• BLOCKStrain is poised to lead the charge in providing accountability and transparency in the multibillion-dollar global cannabis market
• BLOCKStrain’s solution will help protect the intellectual property of cannabis cultivators – a service greatly needed in the burgeoning industry

Pioneering into new market frontiers brings the need for innovation and regulation, and BLOCKStrain Technology Corp. (TSX.V: DNAX) (OTC: BKKSF) addresses one of the newest and hottest industries in the marketplace – cannabis.

BLOCKStrain, a full-service software company, stands out in the market as the developer of the very first integrated blockchain platform designed to register and track cannabis intellectual property from genome to sale. The company’s proprietary, immutable and cryptographically secure platform provides a single source of trust in the cannabis industry, delivering an accurate, validated and permanent means of tracking cannabis strains across the full supply chain.

The need for BLOCKStrain’s solution becomes ever more crucial as the cannabis market expands worldwide and as the need for supply chain verification increases. As major cannabis players enter the industry and establish their brands, real-world problems continue to emerge, such as:

• Illegal growers copying major brands in cannabis dispensaries;
• Failed lawsuits regarding intellectual property; and
• Gray market cannabis products passing as legal products.

While supply chain transparency and verification are ongoing issues for various industries, in an emerging industry like the cannabis market, in which regulations are still being established and the proverbial kinks are still being worked out, the need for a reliable means of seed-to-sale tracking is even more acute.

Until recently, cannabis products were largely available only on the black market. As cannabis availability and legalization now continue to expand worldwide, heavy regulations and new standards are emerging to help ensure a safe supply for consumers. BLOCKStrain’s solution answers the call for a trusted means of tracking cannabis products from their source and ensuring origin, product testing compliance and safety.

BLOCKStrain’s solution addresses various unique challenges currently faced in the cannabis industry, including:

• Mandatory Testing: The company’s platform and lab-testing partners offer a process that is streamlined and more efficient, greatly reducing administrative burden and enabling products to be brought to market more quickly.
• DNA-Based Product Validation: BLOCKStrain’s underlying technology creates a genetic fingerprint that enables electronic product identification and validation. This allows anyone along the supply chain, including consumers, to view a product’s complete history.
• Intellectual Property: A key feature of BLOCKStrain’s solution is its ability to help protect the intellectual property of cannabis growers—something that will increasingly be needed as the industry continues to evolve. For instance, if a craft grower develops a distinctive strain that becomes popular among consumers, BLOCKStrain’s platform can facilitate IP protection through a simple registration of the strain’s genome. This creates a permanent record that is readily available in case of future IP disputes, ensuring that proper parties receive licensing fees for use of their IP.

Through its delivery of this innovative, comprehensive, secure and community-driven genetics archival platform, BLOCKStrain is well-positioned to lead the charge in providing much-needed accountability and trust within the multibillion-dollar cannabis market.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.BLOCKStrain.io

• Promising results from the first four exploration holes at Ollague Property have encouraged additional exploration scheduled to begin in September 2018
• The fifth Ollague hole will increase the exploration depth from the current 250 meters to 500 meters
• The new development is coming amid growing demand for lithium and projections for an increase in lithium prices by 2021

Lithium Chile Inc. (TSX.V: LITH) (OTCQB: LTMCF), the largest private owner of lithium-rich land in Chile, has been approved for a fifth hole at its Ollague Property, extending the drilling depth from the current 250 meters to 500 meters. The decision is based on strong indicators from the first four drilling holes, according to a company press release (http://ibn.fm/EY9KX).

The four exploration holes originally planned for Ollague have been completed, and the results from the first one, announced on August 23, 2018, indicated grades in the brine ranging up to 480 mg/l of lithium. The grades increased steadily from 120 meters to the final depth of 300 meters.

Results for the remaining holes are pending, but, based on preliminary information and the data collected from the first exploration hole, Lithium Chile has decided to pursue a fifth hole. Its location will be in the center of the basin, just north of the third and fourth holes.

Road and pad construction have both been completed, following successful surface access negotiations. Drilling was planned to start on September 4. The top 50 meters of the hole will be cased to prevent up hole caving and to also reduce the amount of contamination of the deeper brine. The bigger target depth of 500 meters will allow the company to explore levels of the salar that haven’t been tested before.

Lithium Chile president and CEO Steve Cochrane said that the fifth Ollague hole drilling confirms the positive data collected from the four exploration holes and also suggests the property’s potential to be a great discovery in the field of lithium production.

The new announcement comes at a time when the forecast for lithium production is more than positive. The lithium demand was set at 220,000 tons of lithium-carbonate equivalent in 2017. This number is projected to go up to 900,000 tons in 2025 and two million tons by 2030, according to research and data firm Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, quoted by Bloomberg (http://ibn.fm/nq3Sw).

Lithium-ion battery makers will drive the increase in demand, contributing to a 650 percent increase from current levels by 2027 as the electric vehicle market continues to expand. Because of the steady demand, lithium prices are expected to peak in 2018 and register a slight decline in 2019 due to the greater supply of mined lithium entering the market. A new peak beyond the 2018 level is expected in 2021, Roskill’s lithium market outlook report shows (http://ibn.fm/Cfa3N).

Lithium Chile is currently working on advancing its lithium property portfolio. The portfolio consists of 15 projects that encompass 155,800 hectares covering sections of 14 salars and one laguna in Chile. The lithium-rich salars in Chile are recognized for the high-grade reserves and the lowest cost production in the world. All of the projects are characterized by excellent chemistry lithium brines at shallow depths. The necessary infrastructure has been added to ensure effortless access to the locations.

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

• PRO 140 requires one dose a week, rather than daily pills
• Treatment has shown hardly any side-effects in clinical trials, while current HIV therapies may cause mild to severe side-effects
• CytoDyn’s treatment is simple for patients to administer with hardly any toxicity

Significant advantages of PRO 140, CytoDyn Inc.’s (OTCQB: CYDY) viral-entry inhibitor, over drugs currently used in HIV treatment therapies have been reported, namely showing little if any toxicity or side-effects in treated patients to date, ease of administration (once weekly dosing) and a lack of HIV resistance developing to the treatment. Although there are several promising HIV therapies currently in development or new on the market, from companies such as Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK), none are weekly self-administered sub-cutaneous injections in phase 3 development.

Patients on current leading therapies often struggle with treatment compliance due to the complexity of treatment regimens and sometimes high number of pills they must take every day. Non-adherence to current therapies can have major consequences for patients, as even one missed dose may cause the virus to begin multiplying in their bodies, leading to potential resistance against the therapy, according to experts.

In addition, highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) on the market at present can cause mild to severe adverse effects among many patients. Current market leaders are striving to deal with the compliance issue by developing treatments that simplify treatment regimens and which have fewer toxic effects on patients.

There are several factors which may make PRO 140 a popular therapy among patients. While on current treatment regimens, a patient who misses even one dose may face immediate consequences, with his or her HIV viral load increasing. However, PRO 140 in a combination therapy could allow a three-day grace period during which patients could suffer no ill effects from missing a dose. PRO 140 requires just one weekly injectable dose, which could also make it an attractive prospect for many patients who struggle to take pills every day.

Additionally, some HAART treatments consist of multiple pills per day, which can be complicated to administer, as they rely on a combination of different medicines, each of which inhibits HIV in a different way but must often be taken at an exact time, several times a day. A large amount of tweaking and adjustment may be required to find a therapy which works for a given patient. In contrast, PRO 140 is designed as a single-agent treatment or “monotherapy.”

Importantly, PRO 140 has not caused any treatment-related serious adverse events in clinical trials to date, even when administered at high dose levels. Current HAART therapies can have moderate to severe side-effects, including nausea, fever, kidney damage, diarrhea, bleeding and bone loss.

PRO 140 is an antibody rather than a drug.  It works by blocking the most prevalent HIV subtype from entering healthy cells, thus protecting them from infection. The FDA has awarded PRO 140 fast-track designation, and its approval as a combination therapy for HIV could come as soon as 2019, with the possibility of a monotherapy approval afterward as a label expansion.

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

• Net Element subsidiary Netevia processed $1.62 billion in transactions during first half of 2018, with $1.4 billion occurring in North America
• Company’s PayOnline subsidiary part of reorganization involving international business, mobile payments solutions
• Net revenues rose 15 percent during the first half of the year, with gross profits expected to rise another $6.5 million during the next four years

Payment processing technology company Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) is seeing rising revenues from its North American market and is weighing options for monetizing mobile operations on a global scale through its agent contracts, while additional value-added efforts have branded it a company that continues to identify growth initiatives with independent equity research firm SeeThruEquity (http://ibn.fm/gFC7s).

An edited transcript of Net Element’s August 15 earnings conference call released recently (http://ibn.fm/4i3me) notes the dominance of domestic transactions in the company’s revenue report amid anticipated declines in the global payment solutions’ international arena of operations due to the elimination of branded content business as Net Element takes an opportunity to reorganize its international business and join its mobile payments operations with multi-channel subsidiary PayOnline.

The company’s North American Transaction Solutions segment saw net revenue growth over the prior year, according to the earnings report, with a six percent increase for the second quarter and a 15 percent increase for the six-month period. The United States accounted for 88 percent of the quarter’s total revenues, and 87 percent of the six-month total.

A solid sign of the success of Net Element’s Netevia processing platform is that the value of the financial transactions that the company processed grew from $1.18 billion in the first half of 2017 to $1.62 billion in the comparable period of 2018, with $1.4 billion of that amount occurring in North America. The number of transactions processed by the company grew from 35.7 million to 50.2 million.

Net Element’s expertise lies in providing multiple payment channel options to small and medium-sized businesses and their customers while adapting its platform to the particular needs of brick and mortar, unbanked and web-based businesses trying to get optimal results from their revenue streams.

Netevia employs single-use credit card numbers for electronic transactions as a means of combatting fraud when its customers share card information across the internet in e-commerce, for example. The company’s mobile Unified Payments subsidiary is helping smaller-sized businesses combat onerous card transaction fees by employing a subscription model that reduces many of the complications associated with services that aren’t fully responsive to the end user.

“Utilizing a transparent subscription-based pricing model combined with the latest technology solutions, Payment Club can provide positive options to frustrated merchants and streamline their payment processes,” Payment Club President Anthony Kutscher stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/YYEZk).

CEO Oleg Firer told participants in last month’s conference call that the company is also on track to launch services such as blockchain technology solutions that have been in the works.

“Combined, these strategic initiatives are expected to add over $6.5 million in gross profit over the next 4 years. We’re on track to deliver another year of growth and financial improvement and are pleased with our results as we continue to focus on long-term growth plans,” he said.

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

• Novel flow-through invention offers critical enablement for future system design strategies for groundbreaking biotherapeutics research, as well as drug discovery & development
• Development of next generation Barocycler instruments to allow “hands-free” sample processing that will increase accuracy, reduce costs and avoid contamination
• Global sample preparation market projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2024
• Global proteomics market projected to reach $21.87 billion in 2021
• PBIO’s innovative ultra-shear pressure-based platform technology (UST) being used in federally-funded food safety and preservation development program at Ohio State University
• Potential applications for UST include pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and beverages, lubricants, paints and cosmetics

Pressure BioSciences Inc. (“PBI”) (OTCQB: PBIO), a leader in the development and sale of broadly enabling, pressure-based instruments, consumables and platform solutions to the worldwide life sciences industry, has added another patent to its intellectual property portfolio, bringing the total to 21 patents. Issued as U.S. Patent 9995661 and titled “Flow-through High Hydrostatic Pressure Microfluidic Sample Preparation Device and Related Methods Therefor,” this new patent is a significant development in the company’s strategic plan to develop automated “hands-free” sample handling for the next generation of PBI’s high-pressure sample preparation platform systems, a news release states (http://ibn.fm/gqp34).

The global sample preparation market is projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2024, according to a report by TransparencyMarketResearch (http://ibn.fm/wCaOd). Pressure BioSciences’ product line is led by its newly released, next-generation Barocycler 2320EXTREME instrument system, which can be used to exquisitely control the sample preparation process.  Based on the company’s patented and enabling pressure cycling technology (PCT) platform, over 300 Barocycler systems have been installed in approximately 200 academic, government, pharmaceutical and biotech research laboratories worldwide.  These laboratories use the PCT instrument system for multiple applications, including the preparation of samples for biomarker and target discovery, soil & plant biology, anti-bioterror and forensics studies. There are over 100 independent scientific publications highlighting the advantages of the PCT system in such studies, many from worldwide key opinion leaders.

“This long-anticipated patent is a very important development for the Company on multiple fronts, and the timing of its issuance could not be better,” Dr. Alexander Lazarev, PBI’s vice president of research and development, stated in the release. “This invention also enables a unique capability for maintaining high pressure in a flow-through format (rather than the current batch processing), which we expect will facilitate the development of new, automated continuous process monitoring tools applicable to diverse segments of the life sciences industry.”

The invention’s novel flow-through concept offers critical enablement for future system design strategies for epitope characterization, Lazarev noted. An epitope is the antibody binding site on an antigen capable of eliciting an immune response. “This is an emerging area in development and production of biotherapeutics that could revolutionize personalized therapy for numerous medical conditions, including autoimmune diseases and a variety of rare medical disorders,” Lazarev explained.

PBI’s latest, patented invention will allow for further development of a much sought-after, hands-free, automated workflow, providing valuable enhancements in efficiencies, throughput and contamination avoidance for the company’s instrument and consumable product lines, Richard T. Schumacher, president and CEO of PBI, added.

“We also believe this invention will accelerate our expansion into larger scale applications in multiple major business segments for the Company, particularly in the rapidly growing field of proteomics research,” Schumacher said. “Growth in proteomics and other additional areas should further cement and expand market acceptance and recognition for PBI’s innovative and enabling pressure-based platform technologies and spur concomitant growth in revenue and shareholder value.”

According to a market report by Research and Markets, the worldwide biopharmaceuticals market in 2014 reached a valuation of $160.44 billion.

Pressure BioSciences is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 76 percent in the next five fiscal years from 2018 to 2022, according to a Zacks Research Report issued on July 26, 2018 (http://ibn.fm/IyKn9). In the Zacks Small-Cap Research Report, the company’s fair value for PBIO shares was raised to $12/share from a previous $10/share. Zacks’ optimism regarding Pressure BioSciences is tied to a number of recent achievements and collaborative research programs, expansion of the company’s sales and marketing capabilities and a newly established multinational co-marketing partner, ISS Inc.

The future looks bright for the company based on the expected growth in sales of its PCT-based instrument systems. PBI’s revenue should be additionally impacted by the development of its newest high-pressure technology platform, ultra shear technology (UST). UST offers the potential to produce highly stable, clean and cost-effective nanoemulsions that facilitate the production of food products with enhanced shelf lives without the need for chemicals or preservatives, as detailed in a recent article (http://ibn.fm/gcKNZ). The company believes that its UST technology platform can be applied across a multitude of industries seeking to satisfy consumer demand for chemical- and preservative-free food products that have longer shelf-lives, greater safety and do not require refrigeration until opened. These areas include pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, paints and industrial lubricants.

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

• Large Argentine reserves in Lithium Triangle
• Investor friendly regulatory environment
• Favorable drilling results of 250 mg per liter obtained near Marifil claim

It may be facing some tough times presently, but there is no need to cry for Argentina, for this is a country with a GDP of $626 billion, according to the latest IMF data – not much less than Saudi Arabia or Switzerland. It is also home to extensive deposits of lithium. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the country’s reserves at two million metric tons (tonnes), the fourth largest in the world after Chile, China and Australia. Estimates by Argentine government officials are even rosier. “Argentina has over 650 million tonnes of lithium in known salars,” says one, quite enough to satisfy present global demand for about 300 years (http://ibn.fm/EmwL0). Some of that demand could likely be met with lithium from claims held by Marifil Mines Ltd. (TSX.V: MFM) (OTC: MFMLF). The junior Canadian explorer holds lithium interests in Catamarca province, in the same geologic and mining region that hosts FMC’s world-renowned Hombre Muerto mine.

Despite its economic woes (the country has asked the IMF for $50 billion), Argentina is moving ahead with plans to create an inviting regulatory environment for investors in the lithium industry. The new administration, installed since the inauguration of President Mauricio Macri in 2015, has lowered corporate income tax to 30 percent from 35 percent; in 2020, it will be reduced further to 25 percent. In addition, export taxes on minerals have been eliminated and so have taxes on mining equipment and parts (http://ibn.fm/EPdDC).

Marifil’s holdings span 15,267 hectares (59 square miles) and include its recently acquired Ratones and Fraile claims, as well as two lithium mine rights covering the southern portions of the Carachi Pampa salar in the Province of Catamarca, one of which is contingent on receiving a clean title report. Prospects look good. Another miner working to the north on the same salar has announced favorable drilling results with significant lithium assay runs of 250 mg per liter. Marifil is now reviving an exploration program that was undertaken in Salta and Catamarca provinces in 2009. The program staked 12 properties covering some 61,500 hectares (237 square miles) and generated a large proprietary geologic and geochemical database that now provides the basis for Marifil’s lithium exploration program.

Marifil’s interests also include the Las Aguilas nickel-copper-cobalt deposit property, with more than four contiguous patented mining claims in the San Luis province of Argentina. The Las Aguilas property, which is 100 percent owned by Marifil, is noted as having the only drilled cobalt resource in Argentina. Other noteworthy properties in the company’s portfolio include 150,647 hectares (582 square miles) of potash claims in Neuquen and Mendoza Provinces, Lago Fontana, a prospective polymetallic deposit with strong gold and silver values, in Chubut Province, and El Carmen, a hydrocarbon play in the oil fields of Chubut Province.

In addition, Marifil is exploring at San Roque property, in the southern Argentine Province of Rio Negro, near the Atlantic coast in a region of well-developed infrastructure. The San Roque claims contain a bulk tonnage sulfide deposit comprising minerals of gold, silver, lead, zinc and indium disseminated in tens of millions of tonnes of host volcanic rocks, as well as a newly discovered series of gold-bearing quartz veins. Exploration of this system of veins has just begun, with a series of trenches made to expose and better sample them. These gold-bearing veins exceed a kilometer in length and are generally in the one-to-three meter range of width. Marifil’s San Roque permanent mining rights are held by nine mineral tenures, three of which are now granted titles covering 95 patented mining claims that total 9,449 hectares (36.5 square miles) within the greater package of 42,321 hectares (163 square kilometers) of mineral exploration rights.

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

• With its Form 10 registration statement filing now effective, ETST will begin reporting annual, quarterly and periodic financial statements to the SEC, as well as other obligations
• Biotech company is focused on the cannabidiol (CBD), pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sectors, as well as the development, through subsidiaries, of medical devices and research
• ETST develops innovative products with the goal of becoming a world leader in the CBD space; three new CBD formulas are being developed under a provisory patent

Earth Science Tech, Inc. (OTC: ETST) anticipates uplisting to the OTCQB Venture Market after receiving a Form 10 registration statement filing date. The biotech company will begin filing annual reports with the SEC on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-K. Additional reporting obligations include shareholder actions, proxies and stock ownership rules (http://ibn.fm/r8kiR).

In a news release, Nickolas S. Tabraue, president, chairman and director of ETST, said, “With our Form 10 filing now effective, ETST is progressing towards fulfilling its goals. Following this achievement, we anticipate to up-list to the OTCQB tier in early September, due to our early application submission with OTC Markets Group, Inc. We look forward to maximizing the value of our company for our loyal shareholders as we unfold.”

ETST is a biotech company based in Doral, Florida, marketing and developing CBD products for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields. The company manufactures, markets and distributes its own cannabinoid products, including capsules and oils.

In Canada, it is testing three new CBD IP formulations. It is also testing its Hygee MSN-2 medical device, for the detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in women, at Québec’s Clinique Santé Amitié (http://ibn.fm/IF36Y).

The company is developing two new products in Brazil through a joint venture with Bionatus Laboratrio Botnico of Brazil and its Canadian division, Bionatus Botanical Laboratories. In the U.S., ETST is conducting studies with the University of Central Oklahoma on the impact of high grade full spectrum CBD on breast cancer and immune cells (http://ibn.fm/jrbdu).

ETST holds several wholly owned subsidiaries. Cannabis Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company. KannaBidioiD manufactures and distributes in the recreational sector. Earth Science Foundation, Inc. is becoming a non-profit and accepts grants and donations to conduct additional studies. Earth Science Pharmaceutical develops medical diagnostic tools and vaccines. The company also formed subsidiary Canno Inno Laboratories Inc., a strategic Montreal, Canada-based company that provides ETST with access to government grants.

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

• Global hydroponics industry expected to enjoy 6.5 percent CAGR through 2025 amid competitive growth
• Sugarmade building hydroponics holdings with proposed acquisitions, foray into U.S. hemp market
• Company’s reach extending to European markets with recent targeting of global leader in hydroponic consumption

The growing popularity of cannabis both as a medicinal plant extract and a relaxing recreational drug during recent years has created a bellwether effect for a number of industries that see potential in catering to the companies that in turn cater to cannabidiol (CBD) and marijuana clients. Among them, hydroponics suppliers are seeing tremendous year-over-year growth lately, and Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD) hopes to build on its product and brand marketing experience to take advantage of the trend.

Sugarmade is a Southern California company invested in the development of products and brands with disruptive potential. Recently, the company expanded into Europe’s hydroponics supply market and saw its revenue growth patterns expand geographically from California-centric last year to an increasing number of U.S. states where legalization has eased restriction and on into the United Kingdom.

On August 28, Sugarmade announced that it had filed a disclosure statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission about its formal acquisition negotiations with two companies that provide online and retail hydroponic and other agricultural cultivation supplies, which Sugarmade believes may enhance its portfolio.

“The hydroponic supply sector is still highly fragmented with many of the larger players not likely to reach public company liquidity events for the original entrepreneurial teams. We have entered into talks with at least two of these companies for acquisition, which we believe will be highly accretive for common Sugarmade shareholders and additive to our already robust top line growth rate,” CEO Jimmy Chan stated in a news release about the filing (http://ibn.fm/vjnNt). “We wanted to publicly disclose these discussions to ensure that all shareholders have equal access to our direction, thus our recent public filing.”

Sugarmade plans a special shareholder meeting October 10 to conduct business related to the negotiations, including a vote on whether to increase the company’s authorized common shares from 300 million to two billion, which Sugarmade’s management considers necessary to facilitate the possible acquisitions.

The global hydroponics market is expected to see a high level of competition during the next few years, and analysts at Transparency Market Research predict that the market will reach a value of $12.1 billion by the end of 2025 — a 6.5 percent CAGR during the coming years and near doubling of its $6.9 billion value last year (http://ibn.fm/OOGM3).

Europe is the leading geographical consumer of hydroponic supplies and is expected to maintain a leading position throughout the coming years with a share of about 41 percent of the global market, according to the analysts, but helping to drive the market is cannabis extracts’ growing favor not only with the public, but with governmental agencies as well. Canada’s government will legalize recreational marijuana use nationwide next month, lifting the final usage restrictions. Nine U.S. states have legalized marijuana use despite federal drug enforcement restrictions, and at least 30 states have legalized some form of medicinal cannabis use or research (http://ibn.fm/HIk00). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of CBD-bearing Epidiolex as an anti-seizure medication portends a reclassifying of CBD’s drug status before the end of this month.

In August, Sugarmade committed to an investment of $1 million in capital over the coming 12 months into Hempistry, Inc.’s ultra-high CBD industrial hemp cultivation project in Kentucky, with an expected additional agreement regarding hemp cultivation supplies, according to a news release announcing the project (http://ibn.fm/FdeEN).

“Demand for industrial hemp and products derived from hemp is soaring, with no let up in sight. We expect our direct investment into Hempistry to be accretive to common shareholders and our supply agreement to be lucrative. All of us at Sugarmade see a tremendous opportunity to become a supplier to this fast growing sector,” Chan stated in the news release.

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

• Green digital system is being offered to the entire legalized cannabis industry, providing an alternative to traditional banking; its online signup feature has triggered application growth
• REFG is adding more licenses to grow industrial hemp; it is already licensed in Colorado, with eyes on Utah and Vermont
• Company is adding prominent political figures to its advisory board from states where medical marijuana is legal, including New Mexico, Utah, Florida and Oregon

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) has expanded its presence in the legalized cannabis space from its core Green FinCEN-compliant processing system, which creates a digital and cashless way for dispensaries and other legalized merchants to do business outside of the traditional banking system. Online signup has generated more applications for Green, according to REFG (http://ibn.fm/bX9uz).

REFG is expanding its role as a grower. It acquired SpeedyGrow, a Wyoming-based firm licensed to grow and process hemp in Colorado (http://ibn.fm/lCERM). It says it will also apply for state licenses to grow industrial hemp in Utah (http://ibn.fm/thwel) and Vermont (http://ibn.fm/6RaE0).

In addition, REFG has reached agreement in principle with a subsidiary of Paper Lantern, LLC to acquire the rights to operate mobile hemp CBD extraction labs. It calls for the labs to operate at hemp farms owned and operated by REFG, as well as at farms that have entered into processing agreements with the company (http://ibn.fm/JIYH7). It anticipates deploying the mobile units for the October 2018 harvest.

In a news release, Jeremy Roberts, CEO of REFG, said, “Our mobile extraction partnership is another step forward in our plan to participate in the hemp and cannabis industries at strategic levels… We believe the ability to manage supply and demand from seed to sale gives us a competitive edge in the marketplace.”

The company is also adding more political impact to its advisory board, especially in states where medicinal marijuana is legal (http://ibn.fm/ffwTK). It has also added James Gray, mayor of Lexington, Kentucky. In that state, a bill was drafted to legalize medical marijuana but has not yet passed, according to Newsweek (http://ibn.fm/wB1nF).

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

• DeepMarkit helps businesses use games to promote their brands
• The company’s proprietary promotions platform is “Gamify”
• DeepMarkit continues to boost its customer base because of its beneficial technology

An e-commerce technology company, DeepMarkit Inc. (TSX.V: MKT) (OTCQB: MKTDF) develops and markets gamification tools, enabling businesses to use games to promote their brands, engage their audiences and produce leads. Calgary, Alberta-based DeepMarkit’s emphasis is gamification with its patent-pending “Gamify” technology platform.

Fundamentally, DeepMarkit’s team consists of gamification experts who come up with new ways to engage audiences. The company’s platform allows businesses to create branded games. These games attract and help retain customers. As a result, sales increase and new leads are captured via data acquisition.

DeepMarkit’s proprietary promotions platform is called “Gamify,” and the free version of the Gamify slide out launched in March 2018. The focus of Gamify is first-rate ecommerce customer acquisition tools. Coming soon is an enhanced version of the product. The company’s new product line will allow merchants to create and run gamified campaigns outside their websites, throughout social media and in paid ads.

Gamify is available for free download on all major e-commerce platforms. These include Shopify, BigCommerce, Weebly and WooCommerce. In addition, Gamify is available as a plug-in for WordPress, which sets the stage for wide-ranging adoption.

DeepMarkit’s customers are experiencing high conversion rates. Since unveiling its e-commerce tool kit in March, the company has collected greater than 125,000 emails from merchants who continue to see increased monthly conversion rates. Because of this, DeepMarkit continues to expand its customer base (http://ibn.fm/kSA5H). The company’s new merchant sign-ups in July were 20 percent higher than in June. Moreover, August was on course to show a bigger growth rate.

Carter Chalmers, DeepMarkit’s director of sales and business development, noted in an August news release, “We have been steadily increasing our merchant base month over month… We have been listening to our merchant customers and have incorporated features they have been requesting into our enhanced toolkit which we will launch in October.”

As an online marketing toolkit, Gamify helps merchants grow their email marketing lists and newsletter subscriptions. Furthermore, it helps merchants convert store visitors into paying customers. Gamification is the future that’s already here for retailers, and it is set to hit new highs in growth. P&S Market Research estimates that the global gamification market will be valued at more than $22 billion in 2021/2022, with a CAGR of 41.8 percent (http://ibn.fm/nHhu9).

DeepMarkit is poised to leverage its expertise in gamification technology to drive greater customer growth. The company’s customers see the benefits of Gamify and are implementing DeepMarkit’s toolkit into their operations. The toolkit can also be installed onto any website directly from DeepMarkit.

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