• HTC Extraction Systems is a Canadian-based builder of efficient extraction systems and a distiller of ethanol and ethanol-based products used in extraction so that they can be reclaimed and reused
• The company has extended its reach into the hemp distillation industry to take advantage of a startup network of businesses riding a wave of new popularity for the hemp plant’s byproducts
• HTC faces the prospect of a banner year in 2020 as the recent wave of regulatory changes favoring cannabinoid use in Canada and the United States promises to continue pushing forward

HTC Extraction Systems (TSX.V: HTC) (OTCQB: HTPRF) is a Canadian company that has established itself as a provider of proprietary systems used in extracting gas, liquids and biomass, as well as a purifier of chemical compounds such as ethanol, glycol and other solvents used in the extraction process so that the compounds can be reclaimed and reused (http://ibn.fm/4VFDH).

The company began work over two decades ago on bettering the environment through the capture and storage of carbon dioxide from industrial flue streams, including coal and gas-fired energy facilities. With the rise of the hemp industry, HTC has turned its experience toward the task of improving hemp biomass extraction processes for cannabinoid-infused products.

This pro-environment, pro-cannabinoid mindset attracted an operating partner in California as HTC extended its reach from Saskatchewan’s vast lands in western Canada to the world’s largest market on the west coast of the United States. HTC’s recent share and purchase agreement with Starling Brands Inc. grants HTC ownership of Starling’s subsidiary Kase Farma Inc., a company authorized to work with hemp cultivation, extraction, refining, formulation and distribution in California (http://ibn.fm/lN883).

The success of the strategy behind the agreement hinges on a management services agreement with Starling that provides Starling’s expertise in navigating the business and regulatory climates in California.

“Startups are challenging enough as they are when you’re working in a sector that has been shut down for close to a hundred years in a landscape that’s still federally illegal but where the constituents of our jurisdiction here in California have voted overwhelmingly in favor of cannabis use for medicinal and recreational purposes. It was quite challenging in navigating through the ever-changing regulations,” John Di Girolamo, co-founder of Starling Brands, stated in a December 11 Twitter post (http://ibn.fm/7Agmh).

Starling executives anticipate that 2020 may be the biggest year ever for hemp and cannabis policy reform in the United States, given recent changes in the regulatory landscape such as the 2018 Farm Act’s passage by Congress and the President, The SAFE Banking Act’s passage by the House of Representatives this year, and the Congressional introduction of the marijuana-decriminalizing MORE Act.

Kase Farma is preparing new equipment for processing and distilling up to 12,000 pounds per day of dried hemp biomass for the coming year’s hemp cultivation season, and HTC is likewise preparing to process hemp biomass in Saskatchewan under a tolling strategy coordinated with area farmers.

HTC expects to sell extracted cannabidiol (CBD) through brands under its related entity, Purely Canada Foods, including Purely Canada Hemp™, Purely Canada CBD™, Purely Canada CBG™ and Purely Canada Cannabinoids™.

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

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

• Recent poll shows consumers’ increasing distrust towards companies that collect personal data
• As concerns over data privacy grow, SRAX’s BIGtoken platform becomes more relevant
• In addition to protecting personal data, BIGtoken gives users a chance to earn money for providing consumer data

Consumer data is emerging as individuals’ “most ignored and valuable asset,” yet emerging privacy concerns give consumers legitimate pause when it comes to reaping data’s benefits (http://ibn.fm/FBvfn). SRAX Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX) is on the forefront of these industry trends due to its diligence in protecting consumers while simultaneously empowering them to benefit from their data. While offering consumers unique technology and tools to safely approve and monetize their personal data, access is then sold to marketers that benefit from accurate consumer information and opinions. SRAX accomplishes all of this through its patented BIGtoken platform, which provides compensation to users who provide consumer data.

The Pew Research Center recently conducted a study regarding people’s feelings towards data privacy. The poll showed that consumers distrust the ways in which companies handle user data now more than ever. An estimated 80% of polled adults said that they were at least somewhat concerned with how companies use the personal data that they collect (http://ibn.fm/Op6er).

The number stayed consistent when survey respondents were asked about the control that they felt they had over personal data being collected; 81% said they felt they had little or no control over this data. As data breaches from massive companies such as Facebook continue to hit mainstream news, more people seem to be aware of data-privacy issues.

This increased awareness is creating a growing interest in SRAX’s BIGtoken platform. BIGtoken is focused on monetizing personal data while also keeping it private. This mobile app gives users the opportunity to take control over their data and turn it into financial rewards at the same time. This approach is in stark contrast to most companies, which collect personal data and make a fortune from selling it without paying the consumers who provide the data.

In addition, BIGtoken effectively addresses concerns over the ways that companies have clumsily used personal data. SRAX’s proprietary platform sells access to data while keeping it fully anonymized, thereby providing value to both consumer and marketing stakeholders. While companies gain access to accurate and valuable consumer data through BIGtoken, consumers receive money for providing this data. Bottom line: BIGtoken is a platform where consumers with concerns over data privacy can feel safe.

BIGtoken is a fully transparent platform that offers a valuable opt-in consumer data set. Currently, the mobile app has more than 16 million users worldwide, and that number is growing every day as consumers become more aware of the value of their personal data and the dangers of sharing it.

An additional concern is new privacy laws across the country, which are starting to change the way that marketers can reach consumers. BIGtoken already operates in compliance with those laws, so the platform looks to be a reliable source for accurate consumer data for years to come.

SRAX works across many industry verticals and uses its technology to identify target consumers for brands and companies in the CPG, investor relations, luxury, and lifestyle realms. By integrating data using verified consumer participation, the company provides useful insights to its client brands to keep those brands ahead in the competitive curve.

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

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

• Assistant secretary of Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics says 3D metal printing poised to streamline military maintenance, save billions
• Army’s suppliers reluctant to manufacture highly demanding but low-volume production; 3D metal printing changes this
• Sigma Labs’ unique quality-assurance software essential for leveraging full potential of 3D metal printing in defense sector

The United States’ defense budget consumes a large portion of its overall spending; in 2018, the cost of replacing the Army’s aviation fleet alone was a staggering $4 billion (http://ibn.fm/TwAW4). Currently, a substantial portion of this cost is tied up in bidding manufacturers to produce specific replacement parts on aging aircraft, creating a critical need for affordable, effective parts manufacturing (http://ibn.fm/2Axy8).

This is where 3D metal printing – deemed a “significant advance in military parts purchasing” – steps in. Sigma Labs Inc.’s (NASDAQ: SGLB) PrintRite3D® software, a revolutionary, real-time, computer-aided inspection technology that enables in-process quality assurance of 3D metal printing, could prove to be an important piece in the U.S. defense sector’s 3D metal printing plans. SGLB’s technology is the only real-time, in-process, quality-assurance solution capable of observing, managing and controlling manufacturing complexities while detecting defects and intervening immediately.

Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics, discussed the transformative power of additive manufacturing technology for the military sector in a recent Washington Post article. Additive manufacturing, often called 3D printing, includes methods used to create a three-dimensional object by robotically layering powdered material under computer control. The capability to produce high-quality metal parts has dramatically broadened the practical application of the nascent technology, and the defense industry has been quick to capitalize on its potential.

In recent years, resources have been allocated to investigate the potential of the emerging technology for producing replacement parts. Roper states that 3D metal printing could save the U.S. Army billions of dollars each year on military equipment maintenance related to producing small scale but rather complex parts. Some of the equipment in question, while still useful, was built decades ago. With replacement parts in short supply, maintaining this equipment can be expensive.

Roper also notes that, according to the Government Accountability Office, this upkeep – or “sustainment” in military language – accounts for around 70% of total costs of weapons’ ownership. Just for the 52 C-5 cargo warplanes that the Air Force operates, sustainment amounts to about $620 million per year. The conventional production is proving expensive as manufacturers must create customized parts while meeting a myriad of military specifications, allocating equipment and manpower for a small production that won’t be reordered for many years. The end result is extremely high cost of replacement parts – but 3D metal printing is set to change all this.

“In two short years, 3-D printing has spread across the Air Force,” Roper writes in the Washington Post article. “Today, we print thousands of spare aircraft parts from metals and polymers, lowering operating cost by tens of millions while getting planes back to the fight faster. The need is severe: For example, three C-5s are grounded, awaiting exhaust ducts because our purchase offer of more than $430,000 for eight units did not entice a single supplier for months… When we finally received a bid, the earliest delivery was 34 weeks.”

“Using a 3-D printer, our Air Force engineers made [a] latrine panel for $300, saving $8,200, compared with the open market prices we once paid through the Defense Logistics Agency,” Roper writes. However, Roper noted that differences from printer to a printer can introduce peculiar defects not found in traditional manufacturing. To secure adequate performance and confidence in how the produced parts were made, thereby addressing craft part integration safety, especially under the stress and strain of flight, 3D metal-printing technology needs to address quality control issues such as the variable occurrence of part “lack of fusion porosity” which in turn creates a potentially lucrative opening for Sigma Labs’ technology.

The company could be a crucial player as it is recognized as a leader in the 3D metal-printing, quality-assurance domain. With still modest valuation at around $14 million, combined with a robust lineup of lucrative collaboration opportunities with industry’s major players and the expected growth of the whole market, Sigma Labs represents an investment opportunity that is high on investors’ radar in 2020. The company is poised to capitalize on its intense efforts during the previous years.

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

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

• Canada’s first nationally legal cannabis-infused edible products began hitting store shelves December 17, vastly broadening the market for products using the plant’s extracts
• Lexaria Bioscience has dedicated years of research to the development of its proprietary DehydraTECH technology, designed to enhance the effectiveness of orally consumed drug products such as cannabis as well as nicotine
• Testing of Lexaria’s 2.0 version of its DehydraTECH technology shows enormous improvement in the speed of payload delivery to the bloodstream, as well as the potential for delivering drugs across the body’s largely impenetrable blood-brain barrier to the central nervous system

Canada’s regulatory innovations in making cannabis products accessible nationwide for both therapeutic and recreational purposes have led to this year’s ‘Cannabis 2.0’ national rollout of laws for a new edible cannabis-infused market. Cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals became legal in October pending a 60-90-day regulatory approval process for product applications, and that timeline resulted in the first legal edibles becoming available December 16 (http://ibn.fm/qFZdX), just in time for Christmas, subject to retailers’ delivery schedules.

Oral drug product innovator Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) is well situated to take advantage of the market arising from Canada’s sweeping legal changes, as well as the burgeoning market for infused edibles in select states within the United States. Lexaria’s own ‘2.0’ version of its patented DehydraTECH™ oral drug delivery technology has shown an ability in lab animal testing to deliver 811 percent more cannabidiol (CBD) into the bloodstream than generic industry control formulations, nearly doubling the capacity of existing DehydraTECH technology, a news release states (http://ibn.fm/Utl7A).

The company’s 2.0 technology is specifically being developed for effectiveness in helping to deliver its drug payload across the blood-brain barrier, a natural biological system of blood vessels and endothelial cells that bar most drugs from accessing the brain’s central nervous system hierarchy. The ability to effectively deliver drugs to the brain is of keen interest to developers of drugs designed to beneficially target the central nervous system.

Lexaria’s research and development showed that DehydraTECH version 2.0 was able to deliver 1,937 percent more CBD into brain tissue than generic industry control formulations and 487 percent more than the original DehydraTECH technology, according to the company’s news release.

Deloitte market analysts estimate that the total cannabis market in Canada alone, where the market allows for federal scale, will produce up to $7.17 billion in sales this year, the vast majority from approved recreational-use products. While edibles currently make up a small portion of the overall cannabis market, Deloitte found that six out of 10 likely cannabis consumers will choose to use edible products, particularly when it comes to baked goods (http://ibn.fm/gVhe7).

Deloitte researchers predict the Canadian market for edibles and alternative cannabis products will be worth $2.7 billion a year, with extract-based products making up nearly 60 percent of the total (http://ibn.fm/iu82y).

Lexaria also recently announced pilot lab trials in humans that showed the recreational tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabinoid demonstrated effectiveness in less than 10 minutes with version 2.0 – about twice as fast as traditional DehydraTECH and four to six times faster than generic industry formulations for oral consumption (http://ibn.fm/lWR1X).

While cannabis’ popularity has been an explosive new market force, the DehydraTECH technology isn’t dedicated to it exclusively. DehydraTECH has been in development as a solution to health problems associated with smoked or vaped drug delivery over the course of the past three years, including alternatives to tobacco’s nicotine cigarette inhalation. DehydraTECH’s developmental goal is to provide an oral drug consumption method that provides effectiveness as rapidly as inhaled substances, thereby eliminating any practical reason for smoking or vaping and their potential harm to users’ throats and lungs.

Lexaria has licensed its technology to multiple companies in the cannabis and tobacco industries. The company operates a licensed in-house research laboratory and its IP portfolio includes 16 patents granted and over 60 patents pending worldwide. The company received a cannabis research and development license from Health Canada in August (http://ibn.fm/mRaIh), and recently announced the closing of private placement fund-raising for gross proceeds of about $820,000 (http://ibn.fm/WFDoK) with additional warrant opportunities.

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

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

• ‘Streaming wars’ generate growing demand for fresh content, with leading streaming service providers spending billions on content annually
• Wonderfilm already has a film library with 250 titles and is producing new original content on a regular basis to meet rising demand
• Company expects to generate $100 million in revenue by 2021, $20 million in deferred revenue early next year
• Approximately 69% of U.S. households now subscribe to streaming video services, up from 55% in 2017

Streaming is a highly lucrative segment fueled by the demand to control one’s own entertainment, which gave rise to the VCR back in the 1970s. The media has dubbed this pronounced entertainment conflict the ‘streaming wars’. The race to capture content streaming consumers is a key feature of modern-day entertainment, as shown during a broadcast (http://ibn.fm/0diUt) titled ‘Filmmakers Poised for Big Gains in Hollywood’s Streaming Wars’.

In this race, providers of streaming video on demand are making major investments to secure existing content and commission new content. Efforts are being made to attract major producers and filmmakers. This demand has given companies such as Wonderfilm Media Corporation (TSX.V: WNDR) (OTCQB: WDRFF), a leading entertainment organization producing internationally appealing, high-quality feature films and episodic television, a prime opportunity to claim a piece of the pie.

Wonderfilm has around 100 films of its 250-title library already streaming on the Netflix platform. The company has a unique business model where it differentiates itself by setting up each film as a single-purpose entity packaged for upfront sale, thereby eliminating filmmaking risk (http://ibn.fm/Minb2). In addition, Wonderfilm typically produces low-risk, easy-to-sell films featuring a desirable cast and genre that all but guarantee the financial success of each production.

A Wonderfilm movie is pre-sold for roughly $5 million, which incurs a 10 percent commission to distribution companies. Since the company distributes its films via Wonderfilm Global, a film, television and media foreign sales/distribution joint venture where Wonderfilm Media Corporation has 51 percent ownership, this 10 percent commission remains in-house instead of going to third parties.

Additionally, Wonderfilm makes money from producing fees that are added to the production budget and from overages above the presale threshold. Wonderfilm owns the films after their sale terms end. The company also profits from unsold presale territories, which are countries or territories left off of a film’s presale list.

Wonderfilm retains a continuing annual production slate of $58 million to meet the constant and growing need for content worldwide and has eight green-lit features representing $60 million U.S. in production budgets currently in development (http://ibn.fm/DEBwa). The company expects $20 million in deferred revenue in early 2020 alone and is positioned to realize $100 million in revenue by 2021.

Some of Wonderfilm’s most notable upcoming releases are the action film Inside Game, starring Tyrese Gibson, slated for a fall 2020 theatrical release, as well as the horror film Amityville 1974, which will hit theaters in October 2020. Other IP projects developed by Wonderfilm include a Steve McQueen biopic, a TV series helmed by CSI: Crime Scene Investigation creator Anthony Zuiker and a screen adaptation of renowned novel Merchant of Death.

Deloitte analysts report that for the first time in history, a higher percentage of U.S. households subscribed to a digital streaming service than to traditional pay television. 69% of U.S. households now subscribe to streaming video services, up from 55% in 2017 (http://ibn.fm/6CjLB), and PwC research indicates that consumers are willing to spend more to get the content they want, with total global spending on entertainment and media expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.4% over the next five years to reach $2.4 trillion in global revenue by 2022 (http://ibn.fm/ZBrGa). This provides an excellent opportunity for Wonderfilm, which is already leveraging its rich production schedule and unique business model to profit from the rising demand for streaming content.

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

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

• CEO says record sales prove SHRG’s “sales and support strategies are on the right path”
• Company projects investment of estimated $200,000 in second half of FY2020 for information technology systems upgrade
• SHRG’s consolidated gross profit grew by $16.2 million to $27.4 million for three months ended October 31, 2019, compared to same period prior year

Sharing Services Global Corporation (OTCQB: SHRG) in its 10-Q filed with the SEC for the three months ended October 31, 2019, reported sales of $38,850,483 for Q2 2019, or 116% greater than the $17,973,379 SHRG reported for the comparable quarter last year (http://ibn.fm/osL5U). Consolidated gross profit jumped by $16.2 million to $27.4 million for the same period compared to Q2 2018.

In the filing, SHRG further reported that its consolidated operating earnings were $3.9 million in the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2019, compared to $866,802 for the comparable period the prior year. Consolidated gross margin also grew 70.9% for the three months ended October 31, 2019, compared to 62.2% the prior year (http://ibn.fm/e4E09). The company said the higher margins partly resulted from the economies of scale achieved by shipping more product.

The filing continued to describe SHRG’s intention to implement a system to upgrade its information technology system in the second half of fiscal year 2020; the approximate cost for the upgrade will be $200,000. This announcement comes on the heels of a comprehensive assessment of the system in the six-month period ending October 31, 2019.

Sharing Services’ Q2 record revenues continues the trend of Q1 2019, the three months ending July 31, when SHRG achieved revenues of $35.4 million, more than double that of the comparable period in 2018 (http://ibn.fm/y5ANF). These numbers bring SHRG’s sales revenues since December 2017 to an impressive cumulative total of $169 million. One significant contributor to the company’s success seems to be its December 2017 launch of a proprietary line of products through its Elepreneurs and Elevacity subsidiaries.

“Product sales for our incredible health and wellness products of Elevacity Global continue to be strong, consistently increasing each quarter,” SHRG CEO John “JT” Thatch stated in a news release. “Our Q2 revenues demonstrate that our sales and support strategies are on the right path as we continue to grow in the direct-selling marketplace.” Thatch credited SHRG’s independent distributors, called Elepreneurs, and its corporate office team for the company’s gains.

SHRG’s Elepreneurs are seeing remarkable success as they employ the company’s Blue Ocean selling strategy in the direct-sales market (http://ibn.fm/JbMYg). The Blue Ocean Strategy is an approach to selling that makes competition irrelevant by creating and operating in an uncontested market space.

The launch of SHRG’s proprietary line of health and wellness products in 2017, through its Elepreneurs and Elevacity subsidiaries, was a milestone for the company. The product line consists of three sectors: anti-aging skin care, functional beverages and natural supplements. All are based on the company’s exclusive D.O.S.E. product formulation of four hormones designed to promote happiness and well-being (http://ibn.fm/fALYi). Thatch said the company would continue to evaluate its expansion plans, products, and strategies as it endeavors to continue its success in 2020.

Sharing Services Global Corporation is a diversified company, with Elepreneurs Holdings and Elevacity Holdings being its primary operating subsidiaries. SHRG markets and distributes health and wellness products that are sold under the Elevate brand through an independent sales force of distributors, or Elepreneurs, using the direct-selling business model. Sharing Service’s current product offerings include its Elevate health and wellness product line, launched in December 2017. The company’s Elevate product line consists of nutraceutical products referred to as D.O.S.E., which refers to key hormones dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.

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

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

• Increased pollution, rising population and climate change all straining worldwide water supply
• Biggest issue that keeps U.S., other countries from success is reliance on centralized water technologies
• Infrastructure failure can be addressed by developing decentralized, onsite and modular water-treatment systems like OriginClear Inc.’s innovative products

Recycling water is a worldwide issue, according to OriginClear Inc. (OTC: OCLN) CEO Riggs Eckelberry, who noted that with issues such as increased pollution, rising population and climate change all straining worldwide water supply, poor levels of water recycling are not sustainable.

“Leaders across all industries need to rethink their entire approach to using and delivering water,” Eckelberry noted in a recent article (http://ibn.fm/0BXVG) titled ‘Israel Recycles 90 Percent of Its Water, the U.S. Recycles 1 Percent. Here’s How We Can Change That’.

In the article, Eckelberry described the varying levels of water advancement found in countries around the globe. He referenced the lack of consistency in countries industrial advancements, especially regarding water technology. Achieving a level of 90% water recycling, Israel is the world leader by far; Spain ranks second at only 20%. Alarmingly, America lags behind at a mere 1%.

OriginClear is on a mission to change those numbers, seeing tremendous potential in the future of water management around the world.

“The biggest issue that keeps the United States and other areas of the world from reaching Israel’s exceptional level of success is the reliance on centralized water technologies,” Eckelberry said. “An estimated 90% of people in the United States rely on mega-facilities for water treatment and distribution, both for home and business use. That means that, to a large degree, people have very little control over their water.”

Complicating the matter is the fact that those facilities are breaking down, Eckelberry explained. Unfortunately, “maintaining and repairing them balloons the already unnecessarily high price tag of moving water from one place to another safely. And increasingly, it’s just not economically viable to keep the facilities open at all.”

The good news is that the infrastructure failure can be addressed by developing and using decentralized, onsite and modular water-treatment systems, said Eckelberry. “These systems can scale based on personal, business or community needs. They also can be built flexibly in ways that address specific geographical concerns or advantages.”

OriginClear is leading the way to water decentralization. A leading provider of these types of water-treatment solutions, OriginClear offers breakthrough water-treatment and conveyance products that can effectively improve the quality of water around the world by returning it to its original and clear condition. The company’s stated mission is to empower this global movement with modular water-treatment and conveyance products that enable water independence and help make clean water available globally.

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

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

• ChineseInvestors.com has become top financial-information website
• The company is also advancing its cannabidiol program
• CIIX offers investors multiple revenue streams, healthy return potential

Based in San Gabriel, California, ChineseInvestors.com Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) offers a proprietary financial-news media and content platform. The company has become a foremost financial-information website for Chinese-speaking investors in the United States and China. Via its main website – www.ChineseInvestors.com – CIIX offers an array of investor-education products and services. CIIX is also laying the foundation to capitalize on increasing demand for CBD (cannabidiol)-based nutrition and health products.

CIIX’s investor-education products and services include real-time market commentary, analysis and educational-related services in Chinese-language character sets. The company also provides consultative services to smaller private companies considering becoming public, as well as advertising and public-relations-related support services.

As a core element of its services, CIIX features its exclusive ChineseInvestors Method, an innovative integration of a disciplined investing process, web-based tools, personalized instructions and invaluable support. With this strategy, the company provides reliable market information to assist investors in making informed investment decisions and meeting their individual financial goals.

CIIX raises investor awareness through investor conferences and road shows. The company has a subscriber base of free and paying members, with its base membership – 95% – primarily located in the United States and Canada. CIIX services are largely delivered to U.S. public and private companies and U.S. residents and citizens. The company delivers its services in both traditional and simplified Chinese-language character sets (http://ibn.fm/wFVFL).

CIIX’s CBD initiatives are carried out by its subsidiary, CBD Biotech Inc. In essence, CIIX is taking advantage of its own financial expertise to establish itself as a leader in China’s developing CBD industry. Through CBD Biotech, CIIX has established a three-year development plan to capitalize on the union of CBD and the nutrition and health products market in mainland China.

Subsequent to entering into a wholesale agreement with a well-known CBD health brand in December 2016, CIIX formally launched the website ChineseCBDOil.com (http://ibn.fm/dtgJL). This website is one of the world’s first online stores in the Chinese language, providing industrial-hemp-derived CBD products for Chinese-speaking customers around the world. Products available on the site include soft gels, capsules and concentrates. In addition, CIIX opened a retail store in San Gabriel, California, which has a high Chinese population.

Of note to investors is that CIIX CEO Warren Wang has said the company is planning an IPO of wholly owned CBD Biotech. In the announcement, Wang noted that CIIX hopes for a Nasdaq IPO of CBD Biotech early in 2020. CIIX would then concentrate on identifying an acquisition target for further growth (http://ibn.fm/I1iRR).

CIIX continues to focus on providing premier financial information via its main website. At the same time, the company is leveraging the opportunity for significant revenue streams through its CBD Biotech subsidiary. For investors, CIIX offers a two-pronged business strategy for a healthy return on investment.

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

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

• 3D-printed weight-optimized and flow-optimized parts significantly improve the performance of aircraft and rockets
• Global aerospace 3D-printing market estimated at $1.4 billion in 2018, projected to reach $6.8 billion by 2026
• Sigma Labs’ breakthrough quality-assurance solution PrintRite3D® set to revolutionize 3D-printing industry, enabling it to grow globally

Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB) is set to exploit the tremendous aerospace 3D-printing-market growth potential with its revolutionary in-process, quality-assurance technology. This technology is poised to help the industry scale a critical hurdle: ensuring effective and efficient quality in real time.

The global aerospace 3D-printing market was estimated at $1.4 billion in 2018, projected to reach $6.8 billion by 2026 with an expected CAGR in excess of 22% during the forecast period. The airline and spacecraft segment is expected to lead the aerospace 3D-printing market due to the need for low-volume, low-weight parts that can be manufactured using 3D-printing technologies, which reduces supply chain constraints, minimizes warehouse space and lowers waste materials compared to traditional manufacturing processes (http://ibn.fm/cWh1C).

As the industry is challenged by environmental restrictions, high manufacturing cost and a competitive market environment, 3D metal components manufacturing offers a unique solution to help overcome much of these challenges.

Weight is considered the most important feature in the design and development of an aircraft because of its tremendous impact on fuel consumption. 3D-printing technology can help build lighter fuel-saving aircraft parts, a characteristic essential in an industry that operates at low-profit margins. Additive manufacturing provides advanced manufacturing techniques for developing the components, parts while maintaining the strength and aerodynamic features of an aircraft. This is an important motivating factor for airlines to procure newer generation aircraft, which will drive the growth of the additive-manufacturing sector. The aircraft segment currently holds the major share in 3D printing for the aerospace and defense market.

3D-printing technology also provides companies with a critical competitive advantage as it offers the flexibility to design and test products multiple times and quickly build prototypes, helping companies to cost effectively reduce uncertainties and improve the functionality of their products, thereby accelerating design cycles and reducing time to market.

By making the production process of components faster, cheaper, and simpler, while also enabling the seamless integration of components into a single structure and reducing the need for external joints, fasteners and adhesives, additive manufacturing has attracted interest from major aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus B.V. as well as component producers such as Rolls-Royce, Pratt & Whitney and GE Aviation.

However, 3D-printing technology is facing a significant technical hurdle: real-time process monitoring and control. Due to variability in the 3D-printing process, consistent quality of produced parts is not reliably achieved without postproduction inspection, which is time consuming, costly and results in high rejection costs. Since components and parts can currently be inspected only by CT scans and other means, the producer doesn’t know until the end of the process if the finished parts meet design specifications, resulting in lost time and profits as well as the inability to economically scale up production.

Sigma Labs is revolutionizing the traditional quality assurance process with its quality-assurance software that operates in real-time, in process as parts are being formed unlike any other quality-assurance software on the market, Sigma Labs’ PrintRite3D® is a unique third-party validated software that enables real-time monitoring, analysis, feedback and control during the 3D-printing process of precision metal parts. PrintRite3D detects defects during the production process while providing feedback to machine operators allowing corrective actions to be taken , leading to faster production of metal parts with fewer errors and a more uniform product. Users will realize results in decreased downtime and waste while increasing yield and profits for 3D-printing companies.

Compared to its competitors, Sigma Labs’ PrintRite3D provides users with a superior solution. Most other solutions do not offer features such as crucial calibration filters, raw data export, machine-learning-enabled automated anomaly detection, and 3D thermal data visualization. Within the rapidly growing aerospace sector, Sigma Labs has been recognized as a superior solution to the industry’s critical needs and, as such, was selected by the industry-leading producer Airbus earlier this year to deploy its PrintRite3D Rapid Test and Evaluation Program.

With tier-1 clients such as Airbus, Siemens, Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell evaluating the software, Sigma Labs is on a clear path to break-even operations in 2020. The company is uniquely positioned to capture a significant part of the sizable addressable market with its proprietary technology that enables the entire 3D-metal-printing industry to overcome the single most-significant barrier to adoption in serial production.

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

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

• SING announces distribution agreement with JTI USA designed to grow market for PrimeTime Little Cigars
• SinglePoint debuts, takes orders for Little Cigars at preeminent marijuana business conference
• Global cigar market is currently $10 billion and forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.23% from 2019 to 2024

SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING), a company that specializes in acquisitions of small to mid-sized companies with an emphasis in new technologies, announced that it has inked a new distribution agreement with JTI USA that could significantly grow the footprint of PrimeTime™ Little Cigars throughout North America (http://ibn.fm/Xv3cF).

“I’m excited and honored to be working with JTI to distribute PrimeTime Little Cigars,” SinglePoint CEO Greg Lambrecht stated in a news release. “The opportunity to work with a global leader in this category is exciting, and we are ready to expand Primetime’s U.S. market share with our unique experience in alternative markets. Having placed premium cigars in over 30,000 accounts, we expect this opportunity to be one of our major revenue sources in coming years, and to distribute additional JTI products as we grow this category.”

Shortly after announcing the distribution agreement, SinglePoint took its first step in its new distribution role, debuting the PrimeTime Little Cigars at the 2019 MJBIZCON show, held last week in Las Vegas. At the show, SING showcased PrimeTime Little Cigars and took its first orders for the product. SING expects the exposure gained and orders taken at the show will lead to additional distribution and alternative-market possibilities.

“We are excited to be working with SinglePoint,” added Renee Duszynski, director of sales for JTI. “SinglePoint CEO Mr. Lambrecht’s prior experience in distribution of premium cigars, we believe, will lead to continued growth of JTI USA products and the PrimeTime brand.”

Part of the JT Group of companies, JTI USA is a multibillion-dollar organization with international presence in 130 countries. As a distributor for JTI, SinglePoint will play an important part as it supports JTI’s efforts to grow the distribution and sales of PrimeTime Little Cigars. According to Mordor Intelligence, the global cigar market is currently $10 billion and forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 4.23% from 2019 to 2024.

Recognized as the best-flavored little cigars on the market, PrimeTime Little Cigars are available in cherry, grape, vanilla, and peach. This high-quality tobacco product line provides a valuable alternative for cost-conscious adult smokers who are looking for quality products.

Founded in 2011, SinglePoint invests in and acquires brands and companies that will benefit from injection of growth capital and its sales and marketing expertise. The company portfolio currently includes solar renewables, hemp and distribution tobacco products. SinglePoint is working to grow to a multinational brand.

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

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