• Several cobalt mineralization intervals identified within Kerr Area of Canadian Cobalt Camp contain multiple, closely spaced cobalt-silver veins
• Two surface drilling rigs added to Iron Creek Cobalt Project in Idaho to accelerate drilling results, complement ongoing underground drilling
• Demand for cobalt in vehicle battery materials is expected to grow over 40 percent in 2018
• Cobalt identified as a “critical metal” by U.S. as demand accelerates with global push toward electric vehicles

Cobalt exploration and development company First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQX: FTSSF) recently reported encouraging drill assay results indicating near surface cobalt mineralization trends in the Kerr area within its Canadian Cobalt Camp location. Trent Mell, president and CEO of First Cobalt, noted that results retrieved from the first six holes of 15 drilled along the strike extent of the historic Kerr Lake and Drummond Mines, where several silver veins are known to occur, reflect cobalt-silver mineralization as closely spaced veins.

“The results reported today are just 400 metres north of the Kerr #2 Zone, providing great encouragement to our vision of large scale open pit mining in the Cobalt Camp,” Mell stated in a July 10 news release (http://ibn.fm/3rUjP). “We are reallocating a larger portion of the 2018 exploration budget to the Kerr area despite having a multitude of prospective targets across our land package. Results from nine drill holes are pending and additional drilling is planned.”

Roughly half of cobalt produced globally today is used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from electric vehicles to smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. The electric vehicle, which requires a large amount of cobalt to produce, is the primary force propelling the cobalt boom. Electric car batteries require between five and 15 kilograms of the metal, roughly a thousand times the amount in smartphone batteries, according to a background report issued on June 15, 2018, by the Council on Foreign Relations (http://ibn.fm/HORap).

First Cobalt also recently announced the addition of two drill rigs at its Iron Creek Cobalt Project site in Idaho to accelerate drilling activities there. Mell said that the company’s confidence level in the growing footprint from results so far from the $9 million work program at Iron Creek warranted the additional equipment and boosted schedule.

“We believe Iron Creek is an important part of the pipeline of cobalt concentrate we intend to feed into the First Cobalt Refinery in Ontario and the addition of two more drill rigs will significantly speed up activities,” Mell stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/hLIOv).

The U.S. Geological Survey’s annual Mineral Commodity Summaries reports that average annual cobalt prices more than doubled in 2017 over the previous year, owing to strong demand from consumers, limited availability of cobalt on the spot market and an increase in metal purchases by investors, a CNBC article states (http://ibn.fm/tuPRY).

First Cobalt Corp., with headquarters in Canada, is a vertically integrated North American pure-play cobalt company. First Cobalt has three significant North American assets: the Iron Creek Project in Idaho, which has a historic mineral resource estimate (non-compliant with NI 43-101) of 1.3 million tons grading 0.59 percent cobalt; the Canadian Cobalt Camp, with more than 50 past producing mines; and the only permitted cobalt refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/FTSSF

• Companies need to focus on optimizing customers’ online experience, redefining their brands in the process
• The UMI platform offers brands and end-users a streamlined, holistic online experience that provides flexibility and security
• Developing software and mobile publishing solutions for a variety of mobile offerings

By the year 2019, the number of mobile phone users worldwide is expected to pass the five billion mark, and mobile advertising is expected to represent 72 percent of all U.S. digital ad spending. With 83 percent of mobile users citing a seamless experience across all devices as very important and 57 percent of users unwilling to recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site, brands need to focus more on making sure that their customers’ online experiences are optimal.

A holistic approach is necessary for ensuring that mobile connectivity, secure transactional processing and social connectivity are optimized for users throughout different markets. Consorteum Holdings, Inc. (OTC: CSRH), a software development and mobile solutions company, has spent the last several years developing relationships and licensing agreements that will enable it to participate in the rapidly developing fintech market and its associated verticals, providing secure mobile content and connectivity to a variety of end users.

The company’s wholly owned subsidiary, 359 Mobile Inc., developed the Universal Mobile Interface™ (UMI) platform to integrate any stream of data onto a mobile platform. UMI has the ability to deliver and manage mobile connectivity, secure transactional processing and social connectivity to create a more personalized mobile experience. The applications of UMI cover e-commerce, banking, mobile gaming, data analytics, entertainment, social media, digital marketing and more. It is a flexible platform designed to meet the diverse needs of the company’s client base within a broad range of vertical markets.

For clients, UMI can be adapted to meet specific needs and redefine the brands’ mobile experiences. The platform provides a seamless connection with customers, anticipating their needs and providing a holistic service from browsing through payment processing to after-sale services.

Consorteum is developing its software and mobile publishing resources for a variety of mobile offerings – including the online and mobile gambling industry. Currently, the company’s focus is on the upcoming release of its first global sports app later this year. This app will offer massive amounts of compiled historical data and updates on cricket teams and players and will be available to the 2.5 billion worldwide cricket fans as the company’s first predictive analytics mobile offering. Within the United States, it is estimated that illegal sports betting is a $150 billion industry (http://ibn.fm/7AgC5). As laws regarding gambling on college and professional sports are removed from federal oversight and placed in the hands of the states, companies such as Consorteum are uniquely positioned to capitalize from a legalized gaming industry.

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

• Highly anticipated legislation to provide legal status for hemp
• Hemp and cannabis industries forecast to reach $22.6 billion by 2021
• Decisions made with eye toward expansion set to bring companies unprecedented growth

Following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill in Congress, a conference committee has now been charged with finalizing the bill, which must be completed before the current legislation expires on September 30 (http://ibn.fm/stCRt). Part of the thousand-plus-page bill includes the Hemp Farming Act, a top priority of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, a state that hopes to see significant economic benefits from growing the plant. In addition to legalizing hemp, the legislation would remove it from the federal list of controlled substances, allow it to be sold as an agricultural commodity and give states the right to regulate crops grown under their jurisdiction. The bill would also allow hemp researchers to apply for Department of Agriculture grants and make hemp farmers eligible for crop insurance.

This groundbreaking legislation is highly anticipated by many in the hemp industry, from growers and cultivators to manufacturers and producers of hemp plant-based products. Marijuana Company of America Inc. (OTC: MCOA) (MCOA Profile) is one of the companies paying close attention as the bill progresses through committee. A pioneer in legal hemp-based product development, manufacture and distribution, MCOA has led out in seed-to-shelf efforts to bring these products to consumers as more and more people — and states — are recognizing the potential that hemp provides.

The hemp and cannabis industries are already seeing unparalleled growth, and experts note that the trend will only continue as these industries gain legal status. North American consumers spent $6.7 billion on legal cannabis products in 2016, up 34 percent from the year before. ArcView Market Research estimated that the industry may reach $22.6 billion by 2021 — extraordinary growth in which savvy companies are poised to play a part (http://ibn.fm/ifznm). Whereas the Hemp Business Journal estimates that the hemp-derived CBD market will grow exponentially over the next few years into a $2.1 billion industry.

MCOA may be one of those companies as it spearheads efforts and stakes claims on multiple legal hemp cultivation projects. Along with joint venture partner Global Hemp Group Inc. (CSE: GHG) (OTC: GBHPF) (FRANKFURT: GHG), MCOA is deeply involved in the New Brunswick hemp project, a joint venture involving the planting of 125 acres of industrial hemp in the northeast portion New Brunswick, Canada. GHG and MCOA are also working together on a hemp farming project in Scio, Oregon, where significant garden operations are well underway. Those operations include the expansion of nursery and propagation rooms, the construction of five additional greenhouses and the purchase of 20,000 high-yielding CBD hemp clones. Finally, MCOA has partnered with Bougainville Ventures, Inc. to complete the setup of a 10,000-square-foot greenhouse in Washington State.

This forward-thinking cultivation of quality hemp is designed to provide the company with the main ingredient for its innovative CBD-based formulations, which use the highest-quality hemp to produce what could be the finest-quality botanical supplements on the market. The CBD-based nutritional and botanical supplement products include a pain relief product called hempSMART™ Pain, which is also available as a cream-based topical, and an ayurvedic nootropic product called hempSMART™ Brain. HempSMART™ also sells Full Spectrum CBD Drops in the form of a sublingual tincture that contains advanced bioavailability, and just last month it announced the launch of a new CBD infused cosmetic product designed to refresh, replenish and restore the skin cells on your face called hempSMART™ Face. The company has also developed an affiliate marketing program for the promotion and sale of its hemp-based, CBD-infused products.

Hemp has a myriad of uses beyond CBD therapeutic, including as a food, natural fiber and even a commodity in the building materials sectors. No part of the plant goes unused, and MCOA’s comprehensive strategy is to capitalize at each profit point — from farm to finished products.

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

• Zenergy Brands focuses on unique offerings in energy efficiency for the business market
• Its platform is a collective offering of energy services and smart controls
• The company offers its innovative Zero-Cost Program™

An energy and technology enterprise, Zenergy Brands, Inc. (OTC: ZNGY) centers on innovative offerings in energy efficiency for the business market. Its dedication is to enhancing businesses via responsible energy use and management. Zenergy provides its products and services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal end-use customers. Zenergy Brands has its corporate office in Plano, Texas.

A business-to-business company, Zenergy’s expertise is in helping its customers decrease utility consumption. The company’s platform is a collective offering of energy services and smart controls. Reducing energy consumption is a significant challenge that today’s businesses continually face. Energy World noted in a 2014 report (http://ibn.fm/Y7RRu) that, “In the short term, energy efficiency is the best way to address the rising cost and exploding uncertainty. Perhaps it is the only way.”

Zenergy Brands’ emphasis is furthering energy efficiency for its customers. The company’s unique offering geared to conservation and sustainability is its Zero-Cost Program™. The company equips businesses with the most up-to-date and pioneering energy efficiency technologies (smart controls). As a result, the customer receives considerable economic benefit. Also, this lessens the demand on the nation’s grid and water supply and provides environmental benefits.

SmartMarket Report noted, “Firms have high expectations about the benefits coming from sustainability initiatives, including investments in energy efficiency and other green building efforts. In fact, these expectations are increasing over time…” (http://ibn.fm/pIXYR) (Business Case for Energy Efficient Building Retrofit and Renovation).

Zenergy’s Zero Cost Program™ addresses businesses’ expectations regarding the above. The company’s program is a financing mechanism. As such, it permits customers to lessen water, natural gas and electricity expenses by implementing proven conservation technologies or retrofits.

These retrofits include LED (light-emitting diode) lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) controls and motor controllers. Zenergy Brands’ business solutions also include building automation, efficient water system solutions, efficient EC motor control systems, demand-side management and load factor correction.

Fundamentally, the program works by way of a “services agreement” model. Zenergy substantially decreases a business’s energy consumption, and, with the services agreement, the business continues to pay the same energy supplier as usual but pays less because of reduced energy use.

Zenergy Brands’ Zero Cost Program™ facilitates the upgrade of older, inefficient energy infrastructure. A primary benefit of the program is that it paves the way for businesses to use their cost savings to further their core business initiatives.

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

• New Canadian assets to be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
• Sunniva’s U.S. assets to remain listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the ticker symbol ‘SNN’
• Two-year contract signed with industry leading Canopy Growth Corp. for 45 percent of production at Sunniva Canada Campus in British Columbia
• Sunniva anticipates launching its first line of Sunniva-branded products in the U.S. in Q3 2018

Sunniva Inc. (CSE: SNN) (OTCQX: SNNVF), a vertically integrated medical cannabis company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and operating in the world’s two largest cannabis markets – Canada and California – is reaping positive attention with the news that the company intends to spin off its Canadian assets. The proposal, which would create a new entity listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and Nasdaq, will leave Sunniva’s U.S. assets to trade on the Canadian Stock Exchange, the company announced in a recent press release (http://ibn.fm/9gYmK).

Canadian assets in the proposal, designed to unlock the underlying value of Sunniva’s assets on both sides of the border, include:

• Sunniva Medical Inc., which is building the 740,000 square foot, state-of-the-art greenhouse Sunniva Canada Campus in British Columbia. The facility is designed to produce an estimated 100,000 kilograms of dried cannabis per year (http://ibn.fm/mCKW3). Plans for the facility include the production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products such as oils, capsules, tinctures, patches, lotions and other consumer goods, Sunniva CEO Dr. Anthony Holler told Canada’s Global News in a June 4 interview (http://ibn.fm/Iq68F). Canopy Growth Corporation has already signed an agreement to take-or-pay approximately 45 percent of Sunniva’s annual production capacity there.
• Natural Health Services Ltd. (“NHS”) owns and operates a network of seven patient-centric clinics in Canada specializing in medical cannabis under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. NHS clinics are staffed by physicians, nurses, educators and patient care representatives to provide consultation, medical cannabis education and an introduction to the products and strains available through licensed producers across Canada. NHS recently opened a new clinic in Windsor, Ontario (http://ibn.fm/k40qo).

Remaining listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘SNN’ are the following Sunniva assets:

• CP Logistics, LLC (“CPL”) operates the Sunniva California Campus that is currently under construction in Cathedral City (http://ibn.fm/4gI9g). The 489,000 square feet of purpose-built greenhouse facilities include a flagship onsite dispensary with a distribution license. CPL also operates a licensed extraction facility in Cathedral City, which began operations in June 2018, and has attracted service agreements to manufacture extracted products for significant brand partners in California. Plans include launching the first Sunniva-branded products in the U.S. during Q3 of 2018.
• Full-Scale Distributors, LLC provides custom, private-label vaporizers and accessories to brand partners through the Vapor Connoisseur brand.

The spinout transaction, which is subject to various conditions such as shareholder and exchange approval, has prompted comments such as “an excellent value creation strategy” from Beacon Securities analyst Doug Cooper (http://ibn.fm/xxJwc).

“We believe having unencumbered US assets is very important and frees up the company to aggressively pursue an M&A strategy within the largest cannabis market in the world (California),” the analyst said in an update to clients on Tuesday (http://ibn.fm/A0NRf). “SNN has a current EV of ~$220 million, which neither reflects the true value of the US nor Canadian assets.”

Holler said creating a new Canadian company focused on Sunniva’s Canadian assets is expected to “bring added visibility and additional analyst coverage to our story and has the potential to attract institutional investors that are currently unable to purchase stock on the CSE or purchase companies holding US assets.”

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

• Company presentation: 2018 goals are acquisition of 1,000 customers by August and debut of enhanced paid version of its Gamify slide out app in October
• MKTDF is seeking to become a leader in physical in-store conversions; sees in-store product launch in February 2019
• Strategy is to convert unknown social media followers into identified email subscribers through games and surveys, thereby establishing platform that drives revenue and branding for clients

DeepMarkit Inc. (TSX.V: MKT) (OTCQB: MKTDF) has set a timeline of goals for this year. They include acquiring 1,000 customers, the launch of paid slide out gamification app product Gamify and the debut of its retail conversion tool by year-end, according to its June 2018 investor presentation (http://ibn.fm/UFpX5).

The company plans a second half 2018 launch of its enhanced Gamify paid slide out app from the current free version, available on multiple major ecommerce platforms such as Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP) and BigCommerce, and as a plugin with WordPress. It is also readying the debut of its survey product by year-end, the presentation says. In February 2019, MKTDF is looking to an in-store product launch. It explains that more than 90 percent of all retail sales are still made in physical stores. According to site Retail TouchPoints, some 94 percent of all retail sales remain in-store (http://ibn.fm/1L8zO).

MKTDF is a Calgary, Alberta-based technology company focused on the monetization of gamification. It seeks, through incentivized gaming apps, to convert visitors into loyal customers who confirm their identities as they participate. Increasing the conversion rate by only one percent can double revenue, MKTDF’s presentation says.

The company’s proprietary technology platform is patent-pending, and MKTDF represents the only publicly-listed firm focused on gamification. The concept is to capture, through gamification, individuals who wish to earn prizes and discounts via its branded digital games. This results in the creation of loyal customers and increased branding as visitors are converted. MKTDF offers investors the opportunity to become involved in gamification as a monetized tool for business to generate leads, promote products and drive sales.

The stakes are high. P&S Market Research estimates that the global gamification market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41.8 percent from 2015 to 2022, reaching $22.9 billion. Driving this market are the number of people involved in social sites and the growing penetration of gadgets (http://ibn.fm/6YQcZ). While North America is the largest sector of this market, other regions — notably Southeast Asia — are “likely” to exhibit faster growth during this period, the report says.

Darold Parken, CEO and president of MKTDF, says in a corporate investor video that the company’s markets are international and its ambitions are global (http://ibn.fm/LsaQJ).

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

• EVIO has completed its acquisition of the award-winning MRX Labs in Oregon
• The company signed a five-year lease agreement for a facility in the cannabis cultivation hotbed of Palm Desert, California
• EVIO has announced the filing and receipt of its preliminary non-offering prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada

It’s been a busy summer for leading North American cannabis testing and scientific research provider EVIO Inc. (OTCQB: EVIO), which specializes in providing state-mandated ancillary services to ensure the quality and safety of America’s cannabis supply. The company recently acquired an award-winning testing lab in Oregon, has expanded its California footprint with a five-year lease for a new facility in Palm Desert, California, and has announced the filing and receipt of its preliminary non-offering prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada.

MRX Labs Acquisition

On July 11, EVIO announced the completion of a previously announced acquisition of MRX Labs, an award-winning testing lab based in Oregon. EVIO has acquired 100 percent of MRX Labs’ assets, which include equipment, real estate, customer lists, customer contracts, rental agreements and equipment leases (http://ibn.fm/SCJ1W).

The EVIO Labs Portland facility will be moving its personnel and operation license to what has formerly been the MRX Labs Tigard location. The new lab will operate under the name EVIO Labs Portland. Through this move, EVIO will gain additional operating capacity and add statewide business contacts and customers.

EVIO will build on MRX Labs’ reputation of exceptional customer care and service and will work diligently to make the transition smooth and seamless for MRX Labs’ customers. EVIO will be able to provide clients with the same services they have enjoyed through MRX Labs and will also be better equipped operationally to provide all state-mandated cannabis tests in-house for clients throughout Oregon.

Lease Agreement for Palm Desert Facility

On July 10, EVIO announced the expansion of its California footprint with the signing of a five-year lease agreement for a 7,370-square-foot facility in Palm Desert, California (http://ibn.fm/sarde).

The company’s new facility is located centrally to Desert Hot Springs and Coachella and is strategically positioned among the largest cannabis cultivators in Southern California. Marijuana manufacturing operations are not currently taxed there, due to a prior vote by the Desert Hot Springs City Council, and this has attracted many operators to the area.

Desert Hot Springs was the first Southern California city to legalize large-scale cannabis cultivation—a move that caused the surrounding area to be flooded with marijuana growers and developers. Through the signing of its lease for the new Palm Desert Facility, EVIO has entered this leading hub for powerful players within the cannabis industry, like the Coachella Valley Cannabis Alliance Network, and will benefit from being among business leaders who recognize the economic opportunities cannabis brings.

The facility will provide comprehensive compliance testing services as well as research and development for new marijuana products. California recently imposed a July 1 testing deadline that mandated licensed cannabis retailers to only sell lab-tested products. Because of this, EVIO expects to see a substantial increase in the demand for cannabis testing services, and, in anticipation, the company plans to have the Palm Desert facility operational by fall 2018.

Preliminary Non-Offering Prospectus Filing

EVIO also recently announced the filing and receipt of its preliminary non-offering prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission (http://ibn.fm/DHitI). This filing was a requirement for EVIO to qualify to become a reporting issuer in Ontario, Canada.

Contained in the preliminary prospectus was important information regarding EVIO and its currently issued securities. The preliminary prospectus is subject to amendment, as may be required by the OSC. Once a review has been completed by the OSC and comments provided regarding the preliminary prospectus, EVIO will move forward with filing its non-offering (final) prospectus with the OSC. As soon as EVIO receives the final receipt for the final prospectus, the company will apply to have its common shares listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

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

• Net Element experiencing organic year-over-year growth in all segments
• Total dollars processed for the first six months of 2018 have increased 37 percent over the same period of 2017
• Total transactions processed in the first six months of 2018 have increased to 50.2 million, compared to 35.7 million during the same period of 2017

Global technology and value-added solutions group Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) recently announced significant year-over-year growth in its transaction processing volume (http://ibn.fm/m2sXR).

Net Element’s transaction processing volumes have increased substantially during the first six months of 2018, as compared with the same period of 2017. The total dollars processed by the company between January and June 2018 increased by 37 percent year-over-year, growing from a transaction volume of $1.18 billion during the first six months of 2017 to $1.62 billion during that same time frame in 2018. Net Element’s North America transaction solutions segment has shown the most growth, increasing from $1 billion in the first six months of 2017 to $1.4 billion in 2018 – an increase of 40 percent. This increase has been led by significant growth from the company’s Unified Payments subsidiary. There was a 20 percent increase in international transaction solutions, as well, which grew from $176 million in the first six months of 2017 to $211 million during the same time period this year.

The total transactions processed by Net Element amounted to 50.2 million during the first six months of 2018, up from 35.7 million during the same period of 2017. This was also primarily due to North America transactions, which increased from 20 million to 28.1 million. Total international transactions solutions processed grew from 15 million in the first six months of 2017 to 21 million during the same period of 2018. These results include a reorganization of the company’s mobile payments segment into its international transactions solutions segments. In all segments, growth has been organic.

Net Element’s impressive and ongoing growth across all segments is being driven by the company’s innovative, customer-focused value-added services and products. The company plans to implement measures to ensure continued results from these growth initiatives well into the future.

Net Element also recently announced that independent equity research firm JGR Capital has distributed a research note on the company (http://ibn.fm/IbZ1G). The report highlights developments in Net Element’s Netevia platform and Unified Payments subsidiary; intentions to improve revenue generation by adding a smart solution for secure vendor payments to the Netevia platform; and the intelligent payment solution recently launched by Unified Payments specifically for the multibillion-dollar events industry.

Net Element is a leading global provider of mobile payments and value-added transactional services, delivering market- and industry-specific expertise and solutions and driving growth for its clients by anticipating market changes rather than merely reacting to them. Net Element enables global commerce, focusing on innovative, comprehensive, secure and scalable solutions that allow merchants to streamline their businesses.

At the helm of Net Element is a leadership team composed of industry experts and innovators who each bring a distinctive mixture of vision, leadership, expertise and creative energy to the company.

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

• REFG has focused its cannabis activities on seeking state licenses in Utah and Vermont to grow industrial hemp; earlier, it acquired SpeedyGrow, which is licensed to grow in Colorado
• Vermont is third state where REFG will seek a state license to grow industrial hemp; it acquired 40 acres in Utah and plans to buy land in Vermont, where it anticipates 2019 harvest
• REFG offers online signup for Green, its FinCEN-compliant integrated gateway that creates a comprehensive virtual banking environment for licensed cannabis providers

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) has expanded its focus on the cannabis industry and is planning to apply for its third state license to grow industrial hemp. The company says that it will apply for state licenses in Utah and Vermont after already purchasing one when it bought SpeedyGrow, a Wyoming-based firm licensed to grow and process hemp in Colorado (http://ibn.fm/PfsLS).

REFG is a Nevada corporation that has online signup for Green, its financial processing system that creates a cashless financial system for licensed dispensaries and cannabis merchants who are underserved by traditional banks. REFG is now also an expanding state-licensed grower and processor of industrial hemp. The company serves as a first tier payment processor, with its Green platform designed to process transactions by licensed cannabis dispensaries and merchants (http://ibn.fm/0Ze3k).

REFG is looking at multiple properties in Vermont for growing industrial hemp, and it plans to apply and register with Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets. Growers must pay an annual fee and conform to various farming statutes.

In a news release, Jeremy Roberts, CEO of REFG, said, “While we are fully committed to our solution to the banking and financial transaction problems in the state sanctioned marijuana industry, we are pleased thus far with our diversification into CBD extraction. With the recent approval of a CBD based medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Agency’s recent clarification, we believe this emerging market is an important focus for our company.” He added that many company stockholders had requested that REFG expand its footprint, and this decision was made in direct response to those petitions. Roberts termed the action “an exciting step” for the company.

REFG previously acquired 40 acres of land to grow hemp in Utah and plans to seek a state license under that state’s recently passed H.B. 302. If approved, that license will enable the company to grow industrial hemp as part of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Food licensing program (http://ibn.fm/iiZwk). These activities, along with its acquisition of SpeedyGrow, represent an expansion by REFG into the state-sanctioned cannabis space (http://ibn.fm/YABPZ).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Take.Green

• Cardiovascular diseases are costing the U.S. $1 billion per day in medical fees and productivity losses
• The number of heart attacks is increasing on an annual basis, highlighting the importance of early detection technology
• Zenosense is developing a handheld device that could significantly lower cardiovascular-related death rate and associated medical costs by enabling swift, accurate diagnostic

Health care technology company Zenosense, Inc. (OTC: ZENO) has announced the successful completion of a second round of testing for its MIDS Cardiac™ detection technology – a handheld system designed to rapidly test for certain cardiac biomarkers at the point of care, saving medical personnel crucial time in time-sensitive situations.

Diagnostic devices play a major role in the growth and expansion of the medical technology sector (http://ibn.fm/13GIN). Under development by the company’s MIDS Medical Limited (“MML”) joint venture based at the prestigious Sci-Tech Daresbury campus in the United Kingdom, MIDS Cardiac is a patented handheld POC technology for the detection of heart attack. It is designed to help medical staff rapidly diagnose heart attack at an early stage and improve treatment and patient outcomes. Through the early detection of certain cardiac event biomarkers, MIDS Cardiac is expected to significantly accelerate the triage, diagnosis, treatment and disposition of patients reporting chest pain suspected as symptomatic of a heart attack.

In a news release announcing breakthrough quantitative testing results (http://ibn.fm/UMiEP), Zenosense reported revisions and improvements to the core MIDS technology’s sensor electronics, materially improving on previous electronics testing results announced in 2017. In addition, the sensitivity of the MIDS technology electronics has been nearly doubled.

In 2017, the first next generation troponin assay for the early detection of heart attacks was approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. High sensitivity (HS) troponin assays have long been in use in the rest of the world. Such assays have to be performed on state of the art lab analyzers that are incredibly expensive. The aim of Zenosense is to deliver a handheld device capable of detecting and measuring diagnostic assay beads to support HS troponin assays in the emergency room and clinical settings. Such handheld devices will also prove to be invaluable for the work of paramedics on the go. As a part of the 2018 testing, Zenosense has managed to improve MIDS technology electronics and carry out independent third-party verification of bead numbers.

In a news release, MML managing director and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Nasser Djennati noted that the project is hugely challenging. “The results of this second round of testing are quite extraordinary, as magnetic detection at this level for this application is unheard of,” he added. The next key step in the development of the technology will be testing microfluidic detection on the revised electronic platform.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the Western world. Approximately 610,000 people in the U.S. die of heart disease every single year (http://ibn.fm/4mYXf) – one in four deaths in the country. Nearly 735,000 Americans have a heart attack each year. Cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes, costs America nearly $1 billion a day in medical fees and lost productivity, according to a CDC Foundation study (http://ibn.fm/Ag7cE). Annual medical costs related with cardiovascular diseases are likely to reach $818 billion, while productivity losses could go over $275 billion by 2030, the same study shows.

According to the World Health Organization, early detection is one of the most important prerequisites for the successful management of cardiovascular problems.

With detection equal or superior to state of the art laboratory analyzers and advanced portability allowing it to be used at point of care, including in an emergency setting, MIDS Cardiac™ would be an absolute game changer which could help save lives and money by enabling a swift diagnosis with previously unheard of accuracy at the point of care (http://ibn.fm/GxOTH).

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