The rise of the sharing economy model and gig economy, empowered by mobile IT and big data, has rapidly transformed an antiquated labor market, where the average independent worker often ended up dependent on temp agencies (which aggregated this labor pool) in order to find employment. However, this evolution of the labor market has come with legal pitfalls, stemming from companies wanting to categorize workers as independent contractors, instead of as employees, and thereby avoiding benefit entitlements like unemployment insurance and minimum-wage protections that are stipulated under state labor laws. This is a problem to which sector innovator ShiftPixy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PIXY) believes it has the answer, in the form of a new hybridized model where workers are treated as full-time employees of ShiftPixy, who are then lent out to clients on an independent contractor basis.

According to recent analysis by TurboTax owner Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU), which has been witnessing the growth of the gig economy via its own earnings, the broader freelancer labor market now makes up 34 percent of the workforce and is on track to hit 43 percent by 2020 (http://dtn.fm/9kKC4). While we won’t see U.S. Labor Department data until next year on the freelance labor market, the Intuit research project conducted with Emergent Research indicates there are around four million quintessential gig workers, and that the number is likely to grow to 7.7 million by 2020.

Needless to say, ShiftPixy’s disruptive new hybrid worker classification model is perfectly timed to capture this projected growth, resolving the complications that have led sector juggernauts like Uber to face repeated litigation. Last year, Uber reached a landmark $100 million settlement to two class action lawsuits in California and Massachusetts over the status of its drivers as independent contractors (http://dtn.fm/KS0hb).

GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) also faced litigation last year over these same issues with its delivery drivers (http://dtn.fm/4txoV), and the specter of such litigation still looms large for the industry, despite recent victories like the one in Florida (http://dtn.fm/Prip3), where an appeals court upheld the state governor’s decision that Uber drivers are independent contractors. Uber’s $68.5 billion valuation, backed by strategic investors like General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), was recently pegged at just $50 billion by secondary shareholders (http://dtn.fm/7HSaW). This decline has opened the door to up and comers like Lyft, which has backing from the likes of Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ: IEP) and KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR), as well as Chinese companies Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (OTC: TCEHY).

The recently launched ShiftPixy mobile app (http://dtn.fm/Evv2v) allows the company’s employees, which it calls “shifters,” to access and select shifts in real-time from the pool of broadcasted open shifts on the ShiftPixy Shifter Network. This offers shifters an all new level of free agency as workers, while streamlining the overall process for business operators who have open shifts they need to fill by giving them real-time access to a wealth of fully-vetted and available shifter candidates. Moreover, this immensely powerful recruiting and scheduling platform tracks and communicates with fixed and flex staff, and it does so within an environment designed from the ground up to be compliance-driven. Accurate and simple pay management from the ShiftPixy platform, which adapts to most time and attendance systems, allows business operators to handle reporting and compliance without failure while enabling the fine tuning of escalating worker compensation costs.

ShiftPixy is basically the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you have unprecedented freedom for shift workers who get to be classed as full-time employees, and, on the other, you have a pre-verified ecosystem of candidates for worksite employers, so long as they are part of the ShiftPixy universe. ShiftPixy’s co-founder and CEO, Scott Absher, noted at the time of the app launch that the automation provided by ShiftPixy’s platform not only makes the worker onboarding process extremely simple and paperless; it also acts as a secure personal gateway for shifters to manage all of their employment data.

Perhaps signifying how ShiftPixy’s human capital management (HCM) platform is rebooting the temp worker and developing into a truly 21st century hub for workers and business operators alike, the company recently announced the opening of its first regional office in New York City’s historic Grand Central Station (http://dtn.fm/8sRSI). This move plants an unambiguous ShiftPixy flag on the 56 million-plus Northeast region, which is one of the mostly densely populated and important regions to consider when studying the rapidly expanding contingent workforce. Seen as a crucial market by management, New York City’s always-on, 24-hour nature, as well as the size of its leisure and hospitality industries, are inescapable catalysts behind the thriving local gig economy.

ShiftPixy’s uptake will most likely be driven by the sheer ease of use for business operators, who can utilize the platform to easily navigate complex regulatory mandates while minimizing the often daunting administrative burdens associated with shift work staffing in general. ShiftPixy’s comprehensive HCM ecosystem could easily become the standard solution for dealing with regulatory requirements like paid time off laws and Affordable Care Act stipulations, and it has drawn considerable attention from sector analysts since the company’s $12 million IPO in June (http://dtn.fm/aC8tI). Currently trading around $3.71 with a $105 million market cap, ShiftPixy made a good showing at the influential Drexel Hamilton 2017 TMT Conference in early September, where Absher was able to really demonstrate his three decades-plus of organizational development, capital development and employment industry expertise. The de-risked compliance environment will continue to differentiate Irvine, California-headquartered ShiftPixy from other gig economy operators, as the company continues to provide a foundationally pitch-perfect blend of insurance products, regulatory compliance services and proprietary human administration tools to a labor market whose future is still largely up in the air.

You might say that there is a new sheriff in town and that ShiftPixy’s quest to free the contingent worker is a noble crusade, but there is no need for such characterizations when it is clearly a well-timed and heartfelt Uberization aimed at transforming the temp staffing agency and PEO (professional employer organization) space in a way that is meaningful for often marginalized workers. ShiftPixy could become a real boon for unemployed, under-employed, and part-time workers. That potential, in and of itself, is an abundant investment proposal, as it represents significant good will and proactive public relations/marketing of the ShiftPixy brand, which appears to be a genuine solution to the problem of ensuring equitable employment practices in the gig economy.

Human Resources in an app that lets workers find shift gigs which fit into their schedules could be a real game changer for what is a large and growing population of gig economy workers.

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

• Entering largely untapped Chinese CBD skin care market
• Health benefits widely recognized
• Vibrant online marketing campaigns underway

Chinese women, it will be no surprise to learn, are as beauty conscious as their sisters in other countries. For centuries, they have employed a variety of cosmetic embellishments to enhance social status and, perhaps, catch someone’s eye. Lip coloring has been in vogue for at least 1,000 years, and, at some point, the application of powdered rice to lighten skin tone became fashionable. But beauty is more than skin deep, which is perhaps why ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is launching a line of hemp-infused skin care products in China. The cannabinoid content of the line makes these products more than just cosmetics. The health virtues of cannabinoids are now widely accepted.

It’s not always that you’re known by the company you keep. Cannabidiol (CBD), the main active ingredient in CIIX’s new product line up, is, like THC, derived from cannabis sativa, but unlike its notorious associate, it is not psychotropic. Increasingly, it is being recognized to have therapeutic potential. Indeed, at a United States Senate Caucus, pre-clinical research (including both cell culture and animal models) into CBD was said to have shown ‘a range of effects that may be therapeutically useful, including anti-seizure, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-tumor, anti-psychotic, and anti-anxiety properties’ (http://dtn.fm/u78pH). There are already products, like Sativex, that contain CBD, however, there are few directed to skincare, either in the West or in China. As such, this offers CIIX a lucrative opportunity to be a first mover in this space (http://dtn.fm/7bZKp).

It’s an opportunity the company has embraced vigorously. CIIX recently announced that that its wholly owned foreign enterprise, CBD Biotechnology Co. Ltd., had completed the record filing process with the China Food & Drug Administration (CFDA) for its first line of non-industrial hemp-infused skin care products (http://dtn.fm/IfB75). CIIX expects to launch the ‘CBD Magic Hemp Series’ skin care line before the end of the year. The initial ‘CBD Magic Hemp Series’ launch will include:

• The CBD BIOTECH Brightening and Refreshing Moisturizer – intended to balance the skin’s moisture while forming a protective, moisturizing layer
• The CBD BIOTECH Perfecting Shield Primer – intended to even skin tone while covering fine lines and minimizing the look of pores; and
• The CBD BIOTECH Peptide Collagen Solution – intended to moisturize and firm the skin while smoothing fine lines and reducing signs of aging.

CIIX targets mainly Chinese-speaking consumers and operates an online store in the free trade zone of Shanghai, China. The company also recently established, through its wholly owned subsidiary ChineseHempOil.com, Inc., a club-style Hemp Education Center in San Gabriel, California, where it is based, to educate interested parties regarding the potential health benefits of non-industrial hemp and hemp-derived CBD. CIIX also engaged Arizona-based Launch Haus LLC, a specialist in digital direct-to-consumer marketing and product branding, to assist in growing the company’s worldwide sales of hemp-based CBD products.

Moreover in June 2017, CIIX incorporated CBD Biotechnology Inc. in British Columbia, Canada, as part of its efforts to enter the medical marijuana market there. CIIX also plans to launch a Chinese language Yelp-style mobile app for locating dispensaries and discussing cannabis products in the US.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. Message Board

• Research finds that higher levels of the brain chemical GABA can reverse negative effects such as schizophrenia and depression
• Professor Steven Laviolette, who spearheaded the study, hopes that GABA-increasing cannabinoid compounds developed with industrial partners from this research could lead to clinical trials “in the next few years”
• Algae Dynamics Corp. has signed a collaborative agreement with the University of Western Ontario, giving the company the patent rights to any drugs developed as a result of research

Algae Dynamics Corp. (OTCQB: ADYNF) is in a collaboration agreement with the University of Western Ontario (now rebranded as Western University), which is making international news with its recent study in Nature Scientific Reports (http://dtn.fm/rDG0A). The study found that the negative effects on the adolescent brain from chronic use of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-rich marijuana can be reversed by using compounds which increase the amounts of GABA, a chemical and neurotransmitter in the brain.

The article in Nature Scientific Reports is titled “Adolescent THC Exposure Causes Enduring Prefrontal Cortical Disruption of GABAergic Inhibition and Dysregulation of Sub-Cortical Dopamine Function.” The results have been globally reported by Global News, CBC of London, CTV News and UPI.

“What this could mean is that if you are going to be using marijuana, in a recreational or medicinal way, you can potentially combine it with compounds that boost GABA to block the negative effects of THC,” Professor Steven Laviolette of Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry told UPI (http://dtn.fm/Aju1z). Laviolette spearheaded the research study.

Laviolette has focused on the impact of nicotine and opiates and the neurobiology of addiction. He is studying the interface of neurobiology, psychology and emotion by using an integrative combination of behavioral neuropharmacology and vivo neuronal electrophysiology.

THC exposure reduced the GABA in the brain, the study found. GABA regulates hyperactivity in the brain and has been associated with disorders such as schizophrenia. Negative effects developed later in adulthood from use of marijuana with THC include anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Drugs that increase the amount of GABA could then reverse the impact of THC and eliminate the schizophrenia-linked symptoms, the research found.

“We actually went in, and tried to restore the GABA system by activating GABA receptors directly in the prefrontal cortex,” Laviolette said on the Andrew Lawton radio show in Canada (http://dtn.fm/cImw7). “To our amazement, we found that this reversed those schizophrenia-like symptoms,” he added in an interview with CBC London. He explained that the reversal process can still remain effective many years after the exposure.

“What is important about this study is that not only have we developed a specific mechanism in the prefrontal mechanism for some of the mental health risks associated with adolescent marijuana use,” Laviolette told UPI. “But we have also identified a mechanism to reverse those risks.”

More research is needed to learn if boosting GABA levels would have the same results in humans as in rats, but Laviolette said that, to those people with mental health problems, there may be new hope. Laviolette told CTV News, “I think this is really a promising lead in terms of the potential of developing much safer versions of cannabinoid type drugs.”

Global News added that the next step is combining cannabinoid chemicals with compounds to boost the GABA system. The goal would be to determine better treatments for a range of other mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression and addiction.

Laviolette, interviewed on the Lawton Show, explained that there is a need now to “dig further” into this research. The result could be more molecular pathways in the future to formulate pharmaceutical compounds with industrial partners, including the process of conducting clinical trials within the next few years. Compounds using cannabinoids may be developed in the future, he said. Cannabidiol can actually have the opposite effect of THC — negating the impact of THC.

He told Lawton that some ‘black market’ marijuana may contain up to 70% THC. THC can also increase dependency levels, he said. The reversal process may suggest larger treatment issues for schizophrenia, regardless of marijuana or THC use.

Forbes reported (http://dtn.fm/Jk7xH) that another study found that chronic cannabis use can result in blunted stress reactivity. That study observed 40 cannabis users and 42 non-users to complete the stress or no-stress conditions of the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). Saliva samples and cannabis cravings and withdrawal were measured, as part of the study. Results indicated a link between higher stress ratings in non-users. In contrast, chronic cannabis users exhibited blunted stress reactivity, it said. Forbes inferred that marijuana compounds can reduce stress without the dependency of prescription medications.

While preliminary, Forbes explained, the study suggests that marijuana compounds may eventually be used to provide anxiety relief with decreased dependency, fewer side effects and reduced overdose potential.

ADYNF is engaged in the development of products and pharmaceuticals that use cannabis, hemp and algae oils. The development stage company is based in Canada and publicly traded in the U.S. The company has signed a collaboration agreement with the University of Western Ontario, enabling the firm to retain the rights to patents developed in conjunction with the school. Western University is focused on the areas of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and schizophrenia.

According to an ADYNF corporate presentation (http://dtn.fm/1Pd8H), the company is building its intellectual property portfolio in the pharmaceutical field. Its goal is to develop value-added products, supported by strong science and clinical trials, combining the benefits of algae and cannabis oils to enhance efficacy in a unique and patented way.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: Algae Dynamics Corp. Message Board

• Four drug candidates in the pipeline
• Potential sales of Alzheimer’s drugs run to billions
• Hyalolex heading for clinical trials

India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) is racing ahead with its preparation of medical trials for four drug candidates that treat a variety of debilitating conditions. At the head of the line is Hyalolex, aimed at reducing the buildup of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) plaques on neurons in the brain, a process that causes the crippling cognitive complaint known as Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s afflicts more than five million Americans, and, so far, no effective cure for this form of dementia has been found. However, the FDA has approved five medications to treat its symptoms. IGC is hoping to make Hyalolex the sixth. The drug works through a molecular pathway that allows low doses of THC to bind to Aβ plaques and so prevent them from aggregating on neurons. IGC has entered into a definitive license agreement (http://dtn.fm/7Xsmp) with the University of South Florida (USF), which makes IGC the exclusive licensee of the USF-developed technology that is the subject of a U.S. patent filing entitled “THC as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for Alzheimer’s Disease.” If approved, Hyalolex could go some way to reducing the costs of treating Alzheimer’s, estimated to reach $259 billion in 2017. It should also bring IGC’s market cap in line with peer valuations that range in the hundreds of millions.

Alzheimer’s has the unwelcome distinction of being number five on the list of America’s five most deleterious diseases, after heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory conditions and strokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Every minute, someone new develops the condition, which takes its toll not just on those afflicted but on caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association says that ‘35% of caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s or another dementia report that their health has gotten worse due to care responsibilities, compared to 19% of caregivers for older people without dementia”. The economic cost is also staggering and, if no cure or palliative is found soon, is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2050.

With such high stakes, IGC’s pioneering therapy has become vitally important. Its mechanism of action uses the psychotropic component of cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), to inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and prevent the aggregation of AChE-induced amyloid β-peptide (Aβ), which is the key pathological marker of Alzheimer’s disease.

Current treatments authorized for sale to the public by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Alzheimer’s include donepezil, approved in 1996; galantamine (2001); rivastigmine (2000); memantine (2003); and a combination of donepezil and memantine, approved in 2014. Sales of donepezil (Aricept) reached $3.5 billion in 2009, the year before its generics were allowed market entry. Sales of rivastigmine (Exelon) have been in the hundreds of millions, exceeding $1.0 billion in 2011, and sales of memantine (Namenda) continue annually above $1.0 billion. According to Mordor Intelligence, “the global Alzheimer’s’ disease market… due to drug patent expirations in 2017 and many generics entering the market… is expected to see a declination… by the year 2017. (On the other hand), the market is anticipated to grow driven by… last-stage pipeline drugs”. They might have added “like Hyalolex.”

IGC’s pipeline also includes Natrinol, a natural substitute for Marinol, or synthetic THC, aimed at relieving nausea and vomiting while increasing appetite in patients with AIDS and cancer; Caesafin, which uses combination therapy to alleviate seizures in dogs and cats; and Serosapse, which addresses several end-points in Parkinson’s disease, including rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disorder, anxiety and dyskinesia.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IGCInc.us

• Director nominees include Liu Shu Juan, CEO of Shewn International Group and financial controller of Shanghai Shewn Wine Co.
• Moxian is expected to formalize joint venture agreement with Shewn International Group by end of September 2017
• Joint ventures are part of Moxian’s new strategy to enter major markets in China more quickly and at lower cost

Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) will nominate seven directors to its board for shareholders at its annual meeting on September 29, 2017, in Beijing, China (http://dtn.fm/y8lBO). Among the seven is Liu Shu Juan, chief executive officer of Shewn International Group, Inc. and financial controller of Shanghai Shewn Co., Ltd., the company’s primary operator in China.

Liu has been a Moxian board member since August 2017. Moxian has an agreement of understanding with Shewn International Group, Inc., expected to be finalized by the end of September 2017, for a joint venture as part of a new marketing strategy for Moxian. The Shanghai-based company plans a series of joint ventures to enable it to penetrate key markets in China more quickly and at a lower cost. James Mengdong Tan, president and chief executive officer of Moxian, told Crystal Equity Research that he has some opportunities for 30-40 companies in the pipeline for future joint ventures.

Moxian is an integrated platform operator focused on processing digital payments and converting its Moxian+ Merchant and Moxian+ User apps to paid. It has a module on its Moxian+ Merchant platform for UnionPay, the dominant digital payment processor in China. That module makes joint ventures with Moxian attractive to other businesses.

Crystal Equity Research endorses the new joint venture strategy, citing its planned effectiveness and cost cutting in Moxian’s entry into new markets. Crystal Equity has projected that Moxian will achieve sales of $2.3 million by FY2018. It also notes that the joint venture provides Moxian with a new revenue stream, giving it a percentage of Shewn’s sales processed through the Moxian+ UnionPay app.

Additionally, the joint venture is an effective way of having Moxian gain quicker entry into new markets within China at a lower price. Crystal Equity Research said that Moxian’s cash burn rate was only $1.3 million in the quarter ended June 2017 versus $5.4 million in the prior quarter. Shewn markets fine wines in China and plans to use Moxian’s relationship and app for payments through UnionPay. It is also planning to market its wines into luxury complexes through as many as 500,000 new specialized vending machines.

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

Traditions can be good, for the most part, but when new ideas and technological advancements start to make those time-honored methods of doing things easier, faster and better, those customary actions, thoughts or beliefs are bound to change with the times.

Take blockchain technology, for instance. It’s the electronic ledger used for securely recording person-to-person exchanges of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum. A blockchain provides a secure, open, decentralized database that uses cryptographic technology to keeps users in the loop and everyone else out. Supporters of the technology are convinced that the idea at the center of bitcoin – blockchain technology – could revolutionize industries that rely on digital record keeping.

Indeed, several industries from transportation to healthcare to online retail marketing are taking a hard look at how blockchain technology might be able to help solve some recurring efficiency and customer satisfaction problems. Danish shipping giant Maersk has partnered with IBM to utilize blockchain technology in an effort to track containers as they navigate the globe. The company hopes the technology will help solve real customer problems, reduce the cost of goods, and make global trade more accessible to emerging and developing countries, according to an article published by Forbes (http://dtn.fm/A7Dkg).

The use of blockchain technology to streamline the sharing of medical records in a secure way is also being explored in the healthcare industry. A prototype system called MedRec, under development with MIT Media Lab and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, uses a private blockchain based on Ethereum (http://dtn.fm/tPq3R). It automatically keeps track of who has permission to view and change medication records, and, instead of rewarding blockchain miners with cybercurrency, miners using MedRec are given access to aggregated, anonymous data from patients’ records that can be used for epidemiological studies.

Real estate agents have some of the same problems, as they struggle with managing contracts, clients and rental inventory using “traditional” methods. One company, ATLANT, is promoting its new blockchain technology as a way to change how these transactions take place (http://dtn.fm/4rSRK). Its platform is based on peer-to-peer rental hubs, eliminating the corporate footprint and lowering fees.

Online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay are also seeking ways to better protect sellers and buyers from hackers and fraud. Using blockchain technology could provide advantages for online retail outlets, since the system offers better security (a hacker would need to pass all the blocks on the chain to steal something), and fake products could easily be tracked down, eliminating possible counterfeits.

Blockchain technology is evolving, of course, and regulators are keen to be part of the picture. Keeping an eye on the past while stepping into the future means industry standards will inevitably follow.

• Provider of mobile payment tools
• Using social media to drive ecommerce
• Marketplace that links offline and online

A look at Nielsen’s latest Global Mobile Money Report (http://dtn.fm/C8SXf) shows that Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) is in the right place at the right time. The Nielsen report shows that close to half of Chinese consumers are likely to use a mobile device to pay their bills in bars, restaurants and retail stores, a far, far higher number than in the U.S. or Europe. This revealing statistic, coupled with Moxian’s position at the nexus of online retail establishments and their brick-and-mortar counterparts, gives the tech company a bet on both ecommerce and traditional retailing. The company, based in mainland China, operates an online platform that uses the drawing power of social media to drive business to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Now, with its capability to handle mobile payments recently upgraded, Moxian is likely to see its bets on O2O commerce pay off handsomely in the near future.

Although, at present, global online sales are still only about 10 percent of overall retail sales, its trend has been ever upward. Moreover, that global average hides some eye-opening detail. While in North America and Western Europe online accounted for 7.7 percent and 8.2 percent of the overall retail market in 2016, respectively, the retail market in China is running at around 12 percent of total consumer sales, according to data reported by Deloitte (http://dtn.fm/2ldKN). In 2015, total retail sales of consumer goods in China were valued at $4.61 trillion, which puts online retail in China at around $553 billion, a mind-boggling level of exchange that surpasses the national income of 191 countries of the 211 recognized by the United Nations as sovereign states.

Already, many of these online transactions are being initiated through mobile devices, with some analysts estimating that, in China, mobile accounts for around three-quarters of all online payments. A study by the Financial Times, reported by NPR (http://dtn.fm/Q083n), says that the ‘Chinese spent $5.5 trillion through mobile payment platforms last year, about 50 times the amount in the U.S.’ So powerful is the trend to mobile in this country of 1.3 billion, some commentators are suggesting (http://dtn.fm/dSS9j) that ‘China… the first country in the world to use paper money… (may) be the first to stop. In Beijing it is hard to find a product or a service that cannot be purchased with a mobile.’

Moxian is cashing in on this cashless trend. In early 2017, the company announced the launch of a new version of its Moxian User App and Business App (New Version Apps) that feature built-in UnionPay payment modules. This follows the company’s strategic partnership with Beijing Chinaums, a subsidiary of China UnionPay, in December 2016.

This seamless integration of Moxian’s proprietary virtual currency engine and UnionPay’s powerful payment gateway will allow users (merchants and shoppers) of the New Version Apps to process payments through UnionPay’s payment gateway, which also supports payments from Alipay and WeChat Pay. The UnionPay payment gateway also meshes seamlessly with Moxian’s MO-Coin and MO-Point system, which rewards customers who use and process payments with the New Version Apps. The Moxian Software Machine also tracks customer behavior, which in turn allows Moxian to provide the participating merchants with complete and detailed analytic data and tools. Merchants on the Moxian Marketplace can study the behavior of their customers and respond with precise targeted marketing campaigns.

Moxian is out to make smartphone payments while shopping easier for the Chinese consumer, whether buying online or at a favorite bazaar. For the merchant, the company provides access to the latest, most sophisticated marketing tools. As China ditches cash, the Moxian O2O Marketplace looks set to continue blurring the line between offline and online commerce.

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

Amid a continued boom in the growing cannabis sector, Canada is moving rapidly toward legalization as the U.S. continues to foot drag at the federal level, leading many sector analysts to conclude that it’s the Canadian companies who might benefit the most as an underlying shift toward medical and recreational use continues. Out of a tiny handful of just 58 Health Canada-licensed producers, vertically integrated Emblem Corp. (TSX.V: EMC) (OTC: EMMBF) stands out as a one of the fastest growing cultivators and pharma developers, having also obtained authorization to produce cannabis oils. While sales of dried marijuana intended for smoking in Canada increased around 44.6 percent from Q1 to Q2, according to official Health Canada records (http://dtn.fm/ypK5J), cannabis oil sales shot up over 278 percent. It’s a sustained industry trend, which is continuing to evolve as cannabis medicine developer demand increases and consumers flock to edibles and/or vaporizing. This trend is also clearly evident from U.S. data (http://dtn.fm/mx4LH), as consumers in states like Colorado, Oregon and Washington continue to fuse their love of candies and chocolates with a growing taste for cannabis.

Landmark legislation introduced by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau in April, fulfilling one of his campaign promises, put Canada squarely on the road to a legalized (over 18) recreational use market, with a projected implementation date as early as July 1, 2018. Intelligent companies like Emblem aren’t wasting any time in trying to get out ahead of this curve and are making every effort to rapidly expand production while maintaining the kind of quality control that translates directly into end-market loyalties. For Emblem, which is focused on medical and pharmaceutical R&D, in addition to production/distribution to patients and patient/physician education via the company’s three different business segments, successful doubling of the company’s production capacity is seen as essential to ensuring long-term capacity to capture this sector’s astounding growth.

Emblem is just getting warmed up. The company recently entered into agreements to acquire some 80 acres of industrially zoned land for $7.7 million (http://dtn.fm/2lyCl), in close proximity to the existing, custom-built 23,500 sq. ft. Paris, Ontario, facility, that utilizes the latest in indoor grow science. Once completed (Q4 2018 target date), the three new state-of-the-art 100,000 sq. ft. production facilities should bring Emblem’s annual production capacity up to around 154,000 pounds. For a company that did $398,260 in sales during Q2 2017, with 118.8 pounds sold at an average price of $7.39 per gram, this new projected production figure would translate into over $516.2 million in revenues per year, not too shabby for an operation that ended Q2 with $33.0 million in cash on hand and has around another $34 million of “in-the-money” warrants (part of which is callable).

Emblem can obviously read the handwriting on the wall here and is anticipating that the dried flower and derivative products space will blossom under the new regulatory framework being spearheaded by Trudeau’s government. Emblem had 2,154 active patients as of August 24 and anticipates continued success on the strength of its marketing platform and patient registration pace. Emblem’s cannabis healthcare vertical, GrowWise Health, continues to see considerable expansion of the clinic network, driven by receptivity to the company’s comprehensive patient and physician medical cannabis education programs. The educational effort is marketing gold for Emblem, and the care taken by the company’s Patient Educators, who are knowledgeable about both healthcare and cannabis, helps a great deal when it comes to ensuring continued patient enrollment growth.

As of June of this year, there were some 201,400 client registrations (http://dtn.fm/ypK5J) with a licensed producer operating under the auspices of ACMPR (Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations), according to Health Canada’s figures. An Ipsos poll conducted for Global News earlier this year indicated that 61 percent of Canadians now support the legalization of recreational marijuana (http://dtn.fm/1diqI), with that number being as high as 73 percent among millennials (ages 18 to 34). This polling data underscores the validity of the growing trend in Canada toward common sense cannabis regulation, which is increasingly focused on handling cannabis in the same manner as alcohol or tobacco and thus opening the door to a sizeable tax haul on what is potentially an $8.7 billion base domestic retail market (http://dtn.fm/Wt4kA).

It’s a compelling figure that underwrites how Canada is setting itself up to be a major exporter to a global market, estimated by Grand View Research as climbing to $55.8 billion by 2025 on the strength of medical alone. Troy Dayton, CEO, noted that industry analyst firm Arcview Group confirmed this outlook recently, citing medical marijuana legalization in Germany as a key indicator. With the North American market up 30 percent year-over-year to $6.7 billion in 2016 according to Arcview (http://dtn.fm/HI1Nk), running white-hot on a projected 27 percent CAGR in sales through 2021, we are looking at an estimated $20.2 billion market within a handful of years. Moreover, Arcview analysts suggest that the figure could triple as broader recreational markets come online in Canada, or in U.S. states such as California, where Proposition 64 has put the legal market for marijuana on track to exceed $5 billion.

This trend is music to Emblem’s ears, and with the new facility set up to function off natural gas infrastructure, the company has every intention of reaching for the brass ring, going “off grid” and realizing a long dreamt-of goal to become one of the lowest cost “closed box” producers in Canada. Key partnerships, such as the one signed in late 2016 with Lift Cannabis to offer a limited edition strain (“Liv by Lift”), are a solid example of why Emblem is able to command prices for certain of its carefully cultivated strains that are as high as $12.00 per gram. The company’s purpose-built Paris, Ontario, facility, featuring a Canadian-made Argus controlled system, is something to behold, and Emblem is able to legitimately pride itself to customers on the value of the company’s regulated environment indoor grow rooms, where positive pressure helps immensely in controlling external contaminants. This is mission critical stuff when it comes to commanding robust prices for product, and when it comes to meticulously cultivating and testing strains that are then rigorously tested for the targeted cannabinoids and terpenes which will provide the greatest amount of patient relief.

Emblem is hard at work identifying which of the over 100 different types of cannabinoids offer the best therapeutic values and is systematically cultivating the proper strains at medical grade in order to empower the company’s development of advanced dosage forms that are not only consistently high quality, but easy and convenient to use.

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

Findit, Inc. (OTC: FDIT) recently announced that its interactive social media campaign management Findit App is now available for download on iOS devices in the Apple® App Store.

“Having Apple approve our app for IOS users is one more step closer to providing anyone who wants to reach more people on the web the ability to do so,“ Findit, Inc. CEO and President Raymond Firth stated in a news release, noting that the app is also available in the Google Play Store for Android devices. “We are really pulling everyone together that has the desire to have their content seen and shared socially and indexed in search engines.”

Apple reviews all apps submitted to the App Store in an effort to ensure they are reliable, perform as expected, are free of offensive material and meet all of the company’s rigorous requirements, according to Apple’s website.

The Findit app gives everyone the ability to view and search content posted to the app or Findit.com, while Findit members can post content to an open platform available for anyone to view. Each post can be shared to social sites such as Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Google+ (NASDAQ: GOOG), Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR), Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr and other social and bookmarking sites. Additional search results are created as posts and are shared and crawled by search engines, creating greater organic search results and social engagement.

The Findit app consists of several content verticals that can be combined into a single post, literally giving users the ability to include up to 6,000 characters in one post, an unlimited number of photos, a video, and a link for readers to click on. Anyone who posts on Twitter or Instagram, for example, can reach more people by creating the same post or a new message on Findit, where it is indexed for maximum exposure. Visitors can then be directed to other social sites or can simply view and share the message.

Individuals, organizations and companies can now reach more followers, more customers and more business simply by downloading the Findit app in the Apple Store or by going to www.Findit.com.

The Green Organic Dutchman (“TGOD”), a 100-percent owned subsidiary of The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd., produces high-quality medical marijuana. Its organic medical cannabis is farm grown and pesticide-free. There are many factors in favor of the company. The demand in a legal national market, consumer preference for organic foods and products of all kinds and a recent $20 million private placement are all positive signs. Also, TGOD is among a select group of companies licensed to cultivate medical cannabis by Health Canada under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. Those interested in investing should contact TGOD directly at financing@tgod.ca, because the company is not yet publicly traded.

Notably, the company has gained tremendous financial support in a short time frame and began production in late 2016. Its parent holding company recently entered into an agreement with a syndicate, led by PI Financial Corp., for a brokered private placement worth $20 million. The offering of a total of 4,242,500 units, priced at C$1.65 per unit, amounts to total gross proceeds of C$7,000,125, according to a recent press release (http://dtn.fm/sEi2m). However, the amount may differ based on mutual agreement between both parties.

In addition, TGOD engaged in a concurrent, non-brokered private placement of 7,979,000 units, affording aggregate gross proceeds of over $13,000,000 (at C$1.65 per unit). Consisting of one common share of TGOD, each unit also includes a one-half common share purchase warrant for the company. A whole warrant can be exercisable into a single common share that expires 36 months after the common shares begin trading on a stock exchange, or from February 28, 2021. The warrant will be called to trade at the same time as the IPO shares, allowing investors to immediately realize the added value on the TGOD IPO. The only other free trading stock available will be the IPO shares themselves. A six-month escrow period will apply to the common shares, and a 12-month period will apply to the shares issuable once the warrants are exercised.

TGOD employs a retail first approach, allowing smaller investors to get in at these early stages not typically seen by retail investors. The specifics of this agreement are of great interest to investors. However, the company is at an advantage since both offerings will enable it to add working capital and to further develop its Ontario and Quebec cannabis facilities. Currently, it has a funded capacity of 14,000 kilograms and has one of the largest licensed parcels of land in Canada at 175 acres. The company recently purchased 75 acres for a second cannabis production facility in Quebec, which will be located in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. This property is large enough to support 820,000 square feet of greenhouse space and increased production capacity of 116,000 kilograms annually.

Production focus is on low cost and advanced operations. The Green Organic Dutchman has partnered with Larssen Ltd., Greenhouse Engineers, and Eaton and Ledcor. In Quebec, the company is building a state-of-the-art facility with a climate-controlled environment. Independent air handling and environmental systems will be integrated for separate zones. The fully controlled environment will be able to reduce or eliminate contaminants to ensure that high-quality organic cannabis can be produced under optimal growing conditions.

An existing farm features an indoor production facility that can output 1,000 kilograms of product per year. A phase 1 expansion program will increase that farm’s annual production capacity to 14,000 kilograms. The capacity is expected to be on line by 2018. This expansion consists of a 123,000 square foot hybrid greenhouse facility with natural and LED lighting, and a second 20,000 square foot fully enclosed pharmaceutical facility. Both buildings are scheduled for construction to begin in late September or early October.

Focusing on all natural and organic principles, the company produces its medical cannabis in small batches. It expects to serve patients on a wider scale in the near future, but it is already accepting registration for its Beta Patient Program. The benefits of this program include access to more than 36 strains of organically grown, pesticide-free medical cannabis. Strains are specifically chosen for each individual patient’s needs. Other perks afford patients a guaranteed consistent product supply, priority service, and preferential pricing. One can sign up for the exclusive program by submitting the form on the company’s website.

Marijuana is already a billion-dollar industry in the country. From retail to products and services ranging from growers to lighting and testing labs, the value is expected to climb exponentially in the coming years. The trends are as enlightening for patients as they are for distributors, pharma companies and dispensaries. Investors in the market stand to benefit as well. Management of The Green Organic Dutchman has already invested over $5 million in the company. Notably, the company’s initial entry into the wholesale market in 2017 will yield an instant revenue stream. Production is anticipated to increase in 2018, and product is expected to be sold at a premium price given its high quality and preferred organic production.

The leadership team of TGOD includes CEO and Director Rob Anderson. He has worked in finance for 22+ years and, specifically, in the Canadian brokerage industry for 12 years financing hundreds of micro-cap companies. A record of successes has been realized through a unique identification and selection process and with multiple companies exceeding $1 billion in market valuations. Anderson has also strongly advocated for retail shareholders and supports a staged financing approach that appeals to management and addresses the capital requirements of companies.

Chairman of the Board Jeff Paikin is active in the building industry, while Director Ian Wilms brings 25 years of business experience while working with IBM and as President of the Canadian Association of Police Boards. Scott Skinner, Cofounder/Director/COO, was directly involved in the design and engineering of the company’s production facility, while Csaba Reider, President, joined TGOD from the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, hailing from Cott Beverages and Xyience Energy Drinks. The company also added Marc Bertrand as a Director, a Consumer Products executive responsible for growing and selling Mega Bloks for over $500 million dollars.

The Green Organic Dutchman is therefore built on strong leadership with a strong ability to raise capital, significant world class alliance partners, a premium priced, high quality pesticide-free organic product, one of the lowest cost production facilities in Canada, one of the largest land packages and a demand for a product that will only increase.

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