• CIIX will offer Bitcoin Trading Academy LLC courses on the website to educate its global Chinese-speaking audience on investing in and buying virtual currency
• NewCoins168.com Digital Media Technology Ltd. is a Shanghai-based, wholly owned foreign enterprise of CIIX designed to expand company’s education programs into China
• CIIX initiates VIP Service on the site at pre-sale price of $888 annually

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is increasingly focused on bolstering its leadership role for its global Chinese-speaking audience as producer and educator about global news regarding bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology through its website, NewCoins168.com. It has also launched a paid VIP Service on the site and expanded it into China.

CIIX already has online editorial reporters in New York and Los Angeles and plans to add a total of 10-15 more editors in China at the Shanghai subsidiary to provide 24/7 coverage of the industry, announced Warren Wang, CEO of CIIX (http://ibn.fm/hwdy3). The foreign enterprise, NewCoins168.com Digital Media Technology Ltd. (Shanghai), is located in the China Free Trade Zone.

“The Chinese website is intended to provide entry-level cryptocurrency and blockchain technology information,” Wang said in a news release. “In addition, the company plans to launch a mobile app that will provide timely, 24/7 news and analysis covering cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for the global Chinese community.”

The NewCoins168.com website offers worldwide news of cryptocurrency trading, ICOs, quotes, tutorials and strategies for investing. It also has online registration for paid subscribers to its VIP service, which offers lectures on ICO speculation, long-term trading, options and other subjects.

The company has a comprehensive suite of manufacturing and educational businesses in the cryptocurrency market. It hosts a Bitcoin ATM in the lobby of its San Gabriel, California, headquarters. It also operates a blockchain mining facility with AntMiners and ASIC machines in a secure data center near Seattle, Washington. CIIX broadcasts a daily video from the NYSE titled, ‘Bitcoin MultiMillionaire’, and it has now added VIP Services at $888 annually on its site and expanded it into China. The Bitcoin Trading Academy LLC will offer paid courses on the website.

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

• Zenergy helps clients reduce their utility costs by up to 60 percent
• Company’s Zero Cost Program enables the installation of upgraded retrofit conservation and efficiency equipment with no out-of-pocket cost to the customer
• To date, the Zero Cost Program has saved more than one million gallons of water and prevented more than 13 million pounds of CO2 emissions

Energy conservation is an undeniably important topic in today’s world. In the United States, which is one of the world’s top energy consumers, the conservation-boosting products and services of companies like Zenergy Brands, Inc. (OTCQB: ZNGY) are vital – from both economic and environmental standpoints.

Zenergy is a pioneering energy and technology company that operates within the smart energy, conservation and utilities industries, delivering retail energy, energy conservation, smart controls and efficiency-based products and services that are tailored to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal end-use customers. A core specialty of Zenergy is reducing utility expenses – including electricity, water and natural gas – and the company is able to help its clients cut these expenses by as much 60 percent. These cost savings are accomplished through Zenergy’s Zero Cost Program, and the resulting environmental benefits are even more staggering than the financial perks.

The Zero Cost Program is a financing program that enables customers to use Zenergy’s upgraded retrofit equipment – such as smart controls, LED lighting solutions, building automation, efficient water systems, refrigeration optimization, load factor correction, demand-side management and EC motor controls – to reduce their utility expenses. The equipment is supplied and installed at no out-of-pocket cost to the customer but is financed through a Managed Energy Services Agreement (MESA). In exchange, Zenergy retains a portion of the resulting utility savings until the end of a specified repayment period. Once that period concludes, the client can reap the full financial benefits of the installed technologies.

Each time a Zero Cost contract is initiated, Zenergy completes an industry best practices analysis to ascertain the environmental impact for that customer contract.

This program not only saves customers money; it also helps them achieve their sustainability goals and results in a reduction of damaging carbon emissions. Through this program, to date, Zenergy has helped avoid the generation of more than 13 million pounds of CO2 emissions, has saved more than one million gallons of water and has prevented the use of more than six million pounds of coal and more than 700,000 gallons of gas. The company equates the amount of carbon that has been sequestered to approximately 161,269 tree seedlings grown over a decade.

Zenergy’s mission is to enrich businesses through responsible use and management of energy, as well as to increase customers’ enterprise value and bottom lines, build a portfolio of lifelong clients, substantially reduce America’s carbon footprint, and significantly reduce demand on the energy grid and water supply in the United States.

For more information, visit the company’s websites at www.ZenergyBrands.com and www.WhatisZenergy.com

• Company selected and broke ground on a 126-acre site in Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, to build its planned 700,000 square foot Sunniva Canada Campus
• Company commences extraction production, expected to produce 500 pounds per day of bio mass at California facility
• 489,000-square-foot California facilities to complement its planned 700,000-square-foot facilities in Canada
• Canadian product outlets include supply agreement with Canopy Growth Corp. and patients at acquired Canadian medical cannabis clinics

Rising medical cannabis products and services provider Sunniva Inc. (CSE: SNN) (OTCQX: SNNVF) issued a report on April 30 detailing its financial results from fiscal year 2017 (http://ibn.fm/xpp8x). This update arrived on the back of month-long successes, including a bought deal public offering of C$27.8 million, selection of its 126-acre Canadian campus, reception of temporary licensing for the state-of-the-art greenhouse cultivation facilities in Cathedral City, California, and news that President Donald Trump’s administration expects to sustain state-based marijuana legalization efforts in the United States (http://ibn.fm/v8SGi).

An earnings call on May 1 highlighted that Sunniva began extraction production at the California APL facility in April following the company’s first year of revenue generation through its acquisitions of Canadian medical cannabis clinic network Natural Health Services (NHS), which has more than 95,000 registered active patients, and vaporizer subsidiary Full-Scale Distributors, LLC, which operates as the Vapor Connoisseur brand.

“Our goal is to become a low-cost, high-quality, large-scale producer and manufacturer of medical-grade cannabis products,” Sunniva CEO Anthony Holler said during the conference call. “We intend to accomplish this by building large-scale, purpose-built, Good Manufacturing compliant greenhouse facilities. These facilities will incorporate the latest technologies for environmental control and automation, which will allow us to have consistency in production. … As a management team, we remain committed in our focus on execution to support our business strategy and to deliver shareholder value.”

The California extraction facility is expected to process 500 pounds per day of bio mass for cannabinoid extraction, Holler said, and the company expects related revenue generation to begin in May as it negotiates contracts with a variety of cannabis industry brands for cannabis oil, capsules, sprays, tinctures and creams, as well as custom-made vaporization cartridges. Production of premium cannabis at the Sunniva Campus is expected to increase from a rate of 60,000 kilograms annually to about 100,000 kilograms annually, once phase II is complete.

The California APL extraction facility joins phase I of Sunniva’s in-development 325,000 square foot greenhouse and its planned 700,000 square foot greenhouses slated for its Canada Campus, which is in the final review stage for a license from Health Canada.  The company announced on May 3 that it has selected and broke ground on the 126-acre Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, site to build its Sunniva Canada Campus.  The campus has an overall estimated project budget of approximately C$120 million, which does not include the purchase or lease cost of the land that will underlie the facility (http://ibn.fm/UDm70).

“In California, we have significant first-mover advantage. We will be the first operational large-scale facility producing pharmaceutical-grade cannabis free of pesticides and other harmful contaminants,” Holler said, adding that current estimates peg some 85 percent of California’s cannabis products with contaminants, including pesticides.

“There is currently very little compliant supply. Obviously, that gives us a significant advantage,” Holler added. “That’s led to discussions with major distributors and major brands in California. … What some of these groups are finding is, they’re getting their product from somewhere; they’re assuming it’s compliant, and then it turns out not to be.”

Holler estimated that the cost of production in California will be below $1 per gram once the facility is fully operation, “as we realize the significant economies of scale, utilizing the energy of the sun and our largely automated climate-controlled facility.”

Sunniva’s wholly owned subsidiary, NHS, has agreements with 27 licensed producers in Canada, and its acquisition of a growing number of NHS clinics provides the company with a steady stream of clients for its cannabinoid products. In addition to its agreement with another licensed producer (LP), Sunniva will produce its own brand for market but plans to remain “agnostic” in terms of brand preference for patients at the clinics, Holler said, noting that the expected number of medical cannabis clients is expected to outpace Sunniva’s own brand production rate.

A significant development in terms of the supply agreement came in February, when Canadian LP Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF) entered into a definitive agreement with Sunniva to purchase, through Sunniva’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sunniva Medical Inc., 45,000 kilograms of premium quality cannabis each year beginning with a two-year period that commences in the first quarter of 2019.

Sunniva’s U.S. subsidiary holds eight 10,000-square-foot cultivation licenses, two manufacturing licenses, one 22,000 square foot cultivation license, one 22,000 square foot nursery license and one 10,000 square foot nursery license. The company will also lease seven 22,000 square foot cultivation bays to its selected licensed tenants (http://ibn.fm/CGds2).

Sunniva began trading publicly on the Canadian Securities Exchange in January and the U.S. OTCQX Market in February. During 2017, the company reported C$16.1 million in revenues, two-thirds of which came from the NHS clinics, according to the April 30 financial report. The company noted an overall net loss of C$18.5 million as it dealt primarily with expenses related to its growth, including the acquisition of NHS and FSD. The company also reported that deferred revenue to help offset those expenses increased to $0.7 million, primarily resulting from customer deposits on sales of merchandise.

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

• Cannabis industry expected to generate over $20 billion in nationwide revenue by 2020
• About 14 percent of California cities permit cannabis stores; secure distribution could extend accessibility
• TransCanna establishing distribution hub, connecting growers to manufacturers and clients

The legalization of recreational marijuana use in California has blown open the market potential of a drug industry that continues to enjoy a love-hate tentativeness nationwide, but being at the forefront of an industry’s acceptance also puts the state in a position of having to solve many of the infrastructure problems that the market needs to overcome if it is going to thrive. TransCanna is focused on helping marijuana producers surmount the difficulties of getting their product to consumers in the developing marketplace through a strategic distribution network that draws on the company’s decades of sales leadership experience.

“Branding, transportation and distribution in the cannabis industry is currently in a state of disarray. An industry that’s expected to generate over $20 billion in revenue nationwide by 2020 is currently operated similar to the traveling salesman selling his elixirs in the 1800s. Like many aspects of the cannabis business it is in need of professionalization,” the company’s website states.

TransCanna offers marketing and is in the process of building a distribution and transportation network to enable every aspect of the cannabis-related ecosystem, including branding, distribution and sales advising. The British Columbia, Canada-based company has received a local transportation and distribution permit in California, the largest potential recreational marijuana market in the United States, and is creating a distribution network throughout the state that will establish operating facilities so that any potential client will be no more than a three-hour drive away. As TransCanna buys or leases the properly permitted warehouse locations, it will also be building a fleet of secured vehicles for transportation.

Months after California legalized marijuana’s recreational use and years after medicinal use of the cannabis plant became accepted in the state, only one out of every seven cities statewide allow recreational cannabis stores, and less than one in three cities (144 out of 482) allow any other type of cannabis business, according to an analysis by The Mercury News (http://ibn.fm/AKaf1). Less than one in five California cities even allow medical marijuana dispensaries, even though medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996, the report states.

A statewide-authorized distribution network could help potential clients hoping to avoid black market concerns push through the challenges posed by municipalities reluctant to license businesses locally. Although large sectors of the state where legislation bars the sale of marijuana, known as ‘pot deserts’, currently exist, a senator introduced a bill in February that would allow licensed companies to deliver marijuana anywhere in the state, even if local facilities don’t exist there, according to the Sacramento Bee (http://ibn.fm/L53eJ). The legislation was receiving time for discussion in early May.

In the meantime, transporting cannabis products in California remains extremely challenging because of the patchwork of local and state regulations, and companies regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation are barred from playing a role because cannabis sales remain illegal under federal law. TransCanna’s distribution permit issued by the city of Adelanto gives it a leg up, and the company has entered into an Intellectual Property Rights and Royalty Agreement for the Track & Trace software platform required by the state. The company has also completed a land agreement to build a 10,000-square-foot hub for transportation and distribution in Adelanto.

TransCanna facilitates introductions between growers and corporate manufacturers, vetting clients for quality and scalability and then marketing them to outlets accessible to California consumers, and the company plans to build its own reliable product brand for the cannabis and hemp industries. These efforts, as well as its early work toward developing the transportation infrastructure arena, demonstrate TransCanna’s commitment to the California cannabis consumer.

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

• Initial offering focused on cricket, a global sport with 2.5 billion fans
• Developed through a joint business agreement with DevLex, product release is anticipated in Q2 2018
• Consorteum also focused on deployment of its proprietary technology to the online gaming industry, which is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2022

Through a joint business agreement with DevLex Ltd., Consorteum Holdings, Inc. (OTC: CSRH) announced on April 2, 2018, that it aims to release its first predictive data analytics mobile offering, dedicated to the game of cricket, during the second quarter of 2018 (http://ibn.fm/cAjXm). This will be released worldwide via Consorteum’s wholly owned subsidiary, 359 Mobile Inc., using the company’s proprietary Universal Mobile Interface™ (UMI) for the distribution of the Edgelytics™ Predictive Analytics Platform. Edgelytics enables the development of real-time analytics and predictive analytics for deployment to mobile devices. Following the release of this product, Consorteum intends to extend its Edgelytics offering to other sports in the future.

Cricket is the second most popular global sport after soccer. Originating in the United Kingdom, cricket has around 2.5 billion fans across the world, including a massive following in India (http://ibn.fm/0C4AW). It is also a hugely popular sport in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and many other countries. Edgelytics Cricket offers users of mobile devices access to extensive historical data combined with real-time updates on cricket games, teams and players.

Consorteum focuses its efforts on software development and solutions for the delivery of digital offerings to mobile devices. This includes delivery of mobile content and mobile payment solutions. The company’s UMI technology supports fully regulated, regionally compliant financial and social transactions via mobile and web. It has the capacity to deliver solutions in various sectors, including fintech, data analytics, secure payment processing and compliance lead transaction management. The UMI platform enables the development of a cross operating system to support all mobile devices, while satisfying the complex, highly regulated needs of the mobile fintech sector.

The development team at 359 Mobile has created an end-to-end fintech solution using the UMI technology platform to overcome the poor mobile application and transaction solutions currently experienced by users. Consorteum believes that 359 Mobile’s innovative development initiatives will present opportunities for other partnerships and joint ventures in many different market sectors in the future.

The company is currently focused on developing and delivering fintech solutions to the mobile gaming industry. According to a study conducted by Juniper Research, the online gaming market is forecast to surpass $1 trillion by 2022 (http://ibn.fm/1WQdg). The majority of this growth will be driven by mobile devices, which provide a rapidly growing market for the deployment of Consorteum’s UMI platform. The company believes that there will be new opportunities in the gaming sector to provide mobile marketing services to consumers, real-time services to mobile sports book operators, fixed-odds betting solutions and social-based transactions.

Consorteum views the launch of its first mobile predictive analytics product for global cricket fans as an important milestone for the company. Following the announcement of the product’s intended release, Craig Fielding, CEO of Consorteum, said, “An extraordinary amount of work by a dedicated team has gone into not only the technological building of the Edgelytics platform, but also into the creation and continual update of the massive statistical database required to support this innovative tool.”

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

• IEG Holdings Corp. will now be known as Mr. Amazing Loans Corp. to align identity with consumer brand
• Company revenues expected to quadruple by 2020 based on accessible loan model
• Ties to cryptocurrency firm could herald avenue for blockchain use in foreign loans

Mr. Amazing Loans Corp. (OTCQB: MRAL) announced on May 3 that it is the new corporate identity for what formerly had been IEG Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: IEGH) (http://ibn.fm/x2Ad6). The change, effective April 30, aligns the fintech company’s brand with the consumer loans portal ‘Mr. Amazing Loans’, by which it is best known, and follows immediately on the heels of an entitlement offer for IEG Holdings’ share owners interested in owning shares in cryptocurrency Investment Evolution Coin Ltd. (“IEC Ltd”), a company expected to launch this month that is managed by the CEO of Mr. Amazing Loans.

Mr. Amazing Loans is focusing its attention on advancing its accessible online loan model to assist the underbanked household market in obtaining short-term financial assistance. Mr. Amazing Loans’ model provides people with financial help at interest rates comparable to credit card companies’ loan costs of between 12 and 29.9 percent of the loan fixed throughout the duration of the five-year repayment cycle, well below the payday loan rates identified by the Center for Responsible Lending as ranging from 391 percent to 521 percent of the loan (http://ibn.fm/NiQro).

The loans are $5,000 and $10,000 unsecured offerings to consumers. They are delivered to clients rapidly and don’t have pre-payment penalties or hidden fees. The company is licensed and/or holds certificates of authority in 20 states coast-to-coast, with plans to gain approval in at least five more states in order to potentially capture about 75 percent of the nation’s potential market of 240 million people.

Also in January, analysts at ACF Equity Research predicted that Mr. Amazing Loans’ revenues will quadruple during the next few years (http://ibn.fm/E73tD), growing to $5.33 million by 2019 and $8.23 million by 2020. Mr. Amazing Loans has the added security that comes with being debt-free, although a profit-sharing agreement through August 2025 will affect the amount of its retained revenues.

The company also continues to explore how blockchain technology might be adapted into its model. The IEC Ltd. cryptocurrency shares offering serves as an early foray into that arena, as the cryptocurrency is planned to assist foreign-working Philippines expatriates in sending money home to loved ones. A study by Juniper Research predicts that, by 2021, migrant workers will internationally transfer more than $300 billion, up from an estimated $225 billion this year (http://ibn.fm/3OtGE). The research also foresees the market share of digital-only money transfer operators increasing as blockchain technology evolves and employs its security features to undergird transaction settlements.

“We believe potentially combining the exciting new blockchain technology with a leading sophisticated online consumer finance system, individual US state lending licenses and exposure to the Philippines $28 billion OFW (overseas foreign worker) remittance sector is a very exciting proposition,” CEO Paul Mathieson stated via a March news release (http://ibn.fm/CiwWk).

For more information, visit the company’s investor relations website at https://ir.mramazingloans.com

• Net Element specializes in mobile payments and value-added transactional services
• The company supports electronic payments acceptance in a multi-channel environment
• Net Element recently announced that its PayOnline subsidiary is partnering with Bank Sputnik

Payment processor Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) specializes in mobile payments and value-added transactional services. A worldwide technology-driven group, the company provides its platform for small to medium enterprises (SME) in the United States and select developing markets. On Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500™, Net Element was ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in North America.

The company supports electronic payments acceptance in a multi-channel environment, including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile devices. Net Element has positioned itself strategically for growth in emerging countries and the U.S.

Net Element recently announced that its PayOnline subsidiary is partnering with Bank Sputnik to offer a complete multi-channel payment facilitator solution (http://ibn.fm/aQv8uv). This solution is for SMB (small and midsize business) merchants in the Russian Federation. Established in 1990, Bank Sputnik is a global bank that provides a comprehensive range of banking services to legal entities and individuals.

Of note is that this payment solution expands PayOnline’s offerings beyond electronic commerce. Moreover, this payment facilitator solution provides a suite of tools not available from any other transaction processing company in the region.

Net Element, by partnering with Bank Sputnik, is at the vanguard of a new operating paradigm in the payment processing industry. Capgemini highlights this paradigm in its report, ‘Top 10 Trends in Payments 2018: What You Need to Know’ (http://ibn.fm/wwiJp). It states, “Banks run the risk of losing market share unless they adapt and change their operating model and become part of the new collaborative payments ecosystem.”

Innovative service offerings, such as the above, should continue to drive growth for Net Element. The company reported 2017 full year revenues of $60.1 million. This represents an increase of roughly 11 percent over its 2016 revenues of $54.3 million. Net Element’s revenue increase in 2017 was significantly driven by its North America Transactions Solutions division.

Net Element’s PayOnline features customizable payment flows. It also features a full-stack Application Programming Interface and value-added solutions. Additionally, PayOnline provisions a single, master merchant identification. As a result, it ensures that merchants and their clients benefit from an automated, real-time and seamless onboarding experience.

In a news release, Andrey Krotov, Net Element’s chief technology officer, stated, “PayOnline exceeds the unique needs of software platforms and merchants looking to enable payments in a multi-channel environment.”

Net Element’s global business strategy is to take advantage of its omni-channel platform. This is to deliver flexible offerings to developing markets with varied banking, regulatory and demographic conditions. In the United States, one way the company is working to grow transactional revenue is through innovating SME productivity services employing blockchain technology solutions.

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

• Hydrocarbons projected to continue supplying world’s energy needs in near future
• U.S. oil sands & shale reserves estimated at two trillion barrels
• Extraction technology could play vital role in U.S. oil sands & shale industry

The days when the U.S. economy depended on Middle Eastern oil are history. Now, just 17 percent of the approximately 10.1 million barrels per day (MMb/d) of petroleum imported comes from the Persian Gulf, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (http://ibn.fm/W27Sd). Although still a net importer, the U.S. in recent years has become a large supplier as well, exporting about 6.3 MMb/d of petroleum products to 180 countries. U.S. oil shale production now exceeds 10 million barrels a day. Indeed, U.S. oil shale reserves are estimated to be around two trillion barrels, about as much as conventional oil reserves worldwide. That gives Petroteq Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PQE) (OTC: PQEFF) a lot of scope in the coming years. The company does not drill for oil, but rather has developed patented technology to extract bitumen (crude oil) from oil sands and shale, crucial methodology that could unlock the trillion barrels of oil buried in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The technology is being readied for application at its Asphalt Ridge facility in Utah.

Petroteq Energy Inc. has developed its environmentally safe, continuous flow, closed loop technology (a first in North America… and probably in the world) to extract bitumen oil from oil sands. The technology, which depends on a patented solvent/surfactant and produces no greenhouse gases, is the result of almost five years of research by Petroteq’s research and engineering teams, led by the company’s chief technology officer, Dr. Vladimir Podlipskiy. It can be effectively applied to both “water-wet” deposits, such as the oil sands projects in Alberta, Canada, and in the 20 or so countries with oil sands, as well as the “oil-wet” deposits found in Utah, where Petroteq is operating.

In a recent interview with industry journal Oilman, Dr. Raymond Gerald Bailey, president of Petroteq Energy Inc., discussed developments in the oil recovery and alternative energy sectors (http://ibn.fm/f12LO). He noted that present oil prices, which are approaching $70 a barrel, signal good things ahead for the industry. Although he expects to see alternative energy sources enter the supply chain, he is ‘not of the opinion that they will replace hydrocarbons anytime soon.’

Developing alternative sources of energy such as wind are still in the formative stages and require huge amounts of investment in infrastructure. Investors, he said, would much rather “invest in work: production, transportation, and refining. They don’t want to invest in infrastructure, because it is expensive, and the ROI takes a long time to pay back.” The world, he said, “is set up to run on hydrocarbons.” Moreover, hydrocarbons are still the most cost efficient sources of energy production.

However, making a distinction between alternative sources and alternative technologies, Dr. Bailey says that his lack of enthusiasm for non-hydrocarbon sources of energy does not extend to new technologies, like blockchain, which his company is fervently supporting. In collaboration with First Bitcoin Capital Corp., Petroteq is developing a blockchain technology called PetroBloq, which addresses some of the administrative challenges faced by oil and gas operators, particularly those pertaining to logistics and supply.

Dr. Bailey is acutely aware of those challenges, having served as president of Exxon’s Arabian Gulf operations. He has more than 50 years’ experience in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, upstream and downstream, onshore and offshore, and has served on numerous energy company executive boards.

Petroteq is cleaning up its balance sheet as its development efforts continue. The company recently announced its entry entered into three share-for-debt agreements (http://ibn.fm/okUGD). The debt for equity swaps will not only conserve cash but also significantly reduce enterprise risk.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Petroteq.energy

• Legalization set to compound cannabis logistical challenges
• Build-out of state-wide cannabis distribution network
• State-compliant cannabis track & trace software good to go

If it’s true that an army marches on its stomach (an aphorism attributed to both Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte), that observation goes to show how highly some of history’s most renowned leaders regarded an efficient logistics operation. When asked what a soldier needed most in war, Napoleon was in no doubt that it was ‘a full belly and a good pair of shoes’. ‘A good pair of shoes’ gets your forces into action in a timely fashion, while ‘a full belly’ gives them the energy to do so. As in war, so in business, as logistics giant Amazon has proven. Finished products, particularly perishables, sitting in a warehouse are really finished, if they can’t get to market quickly. Now that California’s cannabis market has expanded with the legalization of adult recreational use, the logistical challenges of getting product to point-of-sale have become formidable. The market is projected to reach $5.1 billion in 2019. TransCanna plans to seize this commercial opportunity. The company will help cannabis suppliers get their products to market. To do so, it is setting up a distribution network throughout California to serve the state’s billion-dollar cannabis industry.

Since California’s adult recreational market debuted on January 1, 2018, sales of cannabis products have been moving along at a healthy pace, albeit less than state projections. ‘In the first two months of cannabis legalization, consumers bought an estimated $339 million worth of marijuana products from retailers in California’, according to a report in the Sacramento Bee (http://ibn.fm/WDjYh). Extrapolating these numbers means market size for the first full year after legalization would reach $2.4 billion. However, ‘BDS Analytics estimates sales of cannabis to hit $3.7 billion by the end of 2018 alone, and predict that number will increase to $5.1 billion in 2019 as more dispensaries come online’. By comparison, in 2017, beer sales in California were around $5 billion. Transporting all of this cannabis is starting to look like a weighty proposition.

Current wholesale prices hover around $1,400 per pound. The U.S. Cannabis Spot Index, maintained by Cannabis Benchmarks, was at $1,331 per pound on April 13, 2018, with prices set to rise (http://ibn.fm/1DNg0). The price for delivery in May is $1,425 per pound. That seven percent monthly jump in the index could be just a blip. However, it may be a sign that, already, cracks in the current logistical system are starting to appear. At an average of $1,400 per pound, getting $3.7 billion of cannabis to customers means delivering 2.6 billion pounds of product to hundreds of retailers. In February 2018, more than 6,000 dispensaries and delivery services located in California were listed on Weedmaps, in addition to the 580 state-licensed dispensary and delivery companies. Weedmaps is an online platform for anyone with an interest in marijuana that has been referred to as a Yelp for cannabis.

Logistical complexities in California are intensified by a plethora of local community regulations. Despite being allowed by state law, cannabis sales can be prohibited by local jurisdictions. So far, just one-third of California’s cities have allowed retail sales. For those that have, retail operations must be compliant with state imposed regulations. As a result, TransCanna has entered into an Intellectual Property Rights and Royalty Agreement for the Track & Trace software platform required by the state of California. It has received a transportation and distribution permit from the city of Adelanto, and the company has also executed a land lease to build a 10,000 square foot transportation and distribution facility in Adelanto.

For more information, please visit http://ibn.fm/TransCanna

• Record 20.5 million people in the U.S. were involved in direct selling in 2016, a 1.5 percent increase from the previous year, with $35.54 billion in direct retail sales
• Collaborative economy and growth of social media platforms bringing diversity, empowerment to direct selling companies and entrepreneurs
• Global direct selling industry generated about $182 billion in 2016, with wellness products snapping up 35 percent of direct retail sales

From its headquarters in Plano, Texas, diversified holding company Sharing Services Inc. (OTC: SHRV) offers an international perspective for entrepreneurs everywhere hoping to master the art of network marketing and direct selling. Sharing Services owns, operates or has a controlling interest in a range of companies in the health and wellness, energy, technology, training, media, insurance services and travel industries. Sharing Services offers home-based entrepreneurs ample opportunities to meet personal goals, elevate their own businesses and prosper.

The Direct Selling Association states that a record 20.5 million people were involved in direct selling endeavors in the U.S. in 2016, with person-to-person pegged as the top sales strategy employed by direct sellers (http://ibn.fm/tCK4Y). Sharing Services empowers its growing international network of home-based entrepreneurs, known as ‘Elepreneurs’, through its dynamic ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ that focuses on sharing the company’s collective products and services to generate 100 percent organic growth. Sharing Services supports its entrepreneurs and reinforces its message through live seminars and training events that elevate the skills and knowledge needed to empower each member to success.

The direct selling industry is a worldwide phenomenon, with more than $182 billion in sales logged during 2016, a report by Statista reveals (http://ibn.fm/Vq189). Unsurprisingly, wellness products generated a hefty 35 percent of those direct retail sales, with cosmetics and personal care following at 30 percent. Sharing Services is following that trend, as sales in February 2018 topped $1.1 million, buoyed by developments in its health and wellness division (http://ibn.fm/mbg8T).

Sharing Services recently signed a joint venture agreement with Health Wealth & Happiness Limited (“HWH”), a Hong Kong-based company, to deploy the Elepreneurs brand throughout Asia, which is already a leading direct seller market. Statista reports that, in 2016, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan generated more than $46 billion in direct retail sales (http://ibn.fm/wrLIY). The newly formed company will be named ‘Elepreneurs Asia Limited’ and will have marketing and sales rights to China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Papua, New Guinea. A soft launch of the Elepreneur program is scheduled for some time later in 2018, with HWH CEP Fai Chan and his team leading the effort.

To learn more about Sharing Services, Inc., visit www.SharingServicesInc.com or call Investor Relations at (714) 203-6717.