• A high-quality manufacturing process, award-winning genetics and distinct premium packaging combine for a superior cannabis experience with the Caliber brand
• Sproutly’s wholly owned subsidiary, Toronto Herbal Remedies Inc., holds Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations licenses to cultivate and process cannabis
• Sproutly’s innovations in cannabis include groundbreaking water-soluble cannabis solutions and bio-natural oils for use in the beverage and consumables market

Sproutly Canada Inc. (CSE: SPR) (OTCQB: SRUTF) (FRA: 38G) holds several aces in hand when it comes to the competitive Canadian cannabis marketplace. Sproutly recently provided an update on the company’s premium cannabis brand for the recreational market – aptly named ‘Caliber’ for its high degree of excellence and use of Sproutly’s craft cannabis flower production – noting that the brand is designed to deliver a superior cannabis experience, every time.

“Every element of the brand is intended to be as high a quality as the buds inside,” Melise Panetta, Sproutly’s vice president, marketing and sales, said in a news release (http://ibn.fm/GDb9Y). Sproutly intends to package its craft flower for sale in 1-gram, 3.5-gram and 7-gram units.

Sproutly’s Caliber brand logo and packaging are designed to be distinctive and appealing to the cannabis connoisseur, as well as being reflective of the premium nature of the brand, Panetta said. Caliber is produced using a high-quality manufacturing process, award-winning genetics that includes an award-winning strain, and distinct premium packaging.

News that Health Canada recently changed its process for issuing cannabis licenses in a bid to reduce wait times and cannabis shortages illustrates another positive position held by Sproutly. New applicants for licenses to cultivate, process or sell cannabis must now have a fully built site that meets Health Canada regulations when submitting an application, the government agency said in early May (http://ibn.fm/3PjG0).

Sproutly’s wholly owned subsidiary, Toronto Herbal Remedies (“THR”), has a 16,600 square foot cultivation facility strategically located in the greater Toronto area. THR received its Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) cultivation license from Health Canada in 2018. On April 1, 2019, the company was also awarded a processing license by Health Canada (http://ibn.fm/jY2eg). Sproutly’s position is clearly a favorable one as Health Canada begins this new licensing process.

Caliber will be produced and packaged at the THR facility that utilizes state-of-the-art production and climate-control technology, as well as methods designed to deliver pharma-grade standards that enable it to produce ‘top-shelf’ premium cannabis flower. THR produces high-quality, small-batch flower and is now at full production and harvesting weekly.

Following receipt of its sale license from Health Canada and ahead of distributing its flower products, Sproutly plans to roll out a Caliber brand campaign in compliance with Health Canada’s promotional guidelines. Consumers and retailers will receive important product education and information, along with a view of Caliber’s brand highlights and the vision behind the brand.

Sproutly’s core mission is to become the leading supplier of water-soluble cannabis solutions and bio-natural oils for brands in the emerging cannabis beverage and edibles market (http://ibn.fm/ErvB4). The company’s groundbreaking, patent-pending Aqueous Phytorecovery Process (APP) technology replaces traditional water-compatible solutions with true natural water solubility, improving the body’s ability to utilize cannabinoids and making the effect of the cannabis almost immediate.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Sproutly.ca

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SRUTF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SRUTF

• The core IONIC product line is building on the growing social appeal of cannabis, with plans to add infused beverages, edibles and low-dose entries to vaping standards
• IONIC’s strategic acquisitions promote an organic growth platform that is expected to expand from the West Coast across the United States this year
• The launch of its Lucid Green technology exhibits IONIC’s commitment to product quality and industry transparency through a QR code rewards program

The recent growth of the cannabis industry as a global, socially appealing phenomenon has given rise to an inspiring mood-focused mission for holding company IONIC Brands Corp. (CSE: IONC) (OTC: ZRRRF) and its vape-friendly oil concentrates.

The West Coast-based company is aggressively expanding from its Washington headquarters and is building on years of experience there for its new operations in Oregon and California, with plans to continue growing into other states this year.

IONIC’s product line includes six cannabis oil formulas labeled IONIC Black, Black 50/50, IONIC White, White 50/50, Cask Oil and IONIC Pure, each of which now provides three distinctive mood offerings formulated for curated and consistent recreational use experiences, including SOCIAL (Hybrid), RELAX (Indica) and FOCUS (Sativa). The mood enhancements serve the purposes that their names suggest, promoting rich sociability, serene relaxation and enlightened creativity (http://ibn.fm/BE8nB).

The company has immediate product line expansion plans to add tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) / cannabidiol (CBD) mixes, low-dose products, high-end edibles and device innovation. It recently announced patents that move it into the infused coffee beverage market (http://ibn.fm/3zdpA). Its products are currently available in hundreds of stores in Washington, Oregon and California, with growth through expansion and acquisition anticipated in Nevada, Illinois and Massachusetts subsequent to the close of negotiations this summer.

IONIC is committing itself to ensuring quality in its products with the launch of its Lucid Green technology platform. The technology enables consumers to earn rewards as they scan a package’s QR code with a smartphone camera to instantaneously access a library of product-specific insights, such as test results, dosage guidance and known effects – a measure aimed at enhancing trust and transparency in the cannabis industry (http://ibn.fm/ml1oz).

Five transformational acquisitions are expected to elevate IONIC’s revenues this year – Washington-based Zoots edibles, Washington-based WW Agriculture cultivation, Nevada-based VVG vape pens, Washington-based Vuber vaporizer hardware and a California-licensed manufacturing facility (http://ibn.fm/zuTX5).

“I refer to IONIC Brands Corp. as an upstart company now, not so much a startup,” CEO and Board Chairman John Gorst stated in an April interview (http://ibn.fm/WVkFI). “We’re working to develop hard systems that run our businesses regionally and eventually nationally with the end goal of being international. That’s what we’re focused on right now.”

At the same time, Gorst acknowledged that M&A activity is not the company’s prime strategic driver as it focuses on organic, bottom-up growth in cultivating and delivering medical and recreational market cannabis products.

“We’ve made about six acquisitions over the last… seven months,” he added. “Everybody’s centered around mergers and acquisitions and making these strategic acquisitions, which do play a part in your business and they can be important, but they must be strategic. M&A for the sake of M&A is not a business strategy… It is a land-grab right now. What we’re focused on is owning the West and winning the rest, and if we can own the top four markets of the top 10 in the United States, we believe that we’re going to achieve a billion-dollar market valuation.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IONIC.social

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ZRRRF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/ZRRRF

• PLUS recently entered into a definitive partnership agreement with TapRoot Holdings Inc.
• As PLUS expands beyond its home market of California, it wants to ensure that its product remains consistent
• TapRoot offers Nevada licenses and industry knowledge, enabling rapid deployment into new markets

Plus Products Inc. (CSE: PLUS) (OTCQB: PLPRF), a manufacturer and marketer of cannabis food products, has expanded beyond its home market of California. The company has entered into a definitive partnership agreement with TapRoot Holdings Inc., which holds seven retail licenses in Nevada and has a deep understanding of the Nevada market (http://ibn.fm/lY7pw).

PLUS entered Nevada with the recent debut of its low-dose mints in dispensaries. PLUS said that it hopes to replicate in Nevada the success it’s achieved in California. In California, PLUS sold more than one million units in 2018, earning the distinction of having the two best-selling cannabis offerings among over 20,000 products (http://ibn.fm/rkPER).

BDS Analytics retail sales data reported that PLUS product lines made up the top cannabis-infused edibles brand in California retail sales and units sold in Q3 and Q4 of 2018 (http://ibn.fm/SUSHy). BDS Analytics added that PLUS is the number one cannabis gummies brand in California, with a 25 percent market share in 2019 YTD (http://ibn.fm/aaYiA).

“As we look to expand beyond California, we remain committed to producing a consistent product in all jurisdictions,” PLUS co-founder and CEO Jake Heimark stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/CfUIc). “We want the PLUS customer to have the same experience with our products whether they buy it in LA or in Las Vegas… Partnering with the TapRoot team will let us realize that goal, and we are confident they are the right team to spearhead our expansion in Nevada.”

As PLUS expands outside of California, TapRoot will serve as the manufacturing operations partner to ensure that product consistency and quality is maintained across markets.

TapRoot is a vertically integrated cannabis company operating cultivation and manufacturing facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company has extraction facilities to produce premium cannabis oils. The partnership agreement calls for PLUS to participate economically in a revenue-sharing model. TapRoot has seven of the 61 retail licenses issued by Nevada in December 2018. PLUS believes that TapRoot has a “deep understanding” of the Nevada market and will enable PLUS to rapidly deploy into new markets (http://ibn.fm/4inPf).

San Mateo, California-based PLUS is a cannabis-infused branded products manufacturer selling to regulated medicinal and adult-use recreational markets in California and Nevada. PLUS is focused on building the largest cannabis brand by growing organically and through acquisitions.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PlusProducts.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to PLPRF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/PLPRF

• Analysts predict that the global legal marijuana market will reach $146.4 billion in annual sales by 2025
• Nabis Holdings is building assets across the cannabis spectrum in multiple states, with visions of international expansion, to capitalize on the trending market
• Thanks primarily to acquired assets and LOI-process holdings in Michigan, Nabis anticipates a significant revenue and EBITDA jump between 2019 and 2020 as cultivation facilities come online and recreational market sales begin

The tremendous growth in a variety of cannabis-use industries capitalizing on the plant’s lifestyle-enhancing properties has opened a wide field of investment opportunity to Nabis Holdings (CSE: NAB) (OTC: INNPF) (FRA: 71P), a Canadian company intent on building a vertically integrated portfolio of assets across the cannabis space in the United States followed by international expansion.

Nabis Holdings’ most recent acquisitions include assets from PDT Technologies LLC, such as its exclusive licensing rights to Chong’s Choice brand vape cartridge products in the state of Washington, extraction and production equipment for cannabis processing and the rights to lease a current production facility in Washington.

The company also acquired a Bangor, Michigan, site that has city approvals for 10 cultivation licenses and one processing license.

The agreements reflect Nabis’ purposeful investment in high-quality cash flow opportunities across the full cannabis spectrum in states where limited licenses are granted for professional operations. Nabis anticipates its “anchor investment portfolio” in high quality assets at a proper pricing point will help it generate C$14.8 million in revenue during 2019 ahead of an exponential increase to C$167.9 million in revenue in 2020 as cultivation and harvesting begin in earnest.

The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) from the asset investments are expected to reach $4.1 million in 2019 and $67.5 million in 2020.

Much of the forecast gains between 2019 and 2020 are due to strategically located assets in Michigan. The company’s acquired and LOI holdings in the state include two sites in Detroit and four in other cities, granting it the pipeline power of one cultivation facility, one processing facility and seven dispensaries in a state that has only just opened its doors to adult recreational use during the past six months. Medical marijuana dispensaries are thriving, and recreational use sales are expected to begin early next year (http://ibn.fm/tQdi1).

The company predicts gross margins of 55 percent with 30 percent adjusted EBITDA margins through the Michigan facilities, leading it to anticipate sizable growth, from $8.1 million in annual revenues in 2019 to $104.8 million in revenues in 2020 thanks to 10 cultivation licenses and one processing license.

In Arizona, Nabis is set to monetize a cannabis cultivation facility, a greenhouse and a dispensary. In Washington, it has a processing facility. The company plans to expand the Washington operations by building a new extraction clean room and lab facility with new, highly specialized equipment, including two new extraction lines, for up to 20,500 kilograms of cannabis concentrate on an annual basis.

Nabis continues to evaluate multiple “off market” vertically integrated opportunities that have arisen thanks to the “strong existing relationships of management,” which target expansion in California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Israel and the European Union.

Despite prohibitions at the federal level in the United States, 92 percent of states have some form of cannabis legalization, ranging from CBD-only licensing in some to full medical and recreational use in others. The company’s investor information sheet notes Grand View Research’s prediction that the global, legal marijuana market will reach $146.4 billion in sales by 2025 (http://ibn.fm/3Q4PH).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NabisHoldings.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to INNPF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/INNPF

• SinglePoint’s acquisition of Direct Solar is expected to increase the company’s revenues by $5 million in the first 12 months
• The solar panel market is projected to exceed $22 billion by 2025
• Direct Solar’s model allows for quick, efficient expansion throughout the U.S. and globally

Energy efficient, renewable energy technologies are quickly gaining a permanent spot in homes and commercial buildings across North America and around the world. SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING) CEO Greg Lambrecht said in a news release that SING’s recent asset acquisition of Direct Solar and affiliate AI Live Transfers catapults the technology and investment company into the nation’s rapidly growing renewable energy markets (http://ibn.fm/7QAIJ).

“This acquisition will securely place SinglePoint on a new path towards growth, revenue and overall profitability. We believe Direct Solar has the people and the ability to scale beyond initial projections and truly make an impact on SinglePoint’s goal of getting a NASDAQ or NYSE,” Lambrecht stated in a news release. “We believe, in the following 12 months from the date of the acquisition, revenues will be in the multiple millions along with profitability. This acquisition is a new opportunity and puts SinglePoint on a whole new trajectory path.”

Direct Solar provides a Lending Tree model that connects consumers with solar power products and services. Pablo Diaz, founder and CEO of Direct Solar, said that the company has seen tremendous growth over the past year and expects its sales to soar as it joins with SinglePoint.

“We are excited to officially be a part of SinglePoint. The access to growth capital will allow us to scale quickly and turn the processes we have built into revenue generating opportunities,” Diaz added. “We signed over $570,000 of contracts in April with very little marketing per sales budget. With the backing and support of SinglePoint, we believe we can exponentially increase our sales pipeline.”

More than two million residential, commercial and utility-scale solar installations are currently installed in the U.S., producing enough electricity each year to power more than 12 million homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (http://ibn.fm/xEWYk). Solar installations are gaining in popularity as a cost-efficient, responsible energy choice as power costs rise and environmental awareness increases. The emerging solar panel market is projected to reach nearly $23 billion by 2025 as a result of increasing demand and decreased installation costs, according to Hexa Research (http://ibn.fm/gfjKn).

SinglePoint has also been in discussions with cannabis companies interested in utilizing solar to increase power efficiencies and reduce costs during indoor cultivation (http://ibn.fm/ec0bs). Legal cannabis growers are taking a hard look at solar, co-generation and battery systems as ways to combat rising energy costs, as an article published by GreenTechMedia details (http://ibn.fm/vLLu5).

SinglePoint’s SingleSeed subsidiary distributes CBD-based products derived from hemp via its website – www.SingleSeed.com. Multiple new product listings were added to the site in 2018, including the recently launched pet-friendly brand, Phyto-Bites, which is formulated to reduce stress, pain, separation anxiety and inflammation, particularly for dogs.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SinglePoint.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SING are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SING

• LXRP’s DehydraTECH has been shown to outperform conventional cannabis formulations and deliver 475 percent more CBD to the bloodstream in the first 15 minutes
• Compared to other industry formulations, DehydraTECH delivered cannabinoids quicker at industry-leading volumes
• A DehydraTECH formulation achieved a 319 percent higher CBD blood concentration level at 60 minutes than the generic coconut oil formulation

Lexaria Bioscience Corp.’s (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) patented DehydraTECH delivery technology has demonstrated in animal lab tests that it can deliver cannabinoids to the bloodstream more quickly than conventional cannabinoid formulations (http://ibn.fm/pYSzq). At 15 minutes into the test, the DehydraTECH formulation achieved a blood concentration level that was 475 percent higher than a generic coconut oil formulation; at 60 minutes, the blood concentration level was 319 percent higher.

Lab tests and actual licensed use in the cannabis industry have proved that DehydraTECH’s long-chain fatty acid (“LCFA”) formulation is able to deliver cannabinoids faster than formulations with medium-chain triglyceride (“MCT”) oils, such as coconut oil. DehydraTECH also offers the most advanced flavor and aroma-profile masking techniques in the industry. The groundbreaking technology could negate the need for artificial chemical masking agents or flavoring agents/sweeteners that mask the bitter flavors and aromas of cannabis.

Over the entire 60 minutes of the study, the DehydraTECH LCFA formulation delivered a CBD blood concentration level that was 334 percent higher than the level identified in animals that received the MCT oil formulation. The lab tests on animals compared how quickly a DehydraTECH formulation containing LCFA could deliver cannabinoids to the bloodstream, as compared to a concentration-matched conventional industry cannabinoid edible formulation with MCT oil. Coconut oil is commonly used due to its luxurious taste and mouth-feel, which can hide unpleasant cannabis flavors.

The result is that, in the head-to-head animal absorption study, the coconut oil formulations delivered cannabinoids into animal bloodstreams poorly, at about one-fourth the rate of the patented Lexaria LCFA. The DehydraTECH formulation was shown to deliver CBD more quickly than MCT oil formulations to the 10 male Sprague-Dawley rats tested.

Not only is delivery to the bloodstream enhanced; eight hours into the study, brain tissue was sampled to quantify CBD delivery into the brain. The DehydraTECH-enabled formulation outperformed the MCT oil formulation by 246 percent. First discovered in two series of nicotine absorption tests in animals conducted in 2018, LXRP’s DehydraTECH continued to deliver a drug, both to the bloodstream and across the blood-brain barrier, more effectively than industry standards. As a result, the efficient delivery could mean increased consumer satisfaction and utilization of lower dosage quantities.

LXRP is a bioscience company with North American operations and a drug-delivery platform innovator. LXRP’s disruptive delivery technology, DeydraTECH, is out-licensed by the company. The technology is designed to promote healthier ingestion methods and lower overall dosing. LXRP is the only company globally to have a patent issued for the oral delivery of all cannabinoids. DehydraTECH has received patents in the United States and Australia, and it has multiple patents pending in more than 40 countries worldwide.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LXRP are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LXRP

• City View Green Holdings’ emphasis is on creating a well-diversified cannabis business
• The company’s focus is premium edible offerings, distillates and water-soluble products
• The company leases a 40,000-square-foot facility in Ontario

A vertically integrated cannabis company, City View Green Holdings Inc. (CSE: CVGR) focuses on seed to retail. The company’s application to Health Canada for an Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) license is currently at the in-depth review stage of the licensing process. Based in Toronto, City View (formerly Icon Exploration Inc.) leases a 40,000-square-foot facility in Brantford, Ontario. Upon receipt of its cannabis act license, City View’s production plans include producing high-quality edible products, distillates and water-soluble products for the beverage market.

A Deloitte study put the potential economic impact of legalized medicinal and recreational marijuana in Canada (including transportation, licensing fees and security) at greater than $22 billion over the coming years. City View plans to produce high-quality medicinal products and recreational cannabis products for the adult-use market (http://ibn.fm/cvCDv).

City View’s Brantford facility, which sits on 4.3 acres, is expected to be retrofitted to the highest standards for a premium grow operation. The property has ample space for an additional 125,000-square-foot building, which could provide a major increase in cultivation and extraction space (http://ibn.fm/DjAAT). Approximately 4,000 square feet will be devoted to an extraction laboratory that will feature an ultra-efficient, supercritical CO2 extraction process. Once the retrofit is complete, the company estimates that it will have the potential to produce eight million grams annually. Plans also include implementing an ethanol extraction technology.

In addition, City View has entered into an agreement to purchase supercritical fluid extraction equipment. This is a first-rate method of selectively and cost-effectively extracting pure cannabis extracts containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD (cannabidiol) and terpenes from the cannabis plant. “Our chosen supplier’s patented and proprietary extraction system offers the most consistent results and highest yields, with no degradation of materials,” City View CEO Rob Fia stated in a news release.

City View’s chief goal is to create a well-diversified company focused on assessing and potentially acquiring targets in the cannabis industry. The company already owns 19.9 percent of Budd Hutt Inc., a retail business active in acquiring locations in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Budd Hutt is procuring shelf space and distribution for City View’s products.

City View has also secured the expertise of master grower Mario Meek, an original founding partner of WeedMD. In addition, the company has assembled an equally skilled extraction team and is concentrating on putting together one of the industry’s premier management teams, with an extensive contact base that could differentiate City View from the competition (http://ibn.fm/LrOSH). The company’s goal is to lower production costs while creating and refining the above-mentioned efficient extraction and processing methodologies.

City View Green Holdings is providing the guidance that new and established retailers require to responsibly integrate cannabis into their businesses. As City View helps to curate the cannabis experience for the recreational market consumer, the company is seeking to facilitate future growth.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.CityViewGreen.ca

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CVGR are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/CVGR

• TransCanna Holdings has signed an LOI to acquire Soldaze cannabis-infused fruit snacks, one of its 15 planned premium cannabis brands
• TransCanna’s recently acquired 196,000-square-foot self-contained production and distribution facility in Modesto, California, was featured in a new video tour of the site
• The facility is being developed as a hub for statewide distribution to various company satellite facilities in premium markets
• The company has plans for developing a still-larger cultivation facility on the 5.5-acre Modesto site as it grows and obtains more funding

TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) has signed a non-binding letter of intent, dated May 15, to acquire the branding asset package Soldaze from Santa Cruz, California-based Tres Ojos Naturals LLC. The move is part of TransCanna’s plan to put 15 premium cannabis brands on store shelves in the next 24 months, utilizing the company’s new 196,000-square-foot California facility as the hub for its operations. SolDaze produces cannabis-infused fruit snacks in California.

“Having reviewed over 100 branded products in California, we’ve been extremely selective in our acquisition vetting process,” TransCanna CEO Jim Pakulis stated in a news release about the LOI (http://ibn.fm/Gj4pE). “Our three mandatory acquisition criteria include SKU velocity, upward trending revenues, and products that differentiate themselves in the marketplace. The snack line from SolDaze, and specifically the cannabis-infused mango products, meets all three requirements.”

The Modesto facility will serve as a production hub that enables TransCanna to cultivate and deliver the 15 brands to scale as the company grows over time. TransCanna recently produced an eight-minute video as a quick tour of the facility (http://ibn.fm/2O53U), which is part of a larger 5.5-acre property purchase that the company can develop with an additional, still-larger structure to grow its own biomass. As it is, the current facility has space for a significant-sized nursery, as well as grow, manufacturing, bottling, baking, extraction and transportation operations.

“The benefit here is that we have better temperature control, better humidity control. We don’t bring any outside air into any of the controlled environments inside the facility. So it really differentiates us from anybody else in the industry,” Pakulis said during the video tour of the existing structure. “And it was specifically designed for this facility by the sellers. And the sellers, for the last 25 years, have designed these systems for food-grade processing facilities throughout the United States… It is truly a vertically integrated facility.”

“It’s just a matter of time before the USDA and the federal (government) realize that this (cannabis) is a food consumable item and needs to be treated in that fashion,” developer Chad Swan, vice president and general manager of Cold Storage Manufacturing, said in a BTV video report on the company and the Modesto facility (http://ibn.fm/mEoVN). “So we’re ahead of the curve on most of the people that are building their facilities – they’re not building it to food grade standards and when this (regulatory environment) changes, everything they’ve done they’re going to have to redo.”

Additionally, the terms of site purchase – about a 79 percent discount to market – allow TransCanna to plan for potential future expansion at unusually cost-friendly terms.

“Adjacent to the facility, we have five acres that – once we tranche up – we’ll be able to build up to a three-story facility with approximately 400,000 square feet of indoor grow,” Pakulis added. “The wonderful part about that is because we got such a steep discount on acquiring the building and the land next to it, and because the sellers of the building specialize in building large-box, HVAC food processing facilities throughout the United States, and they’re part of the TransCanna team now, they will be building the 400,000-square-foot (facility) basically at their cost… It means that we’re going to be able to grow superior cannabis at a steep discount.”

The company expects to provide an update in the near future on its candidate selection process for the facility’s senior management (http://ibn.fm/tp2D1).

“We have so much growth ahead of us, it’s crazy,” Pakulis concluded.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TransCanna.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to TCAN are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/TCAN

• Uber reported a loss of $1.03 billion in Q1 2019; analysts see public-private transportation partnerships as a profitable option
• Uber posted 41 percent YOY growth in gross bookings in Q1 2019 at constant currency, excluding the impact of divested operations
• Offering public-transportation substitute services may be the solution to the “first mile, last mile” problem

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) posted an operating loss exceeding $1 billion for its Q1 2019 (http://ibn.fm/4godZ), the three months ended March 31, 2019. The loss represents a 116 percent decline from its $478 million loss during the same period in 2018. One potentially profitable option ahead is replacing public transportation in public/private partnerships, according to an opinion article in The New York Times (http://ibn.fm/du1P4). To begin that strategic move, the company would offer substitute services that fill in public-transit gaps.

Uber posted revenue of $3.1 billion for Q1 2019, marking a 20 percent increase from the $2.6 billion that it recorded for the same period of the prior year. The global ride-hailing company reported 41 percent growth in gross bookings in Q1 2019 at a constant currency calculation, excluding 2018 divested operations.

The company showed Q1 growth but hemorrhaged operating losses. An analysis by website Ars Technica says that Uber has lost money almost every quarter since its founding. A price war with competitor Lyft has lowered price points to an unsustainable level, the report said. The site asserts that self-driving cars may, in the future, lower Uber’s cost of doing business. It adds that revenue growth in Uber’s latest quarter is driven by the rapid growth of the Uber Eats delivery service (http://ibn.fm/JNsfR).

According to the analyst’s opinion article in The New York Times, Uber’s strategy is to supplant public transportation initially by solving the “first mile, last mile” problem of getting riders from home locations to train stations or bus stops. Uber would initially fill this gap in public transit and then seek to replace public transportation, the article says.

“At Uber’s apex of candor, in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it identifies a ‘massive market opportunity’ in the estimated 4.4 trillion miles traveled by people on public transit in 175 countries in 2017,” The New York Times article states.

Public-private partnerships are already being tested by Uber (and its competitor, Lyft) through apps. In Denver, the article reported, an Uber app has been integrated alongside the public-bus and commuter-rail system. In Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, the local transportation authority offers discounted $1 Uber trips for a reasonable distance between a passenger’s bus stop and final destination. Taxpayers subsidize the real cost of those rides.

Uber and Lyft hope that these models of public/private partnerships in sufficient quantity will become profit centers in the future. The opinion article, however, stressed that, while the United States needs more convenient public transportation, the Uber and Lyft strategies could reduce the number of persons using public transport, thereby reducing support for this service.

The article also criticized the pollution and congestion that these ride-hailing services could present if they replaced public transportation, and it further cited the services’ lack of accountability. “They look at their users as customers, not constituents,” The New York Times piece added.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Uber.com

• The booming hydroponics crop market is projected to be worth over $27 billion by 2022
• Sugarmade is one of the largest publicly traded hydroponics supply companies investing in the legal cultivation sector
• The global industrial hemp market is expected to reach $10.6 billion by 2025

Sugarmade Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD), a major supplier to the growing hydroponic cultivation sector, is diversifying its portfolio with supply commitments to the budding industrial hemp sector. A new agreement with Kentucky-based hemp cultivator Hempistry Inc. to deliver resources for its plant micropropagation work reveals a solid strategy as Sugarmade moves into the legal cultivation space, as detailed in a CannabisNewsWire editorial (http://ibn.fm/BzlCB).

Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill brought regulatory changes to the agriculture sector, allowing hemp cultivation in the U.S. and bringing new opportunities to growers and equipment providers alike. Sugarmade, already a major supplier within the hydroponics sector, sees the passage of the federal Farm Bill as beneficial to its growth potential.

Sugarmade quickly gained traction in the newly legal industrial hemp sector in April by signing Hempistry Inc. to a supply contract, which the company expects to be ongoing as Hempistry expands its operations, both domestically and internationally (http://ibn.fm/td7jj).

“With at least 42,000 acres of hemp expected to be planted in Kentucky and considering an average plant density per acre of well over 1,000, farmers in Kentucky will need hundreds of millions of clones over the coming years,” Sugarmade CEO Jimmy Chan, who is also a Hempistry director, stated in the news release. “When these numbers are multiplied over the many other hemp cultivation states, it is easy for anyone to see the strong demand scenario that is quickly developing.”

The hydroponics sector along with production of hemp and cannabis are seen as two of the top-five most important major agricultural investing trends for 2019, according to a blog post by HarvestReturns.com (http://ibn.fm/Jt4OI). Hydroponic farming can rapidly help serve unmet demands for fresh organic produce and can be adapted to many different crops, including cannabis and hemp.

The global industrial hemp market is expected to surge to $10.6 billion by 2025, according to Grand View Research (http://ibn.fm/oHShp), while the global hydroponics market, which includes the production of all crops, is anticipated to grow to $27.29 billion by 2022, according to a report in Vegetable Growers News (http://ibn.fm/nuPE4).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Sugarmade.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SGMD are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SUGAR