.

Through the use of historical exploration data, UEC has been able to target and acquire properties that have already been subject to exploration and development by senior energy firms in the past.

UEC is well-financed to aggressively pursue key developmental targets. The company is also well-positioned to capitalize on rising global demand for more uranium and more carbon-free energy, and it uses technology that contributes to a cleaner environment.

In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Technology

In-situ recovery (ISR) technology is a low-cost and environmentally friendly mining technology utilized by UEC at its fully licensed projects, including Palangana, Burke Hollow, Goliad and Reno Creek.

ISR technology involves the circulation of naturally occurring and benign groundwater through a uranium ore body. This natural water (that is unfit for any other use) plus oxygen is pumped into injection wells through the uranium ore body, where the uranium in the host sandstone is oxidized and solubilized. The uranium bearing groundwater continues to flow through the sandstone to the extraction wells, where it is pumped to the surface. This water proceeds to an ion exchange unit (like a big water-softener) for uranium removal, then is pumped back to the wellfield and again re-circulated through the ore body. This recirculation of the same groundwater continues over and over, until the uranium in the sandstone is depleted.

In the ion exchange process, the extracted uranium in solution is concentrated on resin beads for transport to the Hobson Processing Facility. There, the uranium then undergoes several simple processing steps before being dried and packaged as “yellowcake” that will be transported to a conversion facility, where its sold to UEC customers.

Hobson Processing Plant

Hobson is the centerpiece in UEC’s hub and spoke production strategy, with low-cost satellite ISR operations all within relatively short trucking distance. The plant is fully licensed and currently on standby with an annual production capacity of 2 million pounds of U3O8. The spokes of the UEC strategy include the Palangana, Burke Hollow, Goliad, Salvo and Longhorn ISR projects. With an improvement in uranium prices that justify production, UEC plans to restart the plant with uranium loaded resins originating first from Palangana and then followed by Burke Hollow. UEC has applied for a license amendment with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to increase the Hobson facility’s production capacity to 4 million pounds per year.

Current Projects

Uranium Energy’s current project portfolio includes:

• Texas – Hobson Processing Plant, Palangana Mine, Goliad, Burke Hollow, Salvo and Longhorn
• Wyoming – Reno Creek
• Paraguay – Oviedo, Yuty and Alto Paraná
• New Mexico – Dalton Pass and C de Baca
• Colorado – Long Park and Slick Rock
• Arizona – Anderson, Los Cuatros and Workman Creek
• Canada – Diabase

Uranium Market Outlook

The long-term fundamentals underlying the market continue to strengthen. Currently, UEC sees an annual gap of about 40 million pounds between uranium production and utility requirements. Current forecasts show this structural deficit persisting at least through 2026 and then expanding further to almost 70 million pounds per year by 2030. While secondary supplies have been filling the void, those supplies are not a sustainable long term supply source. There are different estimates on timing, but it is clear secondary supply (that includes inventory drawdowns) will be insufficient to fill the projected gap between supply and demand, and new production will be required. As this transition evolves, the market will become more production cost driven as opposed to inventory driven.

Higher priced contracts that have supported high production costs are continuing to roll out of producer and utility supply portfolios. These higher priced contracts are not replaceable, with current market prices below production costs for the vast majority of western producers. This will likely continue the trend of production cuts and deferrals until prices rise sufficiently to sustain long-term mining operations.

In the U.S., some of the foreign State-Owned Enterprise (“SOE”) supply that has been flooding the market will be reduced. Last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce negotiated an amendment to the Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Uranium from the Russian Federation that reduces America’s dependence on Russian natural uranium concentrates by up to 75% from prior levels. Due to a prolonged weak pricing environment from an influx of price insensitive supply from SOEs, U.S. production is effectively zero, less than 1% of U.S. requirements.

On the demand side of the equation, further upside market pressure also appears likely to evolve as utilities return to a longer-term contracting cycle to replace expiring contracts. Over the longer term, there continues to be underlying and increasing demand building, as the globe continues a push toward carbon-free energy goals. Those goals will require the 24/7, base load, clean energy that nuclear power provides as part of the overall supply mix. A good example of that policy messaging came from Japan’s energy minister, who recently said he considers nuclear energy “indispensable” if the country is to meet its net-zero carbon emission goals.

Exacerbating the overall supply picture, lead times for new production typically range from seven to 10 years or longer. The market appears to be within the time frames required for investment to bring new supply online to meet those lead times. However, prices are not yet at levels that incentivize future production, increasing the probability of the potential for less supply than the market is currently pricing in. All things considered, UEC believes the supply and demand fundamentals should continue to exert upward pressure on uranium prices.

Management Team

Spencer Abraham is Chairman of the Board for UEC. He served as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005. He is an honors graduate of Michigan State University and Harvard Law School, and he was a law professor at the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. He was elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party in 1983 and later served as deputy chief of staff in the office of the vice president and as co-chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. In 1994, Mr. Abraham was elected to the United States Senate from Michigan and has also served as a director of Occidental Petroleum and as the non-executive chairman of AREVA’s U.S. board.

Amir Adnani is the Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Uranium Energy. He advanced the company from concept to United States production within its first five years. Mr. Adnani has developed an extensive pipeline of low-cost and near-term production projects. He is the founder and Chairman of GoldMining Inc. (TSX: GOLD) (OTCQX: GLDLF), a gold-resources acquisition and development firm. He is also the Chairman of Uranium Royalty Corp. (TSX.V: URC). Mr. Adnani holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia. He is a director of the University’s Alumni Association.

Scott Melbye is the company’s Executive Vice President. He is a 36-year veteran of the nuclear energy industry and has held numerous leadership positions in major uranium mining firms. He is also the current President, CEO and Director of Uranium Royalty Corp. He is an advisor to the Nuclear Energy Program at the Colorado School of Mines. Prior to his work at Uranium Participation Corp., Mr. Melbye worked for Cameco Inc. for 22 years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a specialization in International Business from Arizona State University in 1984.

Bruce Nicholson is the company’s Vice President of Corporate Development. He has spent 16 years as a specialist in the industry, serving major United States and European banks, broker-dealers and investment funds. Mr. Nicholson is a member of the Minerals Economics and Management Society, Minerals Industry Analyst Group, and the New York Society of Securities Analysts. He graduated with an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University in 1995 and is a CFA charter holder.

VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VTGN) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing a new generation of medications that go beyond the standard of care for anxiety, depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

The company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California, the “Birthplace of Biotechnology,” among the largest cluster of biotechnology companies in the world.

New Generation Medications

VistaGen currently has three innovative CNS drug candidates in its pipeline: PH94B, PH10 and AV-101. With a differentiated mechanism of action and an exceptional safety profile in all clinical studies to date, each of VistaGen’s three drug candidates offers significant commercialization potential in multiple large CNS markets.

PH94B

Fast-acting (10-15 minutes), non-systemic and non-sedating in Phase 2 clinical studies, PH94B is a first-in-class neuroactive nasal spray that, administered in microgram doses, binds to chemosensory receptors in the nasal passage that trigger neural circuits responsible for suppressing fear and anxiety caused by stressful social or performance situations.

PH94B is currently being developed as an acute treatment of anxiety in adults with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). In December 2019, PH94B became the first drug candidate to be granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for development of a treatment for SAD, positioning it to potentially become the first FDA-approved fast-acting acute treatment for adults with the anxiety disorder, if planned Phase 3 studies are successful.

A successful Phase 2 program has been completed, and, after achieving consensus with the FDA in mid-2020 that the design of its Phase 3 studies of PH94B in SAD may mirror the design of the highly statistically significant (p=0.002) Phase 2 public speaking study of PH94B in SAD, the company’s preparations for pivotal Phase 3 clinical development of PH94B are underway.

To support Phase 3 development and commercialization of PH94B for anxiety disorders in large anxiety disorder markets in Asia, VistaGen recently entered into a strategic licensing and collaboration agreement with EverInsight Therapeutics, a company formed and currently funded by a large global venture capital firm, CBC Group. The company received a $5 million non-dilutive upfront license payment from EverInsight in August 2020. If Phase 3 development is successful, VistaGen is eligible to receive additional development and commercial milestone payments of up to $172 million, plus tiered royalties on sales of PH94B in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia. VistaGen retains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize PH94B in all other markets.

VistaGen is also assessing potential Phase 2A clinical development opportunities to evaluate PH94B in a range of other anxiety disorders, including:

• Adjustment Disorder with Anxiety
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Postpartum Anxiety
• Perioperative Anxiety
• Panic Disorder
• PTSD

PH10

PH10 is an investigational fast-acting synthetic neuroactive nasal spray with therapeutic potential in a wide range of neuropsychiatric indications involving depression and suicidal ideation. VistaGen is initially developing PH10 as a potential fast-acting, non-sedating, non-addictive new generation treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Upon self-administration, a microgram-level dose of PH10 sprayed into the nose binds to nasal chemosensory receptors that, in turn, activate neural circuits in the brain that lead to rapid-onset antidepressant effects, without side effects, systemic exposure or safety concerns that may be caused by FDA-approved drug treatments for MDD, including oral antidepressants and intranasal esketamine.

In a published exploratory Phase 2A MDD study, PH10 demonstrated rapid-onset and sustained antidepressant effects without the serious psychological side effects and safety concerns of ketamine-based therapy.

Following successfully completed Phase 2A development of PH10 for MDD, the company is currently preparing for a Phase 2B program in MDD.

VistaGen is also assessing the potential for Phase 2A clinical development of PH10 in a range of other depression-related indications, including:

• Postpartum Depression
• Treatment-resistant Depression
• Suicidal Ideation

AV-101

Part of a class of new generation investigational medicine in neurology and neuropsychiatry known as N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) modulators, AV-101 is an oral prodrug of 7-chloro-kynurenic acid (7-Cl-KYNA), a potent and selective NMDAR glycine site antagonist. This drug candidate has the potential to serve as an innovative treatment for MDD and multiple neurological indications where current therapies are unsatisfactory.

VistaGen is currently evaluating AV-101, in combination with FDA-approved probenecid, in a range of neuropsychiatric and neurological indications, with both MDD and Neuropathic Pain already granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. The company is assessing the combination for a potential Phase 1B study to support a potential Phase 2A program in one or more of the following indications:

• Major Depressive Disorder
• Neuropathic Pain
• Levodopa-induced dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease therapy
• Epilepsy
• Suicidal Ideation

CNS Therapeutics Market Outlook

The global CNS therapeutics market is estimated to reach $130 billion by 2025. The market was valued at approximately $82.3 billion in 2017 and is anticipated to grow at a healthy CAGR of more than 5.93% from 2018 to 2025. Even before the onset of the anxiety- and depression-provoking stressors from the COVID-19 pandemic, this growth was expected to be driven by a rise in mental illnesses and increased awareness of psychiatric disorders (https://nnw.fm/K2m0s) – all likely to be amplified by the diverse impacts of the pandemic.

The two most common mental health conditions – anxiety and depression – cost the global economy an estimated $1 trillion each year. The impact of these conditions is particularly devastating among the young. Industry data suggest that approximately 20% of the world’s children and teens are affected by mental health conditions, and suicide is the leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds (https://nnw.fm/oftNb).

VistaGen’s mission is to help address the unmet needs of patients suffering from CNS disorders whose current treatments are either inadequate or generate debilitating side effects and serious safety concerns, including risk of abuse and death.

“Now more than ever, the new generation anti-anxiety and antidepressant medications we are developing at VistaGen – PH94B, PH10 and AV-101 – are relevant, necessary and demand the highly-focused and passionate efforts of our team and partners, with the support of our stockholders, to advance them to patients whose lives are disrupted by anxiety and depression disorders,” VistaGen CEO and Director Shawn K. Singh said in his closing remarks at the company’s 2020 Annual Meeting of stockholders.

Management Team

Shawn K. Singh, J.D. is the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of VistaGen. He has served on the company’s board of directors since 2000. He has nearly 30 years of experience serving in numerous senior management roles across multiple industries, including private and public biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, venture capital, contract research and development, and law. Singh has a B.A. with honors from the University of California – Berkley. He has a J.D. degree from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. He is also a member of the State Bar of California.

H. Ralph Snodgrass, Ph.D., is the Founder, Chief Scientific Officer and Director of the company. Snodgrass has more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology field as a senior manager. He is recognized as an expert in stem cell biology, with over 28 years of experience using stem cells as biological research tools to promote development and drug discovery. He received a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. Snodgrass has published over 50 scientific papers with more than 17 patents and a number of patent applications.

Mark A. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., is VistaGen’s Chief Medical Officer He has over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, primarily with CNS drug development. Smith has been a successful leader in the discovery and development of approximately 20 investigational new drugs. He has been a part of numerous CNS-related clinical trials. Smith received a bachelor’s and Master of Science from Yale University and a Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California – San Diego. He completed his residency in the psychiatry department at Duke University Medical Center.

Jerrold D. Dotson, CPA, is the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of VistaGen. He has over 25 years of experience in senior management positions in finance and administration at both public and private companies. Dotson is a licensed CPA in California and received his B.S. degree (Cum Laude) in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Abilene Christian College.

Mark A. McPartland is the company’s Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. He has over 20 years of experience in senior management roles in corporate development and investor relations at both public and private companies. McPartland received his Bachelor’s in business administration and marketing from Coastal Carolina University.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Vivos Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VVOS) is an emerging global leader in the treatment of mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a debilitating condition affecting nearly 1 billion people worldwide. The company utilizes proprietary, ground-breaking technology, a proven go-to-market strategy, and a powerful executive team dedicated to changing the face of health care by helping people of all ages properly breathe and sleep.

At the core of Vivos’ mission to rid the world of mild-to-moderate OSA is the Vivos System®, a revolutionary clinical breakthrough in the treatment of mild-to-moderate sleep apnea often caused by craniofacial anatomy development. The Vivos System® multidisciplinary treatment protocol involves collaboration between physicians, specially-trained dentists who have completed advanced training in craniofacial sleep medicine, and other ancillary health care providers.

In support of its growth strategy, Vivos has established contract manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada and Asia.

Market & Technology Overview

Craniofacial developmental deficiencies, such as underdeveloped upper and lower jaws, are among the leading causes of OSA. According to a 2019 analysis from researchers at the University of California, San Diego, an estimated 81 million adults in North and South America suffer from moderate to severe OSA. The United States has the highest amount of these patients, with approximately 54 million adults affected, according to the report.

Registered with the FDA as a Specification Developer, Vivos develops and markets a number of oral appliances. Its technology represents the first non-surgical, non-invasive and cost-effective treatment for the estimated hundreds of millions of people globally who suffer from mild-to-moderate OSA.

Vivos integrates its specially designed, customized appliances into a patient-specific, multi-disciplinary clinical protocol, giving trained dental and medical providers the tools and roadmap needed to address certain craniofacial conditions that studies have shown to be associated with sleep-disordered breathing—including mild-to-moderate OSA.

The system’s treatment protocol involves collaboration between physicians, specially trained dentists who have received advanced training in craniofacial sleep medicine, and additional health care providers. Vivos-trained clinicians can be found in almost every major city in the U.S. and in many countries throughout the world. The company’s oral appliances have shown to be effective in over 15,000 patients successfully treated worldwide by approximately 1,200 trained dentists.

A New Paradigm in Sleep Medicine

Vivos’ proprietary system poses the potential to be the biggest breakthrough in the treatment of mild-to-moderate OSA since CPAP.

The Vivos System has been specifically designed to promote the proper growth and development of the hard and soft tissues surrounding and comprising the oral cavity, nasal cavity, upper and lower jaws, and other tissues which together form and shape the upper airway. As these areas develop more fully using the Vivos System, a patient’s airway typically widens and expands, enabling them to breathe properly through their nose. With a more open and less obstructed airway, and easier nocturnal breathing, the symptoms of SDB tend to diminish over time, and patients often report they no longer suffer from the adverse effects of SDB or OSA.

Use of the Vivos System is variable and case dependent, but typically recommended to be worn daily for 12 to 16 hours starting in the early evening and continuing overnight. The total treatment time typically ranges from 12 to 24 months, with 18 months being the approximate mean treatment time.

Biomimetic Oral Appliance

Vivos Therapeutics believes that the Vivos System technology represents the first non-surgical, non-invasive and cost-effective treatment focr people with mild-to-moderate OSA.

Combining technologies and protocols that can alter the size, shape and position of the tissues of a patient’s upper airway, the Vivos System opens airway space and can significantly reduce symptoms and conditions associated with mild-to-moderate OSA.

The Vivos System treatment is typically less than $10,000 and is often reimbursable by medical insurance as an out-of-network benefit.

A potentially serious medical problem with an alternative treatment therapy available in the dental office.

Hard and soft tissues of the craniofacial complex can be non-surgically enhanced using the proprietary Vivos® System devices and clinical protocols.

Leadership

R. Kirk Huntsman – CEO, Director
With experience in strategic development, technology acquisition and product planning, key talent recruitment, and target market prioritization, Huntsman brings a broad vision paired with leadership and strategic planning skills. He has significant start-up experience in a diverse range of market sectors, including medical devices, dental management, dental practice valuations and transitions, multi-location retail, financial and capital formation, consulting, outsourced services, imports and exports (China), medical services, and software and technology.

Dr. Dave Singh – Founder, Director
A doctor three times over in dental medicine, craniofacial development, and orthodontics, Dr. Singh was educated primarily in England and has lectured in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Global Summits Institute recently named Dr. Singh as one of the Top 100 Doctors in Dentistry.

Wrap Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: WRAP) is an innovator of modern policing solutions. The company’s BolaWrap® product is a patented, hand-held remote restraint device that discharges an eight-foot bola style Kevlar® tether to restrain an individual at a range of 10-25 feet. Developed by award-winning inventor Elwood Norris, the company’s chief technology officer, the small-but-powerful BolaWrap assists law enforcement in safely and effectively controlling encounters, especially those involving an individual experiencing a mental crisis.

Non-Lethal Weapons Market Potential

The BolaWrap Remote Restraint device is an innovative police solution, designed to provide law enforcement with a unique mobile and humane restraint option that does not inflict pain and enables subjects to be detained from a distance without the use of force.

In 2015, the 10 cities with the largest police departments in the United States paid out a cumulative $248.7 million in settlements and court judgements in police misconduct cases, marking a 48% increase from the $168.3 million in 2010 (http://nnw.fm/ri0L9). The majority of these cases have centered around the improper use of force by law enforcement when subjugating individuals, with 25% of all fatal shootings by law enforcement in the United States reportedly involving mentally ill individuals who are often incapable of comprehending officer commands (http://nnw.fm/YVm8P). Moreover, the use of alternate devices has failed to produce the desired outcomes, with the use of tasers by police resulting in over 1,080 fatalities since 2000 (http://nnw.fm/2Nb1A).

This, in turn, has led to a greater demand for humane tools which are not reliant on pain compliance to subdue subjects. Since its IPO in December 2017, Wrap Technologies has enjoyed a spectacular rise in prominence. The company began field testing the BolaWrap product in July 2018, with the first international order received only a month later, in August 2018. By December 2018, the company had been uplisted to the Nasdaq Capital Market with over 1,000 shareholders – a significant increase from the 50 shareholders who had participated in the IPO just 12 months prior. Recently, the company has sought to increase its commerciality and product monetization, appointing Tom Smith, the founder of TASER International (now Axon, NASDAQ: AAXN), as its president in March 2019.

At present, over 140 police departments throughout the United States are actively carrying the BolaWrap, while over 1,700 police departments across the nation have reached out to the company to request BolaWrap demonstrations, training and quotes. BolaWrap has also been successfully marketed internationally and has been shipped to 19 countries thus far.

As of today, Wrap Technologies has built a network of 11 distributors across 45 states in the United States who are actively marketing the product to the over 900,000 active police officers in the country. In addition, the company now has a network of 15 international distributors based in 26 countries – with over 600 international requests received thus far for product demonstrations, training and quotes.

As a result and following the opening of its new 11,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Tempe, Arizona, in October 2019, Wrap Technologies announced a 352% year-on-year increase in revenues for 3Q2019 – a testament to the growing popularity of its mobile restraint device.

The company expects its growth to continue as adoption rates of the BolaWrap product increase throughout the United States and globally. According to a study by Stratistics MRC, the addressable global market for non-lethal weapons accounted for $6.32 billion in 2016 and is set to rise to $11.85 billion by 2023.

Product Received to Positive Acclaim

• “An innovation that is changing the world of policing.” – Chief Luther Reynolds, Charleston Police Department
• “Anytime you can have a more humane response to someone in crisis, it’s not only good for the department, it’s good for society.” – Redditt Hudson, Regional Field Director of the NAACP (http://nnw.fm/1STXm)
• “This is going to save lives.” – Chief Ed Hudak, Coral Gables Police Department
• “I see this as one of the great tools if you encounter someone with a mental health crisis.” – Chief Steven Casstevens, Buffalo Grove Police Department

Recently completed $12.4 million financing round

Wrap Technologies announced that it had successfully completed its capital raising round on June 4, 2020, raising $12.4 million through a primary share placement priced at $6.00/share. The net proceeds will be use to further scale engineering, fund product development and provide working capital to meet worldwide demand for BolaWrap products and accessories (http://nnw.fm/byLV7). The company also announced that its founder, Elwood Norris, had chosen to exercise 100,000 outstanding warrants to contribute $500,000 to the capital raising efforts. Following the financing round, Wrap Technologies reported over $30 million in cash on hand.

Management Team

Elwood G. “Woody” Norris, Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Elwood G. “Woody” Norris is an award-winning American inventor and serial entrepreneur and currently serves as chief technology officer for Wrap Technologies Inc. Norris founded and served as a director and president of Parametric Sound Corporation (now Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ:HEAR)) and also served as chief scientist at Turtle Beach. Norris previously founded LRAD Corporation (NASDAQ: LRAD) and, prior to retiring in 2010, was chairman of LRAD Corporation’s board of directors, serving as a technical advisor and product spokesperson. Norris has authored more than 80 U.S. patents, primarily in the fields of electrical and acoustical engineering, and has been a frequent speaker on innovation to corporations and government organizations. He is the inventor of Wrap Technologies’ patented and patent pending BolaWrap® technology.

Scot Cohen, Executive Chairman
Scot Cohen has more than 20 years of experience in institutional asset management, wealth management, and capital markets. Cohen founded and served as principal of the Iroquois Capital Opportunity Fund, a closed-end private equity fund which focused on investments in North American oil and gas. Cohen also co-founded Iroquois Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that managed approximately $300 million across its family of funds. Prior to Iroquois Capital, Cohen founded a merchant bank which actively participated in structured investments in public companies. Cohen is currently active on a number of public and private company boards and is involved with various charitable ventures.

David Norris, Chief Executive Officer
David Norris is an experienced executive who joined Wrap Technologies full-time in January 2018. From April 2014 to December 2017, he served in various executive roles, including president, at privately held loanDepot LLC as it rapidly expanded into the fifth largest mortgage lender in the U.S. loanDepot had 6,000 employees and generated $1 billion in revenue in 2017. Norris also served as CEO of Greenlight Financial, and president of LendingTree Loans. Norris’ career also includes executive and management roles at Toshiba America Information Systems and Qualcomm Personal. Earlier in his career, Norris served as a probation officer in San Diego for five years.

Tom Smith, President
Tom Smith co-founded TASER International (now Axon Enterprise Inc. (NASDAQ: AAXN)) (“TASER”) in 1993 and served as president of TASER until October 2006. He served as chairman of the board of directors of TASER from October 2006 until he retired to pursue entrepreneurial activities in February 2012. Amongst his most significant roles and responsibilities at TASER, Smith managed domestic and international sales, significantly expanding the sale and distribution of TASER’s products, including sales to more than 17,200 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in over 100 countries. In 2012, he founded Achilles Technology Solutions LLC, which, through subsidiary ATS Armor, developed a line of ballistic solutions for law enforcement and military applications. Smith holds a B.S. in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. from Northern Arizona University.

Jim Barnes, Chief Financial Officer
Jim Barnes has served as president of Sunrise Capital Inc., a private venture capital and financial and regulatory consulting firm, since 1984. Barnes was chief financial officer of Parametric Sound Corporation (now Turtle Beach Corporation), and also served as vice president administration at Turtle Beach Corporation. Since 1999, Barnes has been manager of Syzygy Licensing LLC, a private technology invention and licensing company he owns with Elwood Norris. Barnes previously practiced as a certified public accountant and management consultant with Ernst & Ernst and Touche Ross & Co., and as a principal in J. McDonald & Co. Ltd. in Phoenix, Arizona.

XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE: XPHY) (OTCQB: XPHYF) (FSE: 4XT) is a bioscience accelerator focused on next-generation drug delivery, diagnostic and new active pharmaceutical ingredient investment opportunities. This includes products that are being readied for commercialization within the coming weeks, such as a rapid COVID-19 PCR test kit that reduces turnaround times to less than 30 minutes.

The company has research and development operations in North America and Europe and an operational focus in Germany. Its regulatory approval and commercialization focus is currently on products for the European market.

XPhyto was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Business Strategy & Milestones for 2021

On January 18, 2021, XPhyto issued a news release detailing its business strategy for the coming year. The company noted that it is “on the cusp of transformational change as product development programs advance from the laboratory to the clinic.” In addition to continuing to leverage its scientific expertise and operations in North America and Europe for product development and optimization, XPhyto intends to pursue growth through the commercialization of existing products and adherence to a focused investment strategy targeting impact-driven innovation with “the potential for extreme value creation.”

In particular, XPhyto is well positioned to execute on opportunities across its current business divisions, including:

• Commercialization of infectious disease diagnostics
• Clinical validation of transdermal and sublingual drug formulations
• Continued investment and development in psychedelic medicine

“2020 was a very productive year for XPhyto. We made significant progress in all areas of our business,” Hugh Rogers, CEO & Director of XPhyto, stated in the update. “We have ambitious milestones for 2021 with multiple product launches on the horizon, multiple clinical drug programs underway, and an aggressive commitment to psychedelic medicine. I am extremely confident that our team can execute on the company’s business plan for 2021.”

Infectious Disease Diagnostics

XPhyto’s lead diagnostic product, secured through an exclusive global commercialization agreement with 3a-diagnostics GmbH (“3a”), is a rapid and highly portable PCR diagnostic test. Notably, PCR testing “has emerged as the only internationally recognized standard for COVID-19 testing” and is expected to play a key role in facilitating the recovery of the domestic and international travel industries, among others.

Successful validation of the PCR system was achieved in Q4 2020, and XPhyto has expressed confidence that it will achieve European commercial (CE-IVD) approval in Q1 2021. In preparation for this milestone and an anticipated Q1 product launch, the company is currently in discussion with manufacturing and distribution partners in Europe and the Middle East.

In addition to COVID-19 products, XPhyto and partner 3a are developing and commercializing a portfolio of low-cost oral biosensors. The company’s lead biosensor product is an oral health screening test for the detection of peri-implantitis for which XPhyto is targeting a late 2021 European commercial approval.

XPhyto does not make any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Drug Formulation & Delivery

In 2020, XPhyto’s German subsidiary, Vektor Pharma TF GmbH (“Vektor”), reported significant advancement in four therapeutic programs targeting neurological indications with significant market demand. Vektor also successfully developed a sublingual drug formulation on contract for a major generic drug manufacturer and distributor.

XPhyto will look to build on this progress in 2021, with plans to complete human pilot studies evaluating its four lead therapeutic products:

• Rotigotine transdermal patch for Parkinson’s disease
• CBD oral/sublingual strip for treatment resistant epilepsy
• THC oral/sublingual strip for anorexia/nausea
• CBD:THC (1:1) oral/sublingual strip for multiple sclerosis associated spasticity

Per its 2021 business update, the company is currently in “ongoing discussions with multiple potential commercial partners, licensors and distributors and will be reviewing monetization opportunities on a continued basis.”

Psychedelic Medicine

Psychedelic compounds are a highly promising new class of active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) demonstrating strong potential for a variety of mental health conditions. XPhyto is positioned to capitalize on this promise through two strategic initiatives:

• An agreement for the development of industrial scale biotechnology processes for the production of psilocybin
• An agreement for R&D related to multiple psychedelic compounds, including psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, MDMA and DMT, among others

XPhyto intends to advance and expand its programs focused on the industrial scale production of psychedelic API in 2021. The company also plans to launch new programs for the development of psychedelic drug formulations, with a focus on sublingual and transdermal therapeutics and the integration of these products into established clinical programs relating to mental health indications.

Management Team

Hugh Rogers is the CEO and Director of XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. He is an entrepreneur and lawyer with private and public start-up company experience in various industries and operational roles. His recent advisory work has focused on public listings and corporate restructuring. This restructuring has occurred in the life science (cell therapy and medical device) and natural resources (natural gas co-gen and conventional oil) industries. Mr. Rogers holds a bachelor’s degree in Cellular Biology and Genetics and a law degree. He is a member in good standing of the Law Society of British Colombia.

Christopher Ross is the CFO of XPhyto. He is a professional accountant with broad financial experience across numerous industries, including forestry, distribution, construction, mining and multi-family real estate. He has provided advisory services to private and public companies in the areas of financial accounting, strategic analysis, audit and taxation. Mr. Ross holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce. He is a member in good standing with the Chartered Professional Accountants Association of British Columbia.

Wolfgang Probst serves as Director of XPhyto and Managing Director of BUNKER Pflanzenextrakte GmbH. He is a seasoned management and financial consultant based in Bavaria, Germany. He has consulting experience as branch head working with private clients and corporations of high net worth. In 2017, Mr. Probst assumed the CFO role of BUNKER and continues to play a key role in its operational and financial development.

Professor Dr. Raimar Löbenberg serves as Director of XPhyto. He holds a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from Johannes Gutenberg-University and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutics from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University. He is the co-founder of RS Therapeutics Inc., which concentrates on foam-based topical drug delivery systems.

Professor Dr. Thomas Beckert is the Founder and Managing Director of Vektor Pharma TF GmbH. His expertise includes the formulation and machine development of transdermal therapeutic systems and ODFs. Professor Beckert holds a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from the University of Freiburg and a Ph.D. in pharmacy and economics from the University of Tubingen.