Cannabis and Hemp Industry Investment News

Australis Capital Inc (CSE:AUSA) (OTCMKTS:AUSAF) (FRA:AC4) provided an operations update on its pending acquisitions of Green Therapeutics LLC and ALPS, as part of its shift from an investment company into a US multi-state operator (MSO).   

Australis said Green Therapeutics (GT) saw a record 47% year-over-year increase in December sales, and recently reached an agreement to sell its land in North Las Vegas, which would result in AUSA receiving approximately US$1.95 million if the transaction is completed.

Meanwhile ALPS, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Larssen Greenhouse Consulting (LGC), has executed a number of contracts for the development of facilities for the cultivation of high-quality, low-cost crops such as fruits, vegetables and microgreens.

READ: Australis Capital unveils significant expansion moves with plans to acquire both Green Therapeutics and ALPS 

“The new board is rapidly changing AUSA from an ‘investment’ company into a multi-state operator with expected meaningful revenue growth, resulting in profitable operations,” Australis Capital CEO designate Terry Booth said in a statement.

Namaste Technologies Inc. (CVE:N), a leading platform for cannabis products, accessories, and education announced that it has closed its previously announced "bought deal" public offering for total gross proceeds of $23,023,000. 

The group said it sold 65,780,000 units of the company at a price of C$0.35 per unit under the offering, including 8,580,000 units sold under the exercise in full of the underwriters' over-allotment option.

The company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering for the further development and expansion of its business and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

READ: Namaste Technologies bolsters working capital with amended C$20M bought deal financing

Each unit in the offering consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of C$0.47 each until January 19, 2024. 

() () (FRA:2UE) announced Tuesday that its subsidiary CannaCure Corp has entered into a binding letter of intent with Entourage Participações SA for a three-year extraction and finished product supply agreement for the distribution of pharmaceutical products in Brazil.  

Under the terms of the agreement, Heritage said it will supply to Entourage Phytolab, hemp-derived CBD dominant extract, cannabis-derived THC dominant extract, and hemp-derived CBD 25 milligram (mg) softgels and cannabis-derived THC dominant 2.5 and 5.0 mg softgels. 

CannaCure will provide cannabis and hemp products to be used strictly for pharmaceutical products that comply with regulations issued by the Brazil Health Authority (Anvisa), which include GMP certification and GMP compliant products. CannaCure is currently in the process of obtaining GMP certification. 

READ: Heritage Cannabis announces the launch of Premium 5’s new brand RAD

CannaCure also will supply initial products for Entourage Phytolab’s formulation and research and development purposes by February 2021, with commercial orders to be delivered following CannaCure receiving EU GMP certification estimated in the latter half of 2021. CannaCure and Entourage Phytolab also have established minimum order quantities.

Australis Capital (CSE: AUSA- OTC: AUSAF) new CEO Terry Booth joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news the company is planning to utilize a new strategy for the company as they look to capitalize on a number of opportunities.

Booth shared with Proactive what that strategy will be and how he plans on measuring performance and making sure they are accountable to shareholders.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp (NASDAQ:LEXX) (NASDAQ:LEXXW) () has bolstered its board with the addition of Al Reese Jr. 

Certified accountant Reese has over 40 years' experience in public and private businesses and was finance chief at a former Nasdaq-listed energy company, where he arranged transactions totaling more than US$10 billion over two decades. 

READ: Lexaria Bioscience prices $9.6M public offering as shares set to begin trading on the Nasdaq

"Al is also experienced in negotiating technology license agreements with companies in the US and internationally, and the board of directors looks forward to his guidance as Lexaria continues to evolve and pursue its strategic out-licensing business model," said Chris Bunka, CEO and chairman, at Lexaria.

Reese added in the statement: "I’ve been familiar with Lexaria since inception and have seen this team’s determination to develop and commercialize the DehydraTECH TM technology. 

() OTCMKTS:MMJFF) (FRA:2P9) will broaden its existing investment mandate to include strategic investments in sectors outside cannabis as approved at the company's annual general meeting held in November 2020.

These sectors include, but are not limited to natural resources, pharmaceuticals and software services technology, which will comprise no more than 25% of MMJ’s total consolidated assets at the time the investments are made.

Increased flexibility to create growth

The diversification provides MMJ with increased flexibility to create growth and greater returns for shareholders and thereby allows MMJ to lower its investment risk and reduce the impact of market volatility from the cannabis sector to ultimately benefit shareholders.

This month, the investment manager of MMJ’s investments, Embark Ventures Inc, changed its name to Parallax Ventures Inc.

() (FRA:M5BQ) () has amended its bought deal financing with Canaccord Genuity Corp hours after the initial deal was announced, doubling its gross proceeds to C$20 million. 

The company upped the number of units offered to 57.2 million from roughly 29 million.

Each unit includes one common share and one purchase warrant, and each warrant entitles its holder to acquire another share at an exercise price of C$0.47 for a period of 36 months after the offering closes. 

READ: Namaste Technologies advances US expansion plans by selling hemp CBD through CannMart.com by collaborating with PeakBirch Logic

The company expects the offering to close on or about January 19, The agreement remains subject to approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.

Namaste Technologies Inc (CVE:N) (FRA:M5BQ) (OTCMKTS:NXTTF) reached an agreement on a bought deal financing worth more than C$10.1 million, the cannabis company announced after the close Thursday. 

Canaccord Genuity Corp, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters, agreed to purchase 29 million units in the capital of the company at a price of C$0.35 per unit. 

Each unit includes one common share and one purchase warrant, and each warrant entitles its holder to acquire another share at an exercise price of C$0.47 for a period of 36 months after the offering closes. 

READ: Namaste Technologies advances US expansion plans by selling hemp CBD through CannMart.com by collaborating with PeakBirch Logic

The company expects the offering to close on or about January 19, The agreement remains subject to approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.

Corporation () (OTCMKTS:INNPF) (FRA:IP4) reported the successful completion of a large-scale production of exosomes as part of its CBD Loaded Exosome (CLX) Therapy project in collaboration with Professor Daniel Offen of Tel Aviv University. The company said it considers CLX to be a new revolutionary, development-stage, cell therapy-based technology, loaded with CBD (cannabidiol), designed to target coronavirus infected lung cells and central nervous system diseases, with the potential to provide a highly synergistic effect of anti-inflammatory properties and help in the recovery of infected lung cells.

. () (FRA:20MP) said it has received approval from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for the patent filing around its Quicksome technology. The company's patented Quicksome liposome technology utilizes an advanced two-step encapsulation and desiccation process to formulate normally highly un-bioavailable active ingredients into highly effective oral product formats. The technology is being applied across a variety of vaccine, drug and nutraceutical application.

Inc () (OTCMKTS:MGXRF) (FRA:0E9) said it has elected Charn Deol and Sean Charland to the company’s Board of Directors at Zinc8 Energy’s Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on December 16, 2020. The company also announced that during the past 12 months a “significant” number of its outstanding warrants were exercised from previous private placements, providing Zinc8 with more than $3 million in gross proceeds.

Alpine 4 Technologies Inc. () said its Quality Circuit Assembly (QCA) subsidiary has already booked $1.5 million in new work with just its electric vehicle (EV) customers for Q1 2021, with more anticipated in the quarter.  The company, a leading operator and owner of small market businesses, noted that QCA completed $1.2 million in projects for these Fortune 500 EV customers in Q4 2020. Alpine 4 said its investment of $1.25 million into a new SMT line and related equipment for QCA has proven to be a fruitful investment.

 Corporation () (OTCMKTS:INNPF) (FRA:IP4) reported the successful completion of a large-scale production of exosomes as part of its CBD Loaded Exosome (CLX) Therapy project in collaboration with Professor Daniel Offen of Tel Aviv University.

The company said it considers CLX to be a new revolutionary, development-stage, cell therapy-based technology, loaded with CBD (cannabidiol), designed to target coronavirus infected lung cells and central nervous system diseases, with the potential to provide a highly synergistic effect of anti-inflammatory properties and help in the recovery of infected lung cells. 

 described the product as acting as a “guided missile,” bringing the combination of the cell healing properties of exosomes and the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD to the infected lungs.

“Innocan is now one of a few public companies in the exosome's science field,” CEO Iris Bincovich said in a statement.

 () () (FRA:M5BQ) revealed on Thursday that it has further expanded into the US through CannMart.com with sales of hemp-derived CBD.

In a statement, the Toronto-based cannabis-focused, e-commerce technology company, said it “looks forward” to leveraging VendorLink, its marketplace technology, in collaboration with e-commerce technology group PeakBirch Logic Inc. 

The company previously announced through an appropriate affiliate, the sale of accessories permissible under applicable US state laws. “The announcement of this further expansion in the US underscores Namaste's intention to increase its total addressable market and exploration into other verticals as regulation evolves,” said Namaste.

READ: Namaste Technologies is in discussions with DankStop to enter the US market

’s  () () (FRA:2P9) shares outshined the benchmark Alternative Harvest ETF in the month of December by rising 8% compared to a negative 10% for the benchmark.

The benchmark consists of listed North American cannabis securities.

MMJ’s positive performance was principally due to revaluation of its investments in Weed Me and Southern Cannabis Holdings.

With 76% of the MMJ portfolio in unlisted cannabis securities, the rerating of the listed markets provides some optimism for valuation uplifts when the unlisted investees (principally Embark Health) achieve public listing.

 () () (FRA:M5BQ) announced that it anticipates fourth quarter 2020 gross revenue of approximately $8 million, a 100% year-over-year increase, and a 21% rise from the $6.3 million it recorded during the third quarter of 2020.   

The company also said it expects its fiscal 2020 gross revenue, including cannabis revenue, to climb 59% year-over-year to approximately $27 million.  

“We are very pleased by the hard work of the team who doubled the revenue growth over the fourth quarter of 2019,” Namaste Technologies CEO Meni Morim said in a statement.

READ: Namaste Technologies looks to become the ‘Amazon of cannabis’ with its integrated, intelligent cannabis experience

He added: “We believe our preliminary results demonstrate the strength of our business during an inflection point within the industry. Namaste as an organization is relentlessly focussed on the execution of our strategy to become a leading global cannabis company.”

AgraFlora Organics International Inc () (FRA:PU31) (OTCPINK:AGFAF) said Wednesday it expects to enter the Canadian edibles market in the first quarter of 2021. 

In a statement, the company said it has completed the first phase of research and development trials at its Health Canada-licensed, 51,000 square-foot, fully automated edibles manufacturing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 

Prior to receiving a standard processing license from Health Canada, the company had commenced cultivating long-term production relationships through R&D trials utilizing the company’s Health Canada R&D license. 

READ: AgraFlora Organics receives cannabis edibles processing licence for its Winnipeg manufacturing facility

And now that the development phase of the R&D trials is now complete and the company has created efficient processes for desired formulations and products, AgraFlora said it is nearly prepared to enter the edibles market soon.  

() () (FRA:2P9) investee () () (FRA:4WE) predicts 2021 will be a “banner year” for the business as it focuses on increasing revenue maximising production efficiencies.

WeedMD is based in Ontario, Canada, and is a producer and distributor of cannabis products for both the medical and adult-use markets.

In a letter to shareholders, WeedMD chairman and interim CEO George Scorsis – former CEO Angelo Tsebelis has moved into an advisory role – outlined the company’s steps towards profitability in 2021.

“With the infrastructure improvements and ramp-up of our cultivation, we are now producing and shipping more product than we ever have before at a lower cost to produce, while maintaining the quality for which WeedMD is known,” he said.

Lexaria BioScience (NASDAQ: LEXX- CSE: LXX) CEO Chris Bunka joined Steve Darling from Proactive to bring news the company is now trading on the Nasdaq capital markets. That includes an offering with gross proceeds of 9.6 million.

Bunka telling Proactive what has gotten the company to this point and why the move was made, He also talked about what he feels will be a big 2021 for Lexaria.

 () () (FRA:M5BQ) said it is collaborating with online smoking supply retailer DankStop to enter the US market by leveraging CannMart.com’s proprietary VendorLink platform.

The Toronto-based company said that its online cannabis platform CannMart is targeting to go live in the US by the end of the current fiscal quarter.

Namaste noted that it plans to use this expansion as a beachhead into the US, beginning with the sale of accessories permissible under applicable state laws, while exploring expansion to other verticals as well as adjacent complementary markets.

“We applaud the US government's recent decision to support the removal of cannabis and cannabis resin for medical purposes from Schedule IV of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, and we are very pleased to collaborate with the exceptional DankStop team, which has become one of the world's largest and fastest growing online smoking supply retailers,” said Namaste Technologies CEO Meni Morim in a statement.

Ltd () (), the cybersecurity and privacy solutions provider, revealed on Tuesday that it has completed all testing related to SekurMessenger as it gears up for its commercial launch in January in Latin America. 

The advanced technology company will launch SekurMessenger, its Swiss-hosted encrypted instant messaging, secure voice recording transfer and secure file transfer application, with Telcel, telecom heavyweight América Móvil SAB’s Mexico mobile division.  

“The secure messaging service has been fully integrated with Telcel’s billing and provisioning platform and the commercial launch is expected to start later this month,” said the company.  The launch will start in Mexico and expand to other countries where America Movil operates through its Claro brand, such as Colombia and other Latin American countries.

READ: GlobeX Data provides Sekur.com in Spanish as it gears up for launch in Latin America and Spain in early 2021

Lexaria Bioscience Corp (NASDAQ:LEXX) (NASDAQ:LEXXW) () said its common stock and warrants will begin trading Tuesday (today) on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbols 'LEXX' and 'LEXXW.'

In addition, the company also announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering that could raise up to about $11 million and intends to use the net proceeds for research and development studies, patent and legal costs associated, and general working capital purposes.

Under the scheme, Lexaria is offering 1,828,571 units, with each unit consisting of one share and one warrant to purchase one share at US$5.25 per unit. The shares of common stock and warrants comprising the units are immediately separable and will be issued separately, but will be purchased together. 

READ: Lexaria Bioscience orders additional coronavirus studies of antiviral drugs delivered using DehydraTECH

The warrants have an exercise price of $6.58 per share, are immediately exercisable, and will expire five years following the date of issuance. The company also has granted the underwriter H.C. Wainwright & Co a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 274,285 shares of common stock and/or warrants to purchase up to 274,285 shares of common stock.

Heritage Cannabis Holdings Corp () () (FRA:2UE) reported the launch of a new Premium 5 brand RAD, in connection with its pending acquisition of Canadian recreational and medical cannabis company Premium 5 Ltd. 

The company said RAD is being introduced in response to consumer demand for more affordable cannabis concentrate offerings. 

“There is a strong market for our product offerings through Premium 5, but we acknowledge the growing consumer demand for more affordable concentrate offerings,” said Premium 5 CEO David Schwede in a statement. 

READ: Heritage Cannabis buys full spectrum cannabis concentrate producer Premium 5 for C$21M in stock

He added: “With RAD, we aim to leverage our strong reputation to delight our consumers with quality products at a value price point.”