TinyGems

Tiny Gems - October 2022

TinyGems
Monthly Picks

Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI)

Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI), formerly Triccar Inc., through its two subsidiaries, Correlate and Solar Site Design, offers a complete suite of proprietary clean energy assessment and fulfilment solutions for the commercial real estate industry. The company believes scaling distributed clean energy solutions is critical in mitigating the effects of climate change. CIPI is at the forefront in creating an industry-leading energy solution and financing platform for the commercial and industrial sector. The company sees tremendous market opportunity in reducing site-specific energy consumption and deploying clean energy generation and energy efficiency solutions at scale.

The opportunity exists to remove friction between today's legacy finance process and the needed clean-energy upgrades developed within the company's program technologies. For the U.S. to reach its 2050 carbon goals, 200,000 commercial buildings must be retrofitted every year until that date. That represents approximately a 5-10x increase over the 2022 industry process run rate.

CIPI announced completion of its acquisition of 100% of the equity of Correlate Inc. and Loyal Enterprises LLC dba Solar Site Design on December 28, 2021. The company notes these acquisitions occurred at a key inflection point of its growth. CIPI currently enjoys channel and sales partnerships with Fortune 250 companies and a strong, proven industry network.

The company's transparent, leading-edge model changes value delivery for both facility owners and proven solution providers seeking scale. CIPI believes its rapid growth is due to industry demand for actionable, cashflow positive energy programs and the underlying carbon reduction mandates taking effect globally.

The company has been aggressively moving to rebrand, with efforts including a revised website, investor presentation materials and an investor relations awareness campaign. Correlate recently applied for a Nasdaq uplisting and is currently executing on a $200 million project pipeline.

Subsidiaries

Correlate, founded in 2015, is a portfolio-scale development and finance platform offering commercial and industrial facilities access to clean electrification solutions focused on locally-sited solar, energy storage, EV infrastructure, and intelligent efficiency measures. Its unique data-driven approach is powered by proprietary analytics, concierge subscription services, and a highly scalable national fulfillment network to help building owners profit from fully funded, turnkey decarbonization and facility health programs. The platform is designed for commercial and industrial real estate owners seeking to significantly improve net operating income while meeting carbon reduction goals. The platform provides energy programs for commercial property portfolios and requires no upfront capital. Client organizations reduce their risk and generate more profits by leveraging Correlate's unique payment programs to put more cash in the bank. Deploying Correlate's strategic energy programs and energy management systems allows property-owning organizations to complete big energy changes across their portfolios.

Solar Site Design, founded in 2013, is a U.S. Department of Energy Sunshot Catalyst winner that provides customer acquisition and project development tools for the commercial solar industry. Its commercial marketplace platform connects highly qualified project opportunities to leading solar construction companies nationwide. The Solar Site Design platform gives commercial and industrial property owners access to the best price for a commercial solar system. Commercial solar analysts provide property owners a site assessment and working project proposal. Solar Site Design's team of solar engineers finalize the design while approved financing providers help clients explore financing options for their projects. Then, approved contractors in Solar Site Design's Marketplace bid on the projects, ensuring commercial and industrial property owners get the best estimates for their projects. Solar Site Design's marketplace process promotes transparency and fair pricing. Its team of experts has nearly 20 years of experience in the solar industry. Only reputable, experienced, certified (NABCEP), licensed, bonded and insured contractors are accepted into the Solar Site Design Marketplace.

Market Outlook

CIPI is in a rapidly growing market with a unique offering to address a total market of more than 5.9 million commercial buildings in the United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Currently, the company's wholly owned subsidiaries, Correlate and the Solar Site Design, have an opportunity pipeline of over $100 million in commercial projects with more than $20 million in awarded backlog. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, portfolio energy optimization is a $290 billion market in the United States driving deep financial savings and energy efficiency across the commercial sector.

Commercial buildings consume more than 35% of the generated electricity in the U.S. and are underperforming in energy efficiency at every level. These buildings waste energy, emit too much carbon, and are too costly for owners and occupants, but retrofits are not happening at the rate or scale needed.

In today's real estate market, portfolio property owners own most commercial buildings. Yet most building efficiency work is focused on single buildings, thereby missing the distinct needs of this owner class which has very different needs than traditional owner-occupiers. The diverse nature of commercial buildings, combined with technology and performance uncertainty, make simple energy optimization initiatives – which could greatly reduce energy use and improve building value – financially unattractive, resulting in slow adoption rates. CIPI's financial instruments and software breakdown this issue known as the "split incentive", unlocking the majority of the addressable market.

Management Team

CIPI has in place a nationally recognized management team that has been active in the energy market since 2005.

Todd Michaels is President and CEO of CIPI and founder of Correlate. He formerly served as Vice President for Innovation at SunEdison and Senior Director Distributed Solar at NRG Energy. He founded Correlate in 2015 and has 16 years of experience in the energy industry. He graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems.

Channing Chen is CFO at CIPI and Correlate Inc. and brings over 16 years of experience in the solar industry as a developer, financier, and business unit leader. He has held executive management roles at Solar Power Partners (acquired by NRG Energy), where he was a founding employee, SunEdison, and NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG). Most recently, Mr. Chen was founder and Managing Partner at Breakaway Energy Partners LLC – a distributed energy financing and market-making platform. To date, Mr. Chen and his teams have raised over $1.5 billion in financing across residential, commercial, and utility scale solar and energy storage projects representing over 400 MWs. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of California at San Diego and an MBA from the University of Southern California. He is also an advisor and early-stage investor to several startup companies in the renewable energy space.

David Bailey is Chief Revenue Officer of Correlate Inc. With over 15 years of executive sales, supply chain management, and energy efficiency experience, he is responsible for ensuring the success of the National Commercial Sales Unit across multiple regional project teams. Mr. Bailey created and launched the Transformation Services team while at Wesco for its multibillion-dollar Distributed Energy Resource division, formerly Westinghouse. His focus was on IoT-enabled efficiency and plant floor automation-based services. Before that, he spent several years in Global Account Sales Management, with GE Supply as a Program Manager, and is a Commercial Leadership Program graduate. Mr. Bailey received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky.

Jason Loyet is VP of Commercial Sales of Correlate Inc. He is a cleantech executive with over 20 years of experience leading high growth solar energy and software start-ups. Mr. Loyet is a U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Catalyst award winner for his work building the Solar Site Design technology platform. Before joining the solar energy industry in 2005, he founded and sold two software companies in the streaming media (GlobalStreams) and newspaper publishing (MyCapture) industries. Mr. Loyet currently serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Solar Energy Industry Association (TenneSEIA).

Deke Welling is Head of Project Development and Fulfillment Services at Correlate Inc. He has over 19 years' experience in the energy industry with an emphasis on renewables and energy efficiency over the past seven years. Prior to entering the renewables sector, Mr. Welling was the CEO of Welling Resources, an energy development company focused on the exploration of oil and natural gas reserves in the U.S. It was this experience that led him into the renewables sector and leading a charge for more sustainable resources. Additionally, Mr. Welling also served as the CEO of Circle L Solar Inc., a top 100 solar installer in the United States since 2016. Through his leadership, Circle L Solar experienced a growth rate of over 2,250% from 2016 to 2019, resulting in his company being listed on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. (Rank #176) and being named 'Top Energy Company' and 'Entrepreneur of Year for the Energy Industry' by the American Business Awards® in 2019 and again for 'Entrepreneur of the Year' in 2021.

Kevin Warren is Head of Construction and Development Engineering at Correlate Inc. He is a solar veteran with over 12 years of experience in the field. Prior to co-founding CLS, Mr. Warren was the owner of Beacon Consulting and has originated, consulted, designed and/or engineered over 122 MW of PV installations ranging from small commercial to utility scale projects throughout Texas, California, Colorado and North Carolina. He holds a Photovoltaic Technical Sales Professional Certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners and certifications from Solar Energy International in PV Installation, PV Technical Sales, PV battery-based design, PV design and engineering, and PV operations and maintenance. Along with PV expertise, Mr. Warren is a LEED Green Building Associate, a certified building analyst from the Building Performance Institute, a Certified Renewable Energy Professional from the Association of Energy Engineers and holds a designation in High-Performance Sustainable Buildings from the BOMI Institute. He studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Tom Kunhardt is Director of Customer Success at Correlate. He previously held a similar position at Clean.Tech and was Corporate Trainer, Learning & Development, at NRG Energy. He has 15 years of experience in the solar and clean energy industries helping homeowners and businesses find solutions to their energy needs. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS)

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services focused on delivering customer value via practical quantum applications for problems such as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, fault detection and financial modeling. As the only provider building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, the company is unlocking commercial use cases in optimization today, while building the technologies that will enable new solutions tomorrow.

D-Wave is a pioneer in quantum computing, with a history of delivering the world's first commercial quantum computer; the first real-time quantum cloud service; countless hardware and software product and research milestones; and the planned first cross-platform quantum solution which will deliver both annealing and gate-model quantum computers to customers via an integrated platform. Its current commercial product offerings include: Advantage™ (fifth generation quantum computer), Leap™ (quantum cloud service), Launch™ (quantum computing onboarding service) and Ocean™ (full suite of open-source programming tools).

D-Wave's relentless pursuit of practical quantum computing has resulted in the technology being used today by some of the world's most advanced enterprises – more than 25 of the Forbes Global 2000 use D-Wave.

D-Wave's commercial customers include blue-chip industry leaders like Volkswagen, Accenture, BBVA, NEC Corporation, Save-On-Foods, DENSO and Lockheed Martin. The company boasts an extensive IP portfolio featuring more than 200 issued U.S. patents and over 100 peer-reviewed papers published in leading scientific journals.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave is the world's first commercial supplier of quantum computers. With headquarters and the Quantum Engineering Center of Excellence based near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave's U.S. operations are based in Palo Alto, California.

Advantage™ Quantum Computer

With the Advantage™ Quantum Computer, D-Wave has incorporated two decades of experience and over 10 years of customer feedback to create the first and only quantum computer designed for business. The platform features a new processor architecture with over 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity. This is 2.5x more connections and more than double the number of qubits than the company's previous generation quantum computer.

D-Wave's quantum computers, first located in its facilities in British Columbia, have been available to North American users through its Leap™ quantum cloud service since 2018. It has since introduced new Advantage systems in Julich, Germany, and most recently, Marina Del Rey, California, which marked the availability of the first Advantage quantum computer physically located in the United States.

That new deployment is part of the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) hosted at USC's Information Sciences Institute (ISI), a unit of the University of Southern California's prestigious Viterbi School of Engineering. Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and D-Wave announced that the U.S.-based system is available for use in Amazon 2racket, expanding the number to three different D-Wave quantum systems available to AWS users.

Leap Quantum Cloud Service

D-Wave's customers interface with its systems through the Leap™ quantum cloud service. Leap delivers immediate, real-time access to the company's Advantage quantum computer and quantum hybrid solver service, all with enterprise-class performance and scalability.

Leap allows developers proficient in Python to get started building and running quantum applications. Through a seamless and secure cloud-based connection, users can easily start solving complex problems of up to 1 million variables and 100,000 constraints.

Using Leap, D-Wave customers have developed quantum hybrid applications for use cases in manufacturing, logistics, financial services, life sciences, materials science, retail and transportation. By eliminating the need to wait hours, days or weeks to get good answers to a broad array of problems, D-Wave is helping businesses move forward.

D-Wave Launch

D-Wave Launch™ is the company's onboarding platform aimed at helping businesses easily start their quantum journey. Through this program, D-Wave's team of experts and partners aid enterprises in identifying best use cases for quantum and work with them to develop a proof of concept and production pilot.

From there, the team coordinates with customers to get their hybrid quantum applications up and running, providing ongoing Leap quantum cloud access to ensure the application is operating smoothly and delivering real business value.

Target Verticals

While the potential applications for quantum computing are effectively limitless, D-Wave has identified a number of industry verticals as key areas of focus for its quantum architecture, providing case studies for each. These include:

  • Manufacturing – D-Wave worked with Volkswagen to identify a commercial optimization application, the binary paint shop problem, which was run on D-Wave's hybrid solver service. The solver outperformed four purely classical methods on problem sizes at commercial scale (N=3,000). In a separate project, similar inputs were tested using a leading ion trap system, which failed to find any commercial solution.
  • Life Sciences – Menten AI makes use of D-Wave quantum computing to assist in the design of novel therapeutic peptides—short strings of amino acids that can act as potent drugs. With the rise of COVID-19, D-Wave's Advantage system made it possible to identify molecules that might be especially well-suited for binding and inhibiting the related spike protein, producing several promising peptide designs.
  • Finance – Multiverse Computing, a leader in developing quantum solutions for the financial sector, leveraged D-Wave's hybrid solver service in a collaboration with BBVA, one of the world's largest financial institutions. Multiverse demonstrated management strategies that far exceeded the granularity of traditional returns in a fraction of the time, helping BBVA identify a low-risk portfolio for investment.

Market Opportunity

The quantum computing total addressable market is projected to grow between $450 billion and $850 billion over the next 15 to 30 years, with between $5 billion and $10 billion of anticipated TAM growth coming in the next three to five years, according to Boston Consulting Group. Driving factors behind this growth include rising investments in quantum computing tech by governments and an increasing number of commercial use-cases.

Forward-thinking organizations see quantum as an opportunity to move ahead of the competition. From finding efficiencies and reducing waste to decreasing time to solution and solving problems abandoned due to complexity, the business value is real. According to data from 451 Research, 40% of large enterprises are already experimenting with quantum computing.

D-Wave is strategically positioned – in an industry with significant barriers to entry – as evident by a decades-long track record serving a roster of blue-chip customers. The company is singularly focused on helping its customers achieve clear value by leveraging quantum computing in practical business applications. With a full stack of systems, software, developer tools and services, D-Wave is working to enable enterprises, governments, developers and researchers to access the power of quantum computing, thereby providing an intriguing opportunity for prospective investors.

D-Wave's current investor base includes PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corporation, Aegis Group Partners and In-Q-Tel.

Leadership Team

Dr. Alan Baratz has served as the CEO of D-Wave since 2020. Previously, as Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Product Officer, he drove the development, delivery, and support of all of D-Wave's products, technologies, and applications. Dr. Baratz has over 25 years of experience in product development and bringing new products to market at leading technology companies and software startups. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, he oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to a robust platform supporting mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco, and IBM. Dr. Baratz holds a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Markovich is the company's CFO. He brings to D-Wave over three decades of experience working with rapidly growing private and public technology companies across all stages of development. Mr. Markovich has directed the finance, accounting, tax, treasury, M&A, legal, operations, customer service, IR, HR, and IT functions for companies ranging from privately held pre-revenue startups to an NYSE-listed Fortune 500 multi-national company with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. During his career, he has negotiated and closed over 150 debt, equity, M&A, and joint venture transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in value; over a dozen private placements; nearly a dozen M&A transactions; and several international joint ventures. Mr. Markovich holds a BS in Business from Miami University and an MBA from the Michigan State Graduate School of Business.

Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: ELO) (OTCQX: ELRRF)

Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: ELO) (OTCQX: ELRRF) is a publicly traded exploration and mine development company with a portfolio of gold and base-metal properties in Bolivia, Peru and Quebec.

The company has an option to acquire a 99% interest in the highly prospective Iska Iska Property, classified as a silver-tin polymetallic epithermal-porphyry complex, a significant mineral deposit type in the Potosi Department of southern Bolivia. Iska Iska is a road-accessible, royalty-free property.

Eloro also owns an 82% interest in the La Victoria Gold/Silver Project, located in the North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru, some 50 kilometers south of Barrick's Lagunas Norte Gold Mine and Pan American Silver's La Arena Gold Mine. La Victoria consists of eight mining concessions and eight mining claims encompassing approximately 89 square kilometers. La Victoria has good infrastructure, with access to road, water and electricity, and is located at an altitude that ranges from 3,150 meters to 4,400 meters above sea level.

The company has a strong management and technical team working diligently to uncover the value of both Iska Iska and La Victoria. Eloro is based in Toronto, Canada.

Projects

Iska Iska – Potosi, Bolivia

Iska Iska is associated with a Miocene possibly collapsed/resurgent caldera, emplaced on Ordovician age rocks with major breccia pipes, dacitic domes and hydrothermal breccias. The property is wholly controlled by the title holder, Empresa Minera Villegas S.R.L. It is located 48 kilometers north of Tupiza city, in the Sud Chichas Province of the Department of Potosi. This is an important mineral deposit type in the prolific South Mineral Belt of Bolivia. Eloro commissioned a NI 43-101 Technical Report on Iska Iska, which was completed by Micon International Limited and is available on Eloro's website and under its filings on SEDAR.

A fully financed drill program is currently underway on the property, situated near world-class deposits including Silver Sand, San Bartolomé, Pulacayo, San Cristobal, San Vicente, Chorolque, Tasna, Choroma and Siete Suyos. Iska Iska is in the southwest part of the Eastern Cordillera, which hosts a number of major polymetallic mines and mineral deposits. Drilling and continuous channel sampling results have demonstrated some very high metal values, especially silver and tin, within an immense system, where mineralization has been encountered in every drill hole to date. The company believes there is excellent potential for world-class bulk mineable deposits.

La Victoria – Ancash, Peru

The La Victoria project, targeting gold and silver production, is situated near world-class, low-cost gold producers Pan American Silver and Barrick Gold Corporation. Located in Ancash Department, La Victoria sits on the western slopes of the Peruvian Andes. The property is located 12 hours from Lima, with a travel distance of 600 kilometers. The nearest road accessible population centers from La Victoria are Huandoval, Pallasca and Cabana. The project includes four principal mineralized zones in Peru's prolific North-Central Mineral Belt – San Markito, Victoria, Victoria South and Ccori Orcco – with excellent potential for gold discovery. Operations at La Victoria are planned to proceed with a 2,000-meter diamond drilling program to test targets to outline potential resources at San Markito. Trenching and sampling confirmed high silver values and veins at San Markito in 2020.

Market Outlook

According to industry association The Silver Institute, the outlook for silver demand is exceptionally promising, with global demand forecast to rise to a record high of 1.112 billion ounces in 2022. The increase will be driven by record silver industrial fabrication, which is forecast to improve by 5%, as silver's use expands primarily in solar energy and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. The institute states that government commitments to carbon neutrality have resulted in a rapid expansion of green energy projects, driving record photovoltaic panel installations which are expected to lift silver demand in this segment to an all-time high in 2022.

Rising demand in the electronics industry is also boosting the demand for tin, which is primarily used in solder. The electronics and electrical industries use solders containing 40-70% tin, which provide strong and reliable joints under a variety of environmental conditions. At present, the majority of the assemblers are using patented tin-and-copper-based solders. Mordor Intelligence estimated tin demand at 387 kilotons in 2021 and forecasts demand growth of 2.5% annually through 2027. Over the medium term, surging demand from the EV market and increasing applications in the electrical and electronics industry is expected to drive the market.

Management Team

Thomas G. Larsen is CEO of Eloro. He has more than 40 years of experience in the investment industry, specializing in corporate finance and management of junior resource companies, raising in excess of C$200 million. He previously held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Champion Iron Limited. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Champion Iron Mines Limited.

Dr. Bill Pearson is Executive VP of Exploration for Eloro. He has more than 40 years of direct experience in the exploration and production of minerals worldwide. He played an integral role in the acquisitions of Desert Sun Mining Corp. by Yamana Gold in 2006 and Central Sun Mining by B2 Gold in 2009. He was formerly VP Exploration at Desert Sun Mining and Senior VP at Central Sun Mining.

Miles Nagamatsu, CPA, is CFO at Eloro. He has over 30 years of experience in accounting, management, lending, restructurings and turnarounds. Since 1993, he has acted as a CFO of public and private companies primarily in the mineral exploration and investment management sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University.

Osvaldo Arce Burgoa is General Manager at Eloro. He is a geological and mineral processing engineer with 26 years of experience in Bolivia. He is a former President of the Bolivian Geological Society, Main Technical Advisor of the National Mining Corporation (COMIBOL) and has served as exploration manager and chief geologist at various mining and exploration companies. He has authored two books on Bolivian geology and holds a doctorate in mining engineering from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR)

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), based in Lakewood, Colorado, is the country's largest producer of uranium and the leading conventional producer of vanadium, both designated by the U.S. government as critical minerals. Energy Fuels also began production of rare earths in 2021 at a stage more advanced than any other U.S. company.

As the leading U.S. diversified uranium miner, Energy Fuels' uranium production portfolio stands apart in the world. Energy Fuels has more uranium production facilities, more production capacity, and more in-ground resources than any other company in the United States. In fact, the company's assets have produced over one-third of all U.S. uranium over the past 15 years and is uniquely positioned to increase production to meet new demand.

Energy Fuels utilizes both conventional and in-situ recovery ("ISR") technology to produce uranium from three strategic facilities:

  • White Mesa Mill in Utah (conventional) has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of U3O8 per year. The highly strategic White Mesa Mill is the only conventional uranium mill in the country and is proximate to some of the largest and highest-grade uranium mines and projects in the U.S., including the Company's Canyon mine, La Sal Complex, Henry Mountains Complex and Roca Honda Project. White Mesa Mill provides Energy Fuels with significant production scalability as uranium demand increases. The White Mesa Mill also has other diverse businesses, including vanadium, rare earth elements (REE's), alternate feed materials recycling and land cleanup, all described below.
  • Nichols Ranch Plant (ISR) is located in the productive Powder River Basin district of Wyoming and has a total licensed capacity of 2 million pounds of U3O8 per year. Nichols Ranch has produced 1.2 million pounds of U3O8 since commissioning in 2014, and it has significant future expansion potential from 34 fully licensed wellfields containing significant in-ground uranium resources.
  • Alta Mesa Plant (ISR) is located on over 200,000 acres of private land in Texas. The fully licensed and constructed ISR project has a total operating capacity of 1.5 million pounds of uranium per year and produced nearly 5 million pounds of U3O8 between 2005 and 2013. This low-cost production facility is currently on standby, maintained in a state of readiness to respond to expected increases in demand.

In addition to being the largest uranium miner in the U.S., Energy Fuels' overall portfolio also includes a pipeline of high-quality, large-scale exploration and development projects that are permitted or are in advanced stages of permitting, as well as an industry-leading U.S. NI 43-101 Mineral Resource portfolio.

FACTOID: Energy Fuels has led industry efforts over the past two-plus years to get the U.S. government to recognize the importance of domestically produced uranium, including the 2018 – 2019 Uranium Section 232, the ongoing Nuclear Fuel Working Group and the recently announced creation of the U.S. strategic uranium reserve. The U.S. is by far the largest consumer of uranium in the world, yet we import almost all of our requirements; Energy Fuels aims to change that.

Nuclear Market Potential

Multiple studies in top scientific journals have shown that nuclear power is cleanest and most economical way to produce reliable electricity as worldwide demand continues to soar. Nuclear power is presently the only available and affordable low-carbon power source that can meet both current and future baseload electricity demands while simultaneously reducing air pollution and mitigating climate change. U.S. nuclear power plants currently generate nearly 20% of the nation's electricity overall and 55% of its carbon‐free electricity and even a modest increase in electricity demand would require significant new nuclear capacity by 2025. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), there are currently 443 operable reactors, with another 57 units under construction and 426 in various stages of planning; in addition, the WNA has identified a potentially massive supply/demand gap through 2040 of 1 billion pounds. These factors among others are expected to significantly drive increased demand for uranium.

Reasons Nuclear is Gaining Traction

  • Nuclear reactors emit no greenhouse gases during operation. Over their full lifetimes, they result in comparable emissions to renewable forms of energy such as wind and solar.
  • Unlike any other form of energy, the waste from nuclear energy is contained and managed securely. Used fuel is currently being safely stored for ultimate disposal or future reprocessing, and 96% of this waste can potentially be recycled.
  • Greater demand for clean electricity to power everything from homes to automobiles, reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

No. 1 U.S. Producer of Vanadium in 2019

Energy Fuels also produces vanadium as a byproduct of uranium production. Vanadium is designated a critical mineral, essential to the economic and national security of the United States. Energy Fuels was the largest producer of vanadium in the U.S. in 2019, and has significant high-grade, in-ground vanadium resources, as well as a separate high-purity vanadium production circuit at their White Mesa Mill, which is also the only conventional vanadium mill in the country. Crucial for use in the steel, aerospace, and chemical industries, vanadium plays a critical role in the production of high-strength and light-weight metallic alloys and demand is expected to increase across the globe. Energy Fuels has several fully permitted and developed standby mines containing large quantities of high-grade vanadium, along with uranium, including:

  • La Sal Complex (Utah)
  • Whirlwind Mine (Colorado/Utah)

Vanadium has also gained increased attention as a catalyst in next-generation high-capacity, "community-scale" batteries used for energy storage generated from renewable sources. Demand is only expected to grow as this market expands. With recent upgrades in its vanadium production operations, in 2019 Energy Fuels produced 1.8 million pounds of the highest purity (99.7%) vanadium in the mill's history and can rapidly adjust production to meet volatile market conditions. Energy Fuels is one of the very few known avenues that provides investors access the vanadium market.

Rare Earth Element (REE) Production, Alternate Feed Material Recycling, and Land Cleanup

The White Mesa Mill also provides the company with diverse cashflow generating opportunities. Security of supply for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) supporting U.S. military and defense requirements is a major issue today. In 2021, the White Mesa Mill began processing a mineral called monazite, which is widely recognized as one of the most valuable REE-bearing minerals in the world due to excellent distributions of the magnetic REEs needed for electric vehicles (EVs), wind generation and a host of other clean energy and advanced technologies. Monazite also contains uranium and thorium, which processors need special licenses and capabilities to recover and manage.

Monazite is produced as a byproduct of titanium and zircon mines in the U.S. and around the world. Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill is recovering the uranium from monazite and selling it for the production of clean, carbon-free nuclear energy. The mill is evaluating recovering the contained thorium for emerging 'targeted alpha therapy' cancer treatments, as well as producing a REE product called mixed rare earth carbonate which is ready for the next step in rare earth refining: separation. At the current time, no other U.S. company is producing a rare earth product ready for separation. Energy Fuels is also in the early stages of installing rare earth separation capabilities at the White Mesa Mill, with the potential to unlock significant revenue generating opportunities.

The White Mesa Mill is also the only facility in North America licensed and capable of recycling alternate feed materials (AFMs). AFMs are essentially low-level waste materials that contain recoverable quantities of natural (or unenriched) uranium. The Company typically generates between $5 and $15 million per year from AFM recycling. Finally, Energy Fuels is seeking to become involved in the cleanup of legacy Cold War era uranium mines in the Four Corners region of the U.S., including on the Navajo Nation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has access to over $1.5 billion for the cleanup of just a fraction of the sites on the Navajo Nation. The White Mesa Mill is fully licensed to receive much of this material, we are one of the government's lowest cost options, and we have the ability to recycle the material and produce usable uranium from it.

San Juan County Clean Energy Foundation

On September 16, 2021, Energy Fuels announced the establishment of the San Juan County Clean Energy Foundation, a fund specifically designed to contribute to the communities surrounding Energy Fuels' White Mesa Mill in Southeastern, Utah. In tandem with the announcement, Energy Fuels deposited $1 million into the foundation and detailed plans to provide ongoing annual funding equal to 1% of White Mesa Mill's future revenues, providing funding to support the local economy and local priorities. The foundation will focus on supporting education, the environment, health/wellness, Tribal initiatives and economic advancement in the City of Blanding, San Juan County, the White Mesa Ute Community, the Navajo Nation and other area communities.

"The communities that surround our facility deserve to share in the benefits of the Mill's clean energy future," Mark Chalmers, CEO of Energy Fuels, stated in the news release. "The very heart of our business – uranium and rare-earth production and recycling – helps us play a big part in addressing global climate change, reducing air pollution, and making the world a cleaner and healthier place. We see San Juan County as becoming a critical minerals hub for the U.S., and we believe the Foundation is truly the best way to make an impact and difference in the lives of those who work alongside us as we pursue these goals."

Management Team

Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO
Mark S. Chalmers is the president and chief executive officer of Energy Fuels, a position he has held since Feb. 1, 2018, following his role as chief operating officer of Energy Fuels from July 1, 2016 – Jan. 31, 2018. From 2011 to 2015, Chalmers served as executive general manager of Production for Paladin Energy Ltd., a uranium producer with assets in Australia and Africa, including the Langer Heinrich and Kayelekera mines where, as head of operations, he oversaw sustained, significant increases in production while reducing operating costs. He also possesses extensive experience in in situ recovery ("ISR") uranium production, including management of the Beverley Uranium Mine owned by General Atomics (Australia), and the Highland mine owned by Cameco Corporation (USA). Chalmers has also consulted to several of the largest players in the uranium supply sector, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Marubeni, and until recently served as the chair of the Australian Uranium Council, a position he held for 10 years. Chalmers is a registered professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering from the University of Arizona.

W. Paul Goranson, COO
W. Paul Goranson is the chief operating officer for Energy Fuels. Goranson has 30 years of mining, processing and regulatory experience in the uranium extraction industry that includes both conventional and in-situ recovery ("ISR") mining, and he is a registered professional engineer. Prior to the acquisition by Energy Fuels of Uranerz Energy Corporation, Goranson served as president, chief operating officer and director for Uranerz, where he was responsible for operations of the Nichols Ranch ISR Uranium Project. In addition to those duties, he also managed uranium marketing, regulatory and government affairs, exploration and land. Prior to joining Uranerz, Goranson served as president of Cameco Resources, where he led the operations at the Smith Ranch-Highland, Crow Butte and North Butte ISR uranium recovery facilities. Goranson also served as vice president of Mesteña Uranium LLC, and he has served in senior positions with Rio Algom Mining, (a subsidiary of BHP Billiton), and Uranium Resource Inc. Goranson has a Bachelor of Science in Natural Gas Engineering from Texas A&I University, and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

David C. Frydenlund, CFO, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary
David C. Frydenlund is chief financial officer, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Energy Fuels. His responsibilities include oversight of all legal matters relating to the company's activities. His expertise extends to NRC, EPA, state and federal regulatory and environmental laws and regulations. From 1997 to 2012, Frydenlund was vice president of regulatory affairs, general counsel and corporate secretary of Denison Mines Corp., and its predecessor International Uranium Corporation ("IUC"). He also served as a director of IUC from 1997 to 2006 and CFO of IUC from 2000 to 2005. From 1996 to 1997, Frydenlund was vice president of the Lundin Group of international public mining and oil and gas companies, and prior thereto was a partner with the Vancouver law firm of Ladner Downs (now Borden Ladner Gervais) where his practice focused on corporate, securities and international mining transactions law. Frydenlund holds a bachelor's degree in business and economics from Simon Fraser University, a master's degree in economics and finance from the University of Chicago and a law degree from the University of Toronto.

Curtis H. Moore, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development
Curtis H. Moore is the vice president of Marketing and Corporate Development for Energy Fuels. He oversees product marketing for Energy Fuels, and is closely involved in mergers & acquisitions, investor relations, public relations, and corporate legal. He has been with Energy Fuels for over 12 years, holding various roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining Energy Fuels, Moore worked in multi-family real estate development, government relations and public affairs, production homebuilding, and private law practice. Moore is a licensed attorney in the State of Colorado. He holds Juris Doctor and MBA degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Bachelor of Arts dual degree in Economics-Government from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQX: EVGIF)

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQX: EVGIF) is developing Canada's Renewable Natural Gas Infrastructure Platform, starting on the west coast in British Columbia. The company is combating climate change and helping communities contribute to a sustainable future by acquiring, developing, building, owning and operating a portfolio of renewable natural gas (RNG), waste-to-energy, and related infrastructure projects.

While EverGen is currently focused on British Columbia, its continued growth is expected across other regions of North America. RNG is produced differently than conventional natural gas, without drilling wells. RNG is derived from biogas, which is captured from decomposing organic waste in landfills, food waste, agricultural waste matter and wastewater from treatment facilities. This waste feedstock is supplied to an anaerobic digester which contains bacteria that breaks down organic matter in the absence of oxygen. The resulting biogas is captured and cleaned to create carbon neutral or carbon negative RNG to be used by the existing North American gas pipeline grid. By capturing these emissions and transforming them into RNG, then combusting into CO2, the overall greenhouse gases (GHG) impact is materially less potent than allowing natural decomposition to release methane into the atmosphere. Liquid and solid digestate matter is a byproduct of the RNG production process and is used as fertilizer and in other applications.

EverGen operates three projects in British Columbia. The company was incorporated in 2020 and went public in 2021, with its common shares listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under ticker symbol 'EVGN'. In February 2022, EverGen's common shares began trading on the OTCQB Venture Market in the U.S. under ticker symbol 'EVGIF'. The company is headquartered in Vancouver.

Portfolio Projects

Fraser Valley Biogas is one of three projects in EverGen's portfolio. Located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, the facility has been digesting manure and off-farm organics since 2011 and was the first agricultural digester in Canada to produce RNG. The RNG generated through this project is part of a FortisBC program to supply renewable gas to homes, businesses and other customers. Fraser Valley Biogas also provides Abbotsford farms with renewable fertilizer via the digestate produced. EverGen acquired Fraser Valley Biogas early in 2021 and is currently enhancing and expanding the facility. These optimization projects resulted in record production during the month of September 2021, supporting the growing demand for RNG in British Columbia. Optimization activities contributed an additional 18% of RNG production for September and a 9% higher year-to-date production compared to the previous year. The facility produces approximately 80,000 gigajoules of RNG, enough to heat more than 1,000 homes for a year.

Net Zero Waste Abbotsford, a wholly owned EverGen subsidiary and portfolio project, is an existing composting and organic processing facility and RNG expansion project. The British Columbia Utilities Commission recently approved a 20-year offtake agreement between the facility and FortisBC, an electricity and gas utility. Under this agreement, FortisBC will purchase up to 173,000 gigajoules of RNG annually for injection into its natural gas system upon completion of an anaerobic digester project at Net Zero Waste Abbotsford. Once construction is complete, this project is expected to produce enough energy to meet the needs of more than 1,900 homes.

Sea to Sky Soils, a wholly owned EverGen subsidiary and portfolio project, is an existing composting and organic processing facility and potential future RNG expansion project which has been operating near Pemberton, British Columbia, on Lil'wat Nation land since 2012. The Lil'wat Nation is a key partner and supporter of the facility, which has employed a majority of its staff from the First Nation since inception. The Sea to Sky Soils facility processed approximately 160 percent of its forecast tonnage in the second half of 2021. In total, Sea to Sky Soils processed approximately 36,000 tons of organic waste in 2021. The facility is working with the Ministry of Environment to expand its operational capacity in 2022. EverGen has partnered with local municipalities – including Metro Vancouver and the municipality of Pemberton – for the delivery of additional organic waste to the facility. The facility is an important part of EverGen's RNG infrastructure platform and serves as a source of valuable feedstock to support the company's existing and future operations.

Market Outlook

A report from Global Market Insights states that the biogas market is projected to see significant growth over the next few years, driven by a shifting preference to utilize biogas to reduce emission levels from traditional fuels. Escalating RNG usage by gas utilities as a sustainable and low carbon alternative to supply heat and electricity in industries and buildings will further stimulate growth. RNG is increasingly deployed across the transport sector, especially for heavy vehicles and vessels, to abate GHG emissions.

Many North American gas utilities have set RNG targets of 5% to 15% of production by volume in 2030, compared to less than 1% by volume in 2020. FortisBC has a goal of including 15% RNG in its gas supply by 2030. EverGen believes this presents a potential C$16 billion+ opportunity for RNG producers.

Management Team

Chase Edgelow is co-founder and CEO at EverGen. He has over 15 years of specialized private investment, finance, and technical expertise in the energy and infrastructure sectors. His background is as a Facilities Engineer with Petro-Canada, independently managing energy infrastructure capital projects located in western Canada. He holds a Professional Engineer designation from the province of Alberta.

Mischa Zajtmann is co-founder and President at Evergen. He has 15 years of experience providing consulting and management for Canadian and American companies in the natural resources and energy space. He is a corporate securities lawyer who began his career at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. His J.D. is from the University of Saskatchewan Law School. He's a member of the British Columbia Bar.

Sean Mezei is COO at EverGen. He has 20 years of experience in the RNG industry, having served previously as the president of Greenlane Biogas and as a senior manager at QuestAir, and founder and president of Dekany Consulting. He was a co-chairman of the American Biogas Council's RNG working group for six years. He has been a Registered Professional Engineer in the province of British Columbia since 1994.

Natasha Monk is CFO at EverGen. She is a CPA with 12 years accounting, financial reporting, and tax experience in public practice and industry. She is currently a partner at Affirm LLP, where she advises and consults to a wide variety of companies in multiple industries across public and private sectors. Prior to joining EverGen, she worked at KPMG. She graduated from the University of Calgary.

HeartBeam Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAT)

HeartBeam Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAT) is a cardiac technology company that has developed the first and only 3D-vector 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) platform for heart attack detection anytime, anywhere. The company's proprietary ECG telehealth technology aims to redefine the way high risk cardiovascular patients are diagnosed in ambulatory and acute care settings. HeartBeam's initial focus is on providing diagnostic data to help physicians with care management of patients with cardiovascular disease.

In August 2022, HeartBeam announced that it submitted its HeartBeam AIMI™ software for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). HeartBeam AIMI is a platform technology to improve the speed and accuracy of heart attack detection in acute care settings. The company expects FDA approval by the end of 2022, and a full commercial roll-out of HeartBeam AIMI is targeted for Q1 2023.

HeartBeam sees submission of its first product based on its platform technology as an important milestone toward commercialization, which underscores the company's continued progress toward making the HeartBeam AIMI platform widely available to help emergency department physicians quickly and accurately identify a heart attack.

While the FDA conducts its regulatory review, HeartBeam will focus on executing key components of its commercialization plan and subscription revenue model. It will also continue to engage in discussions with strategic institutions, including academic centers, regional healthcare systems and regional community hospital systems that can utilize HeartBeam products.

The company is based in Santa Clara, California.

Products

HeartBeam's development portfolio includes two products:

  • HeartBeam AIMI is software that provides a 3D comparison of baseline and symptomatic 12-lead ECG to more accurately identify a heart attack in acute care settings and, as noted above, has been submitted for FDA approval; and
  • HeartBeam AIMIGo™, the first and only credit card-sized 12-lead output ECG device coupled with a smartphone app and cloud-based diagnostic software system for remote heart attack detection.

HeartBeam is developing AIMIGo, a medical-grade detection and monitoring technology for use in remote heart attack detection, thereby allowing physicians to diagnose a patient's heart attack as it occurs, even if the patient is not at a medical facility. The company's system, once approved by the FDA, can be used by patients at home or almost anywhere and anytime to help their physicians assess whether chest pain is the result of a heart attack or another cause. While approximately 82% of chest pain ED visits are unnecessary, patients delay approximately 3 to 4 hours after symptoms begin, increasing mortality rates by 40%. The company's goal is to shorten the time to treatment outside of the medical facility to improve patients' well-being.

HeartBeam's AIMIGo is a powerful, portable and easy-to-use prescription-based product. It comprises a smartphone app, a credit card-sized ECG device placed on a patient's chest, the HeartBeam cloud platform, and a digital portal for the physician to view ECG results and direct patient action. For the first time outside of a medical setting, HeartBeam AIMIGo enables patients and their clinicians to determine if symptoms are due to a heart attack, quickly and easily, so care can be expedited, if needed.

Pending FDA clearance, AIMIGo is initially intended to be available by prescription, and is reimbursable under existing remote patient monitoring codes (RPM codes). This provides a new revenue stream to physicians who before did not have a way to monitor these high-risk patients. The RPM codes provide a monthly reoccurring revenue stream to the company, as well. On average, at current reimbursement rates, the practice will receive $1,300+ per year per patient they monitor, and the company will receive $600 per year per patient from this RPM reimbursement.

Market Overview

Adoption rates of telehealth services increased dramatically in recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a major driver of growth. Among the areas seeing the greatest expansion are cardiology, radiology, behavioral health and online consultation.

Encouraging this growth, governments are actively developing new policies and reimbursement guidelines to promote the use of digital health platforms. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), for example, has recently expanded reimbursement for telehealth services. U.S. market growth is also being driven by the rising prevalence of chronic conditions and the growing geriatric population.

Remote heart attack detection is a previously unsolved problem with a massive and underserved market that is several times larger than the $2 billion total addressable market (TAM) in the U.S. for ECG cardiac arrhythmia monitoring.

Approximately 8 million Americans have suffered at least one heart attack, and a total of 18 million have been diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD). Based on these figures, HeartBeam projects a total addressable U.S. market TAM valued at $10 billion annually for its AIMIGo solution for remote heart attack monitoring of CAD.

Management Team

Branislav Vajdic, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder of HeartBeam, Inc, combines over 30 years of experience in technology development and senior management positions. Dr. Vajdic has been deeply involved with the development of HeartBeam's technology to fit his vision for the company. Prior to HeartBeam, from 2007 to 2010, Dr. Vajdic was CEO and Founder of NewCardio, a publicly traded company in the cardiovascular devices space. From 1984 to 2007, Dr. Vajdic was at Intel, where he held various senior management position. At Intel, Dr. Vajdic was the designer of first Flash memory and two key inventions that enabled Flash as a product and led engineering groups responsible for Pentium 1 through Pentium 4 designs. Dr. Vajdic was awarded two Intel Achievement Awards, the highest level of award for outstanding contributions to Intel. Dr. Vajdic is author of numerous patents and publications in the fields of cardiovascular devices, as well as chip design. Dr. Vajdic holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Jon Hunt, Ph.D., has over 35 years' experience in the medical/medical device industry with extensive domestic and international experience in general management, clinical/regulatory, sales and marketing. He also has diverse experience in Fortune 500 companies, as well as start-up environments. Dr. Hunt was the Vice President of Clinical Science and Technology, Medical Device Innovation Consortium, from July 2019 to July 2021, and Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs, Cryterion Medical from January 2018 to June 2019 (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation in July 2018 for $202M). Dr. Hunt was the Founding President and CEO of Bardy Diagnostics, Inc. from October 2013 to November 2017 (acquired by Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc.). Prior to joining Bardy Diagnostics, Dr. Hunt spent the previous 11 years as the Vice President of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs with Cameron Health, Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation). Dr. Hunt spent the previous 10 years with Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc., St. Jude Medical and Cardiac Pathways Corporation. Dr. Hunt began his career with Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (now Boston Scientific Corporation) as the Director of Clinical Programs. He subsequently held positions at St. Jude Medical in Clinical Affairs and as the Business Unit Director for the Cardiac Rhythm Management division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. At Cardiac Pathways Corporation, Dr. Hunt held various executive positions as Vice President of International Sales and Marketing and Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation). Dr. Hunt received his Ph.D. in Motor Control from The Pennsylvania State University, his Master's from California State University, Long Beach and his undergraduate degree from Keele University in the United Kingdom.

Rick Brounstein, HeartBeam's Chief Financial Officer, combines over 30 years of experience in health technology senior management. Since 2017, Mr. Brounstein has been and is currently a partner of Hardesty, LLC, a financial services firm, and Mr. Brounstein is currently a managing director of CTRLCFO, LLC, a firm Mr. Brounstein founded in 2016 to support funded start-ups in life science and technology. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Brounstein was Chief Financial Officer of NewCardio, Inc., a microcap public company in the cardiology space, and, over his career, he has been with nine other companies in life science or technology, holding positions including Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Treasurer and Accounting Manager. From June 2001 through November 2007, Mr. Brounstein held several positions at Calypte Biomedical Corporation, a publicly traded medical device company, including Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. In January 2007, Mr. Brounstein was appointed as the National Member Representative for the 2007 COSO Monitoring Project, which published new guidelines for monitoring internal financial controls in February 2009; Mr. Brounstein subsequently was a member of the FEI task force that issued the updated COSO Internal Control Framework in 2013. In March 2005, Mr. Brounstein was appointed to the SEC Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies. Mr. Brounstein earned his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification while working at Arthur Andersen LLP, formerly a public accounting firm. Mr. Brounstein holds a B.A. in accounting and an M.B.A. in finance, both from Michigan State University.

Ken Persen, HeartBeam's Chief Technology Officer, combines over 28 years of experience in the medical device and digital health industries in engineering and senior management positions. Mr. Persen has been involved in several companies in Cardiac Rhythm Management, holding positions including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice President and Director of Engineering. Since 2016 and prior to joining HeartBeam, Mr. Persen was the Chief Technology Officer at LIVMOR, Inc., a digital health company. In addition, from 2016 through November 2021, he was also Chief Executive Officer of LIVMOR. Prior roles included Director of Engineering at Cameron Health (acquired by Boston Scientific), a late-stage medical device start up, and engineering and management positions at Guidant Corp. (acquired by Boston Scientific), a large medical device manufacturer. He has an undergraduate degree from University of Minnesota, Duluth, with a BA in Computer Science.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ: LEXX)

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (NASDAQ: LEXX) is a global innovator in drug delivery platforms. The company's patented technology, DehydraTECH™, improves the way active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) enter the bloodstream by promoting healthier oral ingestion methods and increasing the effectiveness of fat-soluble active molecules. DehydraTECH promotes fast-acting, less expensive and more effective oral drug delivery and has been thoroughly evaluated through in vivo, in vitro and human clinical testing.

DehydraTECH is covered by 27 issued and more than 50 pending patents in over 40 countries around the world. Lexaria's first patent was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in October 2016 (US 9,474,725 B1), providing 20 years of patent protection expiring June 2034. Multiple patents have been awarded since then and are expected in the future.

Lexaria has a collaborative research agreement with the National Research Council (NRC), the Canadian government's premier research and technology organization. The company has filed for patent protection for specific delivery of nicotine, vitamins, NSAIDs, testosterone, estrogen, cannabinoids, terpenes, PDE5 inhibitors (with brand names like Viagra), tobacco and more.

Lexaria began developing DehydraTECH in 2014 and has since continued to strengthen and broaden the technology. The company has no plans to create or sell Lexaria-branded products containing controlled substances. Instead, Lexaria licenses its technology to other companies around the world to offer consumers the best possible performance across an array of ingestible product formats.

The company's technology is best thought of as an additional layer that providers of consumer supplements, prescription and non-prescription drugs, nicotine and CBD products can utilize to improve the effectiveness of their own existing or planned new offerings. Lexaria has licensed DehydraTECH to multiple companies, including a world-leading tobacco producer for the research and development of smokeless, oral-based nicotine products, and for use in industries that produce cannabinoid beverages, edibles and oral products.

DehydraTECH is suitable for use with a wide range of product formats including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, consumer packaged goods and over-the-counter capsules, pills, tablets and oral suspensions.

DehydraTECH Technology

Lexaria's DehydraTECH is designed specifically for formulating and delivering lipophilic (fat-soluble) drugs and active ingredients. DehydraTECH increases their effectiveness and improves the way active pharmaceutical ingredients enter the bloodstream. The major benefits to a subject ingesting a DehydraTECH-enabled drug or consumer product can be summarized by the following:

  • Speeds up delivery – the effects of the product are felt by the subject in just minutes.
  • Increases bioavailability – the technology is much more effective at delivering a drug or product into the bloodstream.
  • Increases brain absorption – animal testing suggests significant improvement in the quantity of drug delivered across the blood-brain barrier.
  • Improves drug potency – more of the ingested product is made available to the body, so lower doses are required to achieve the desired effect.
  • Reduces drug administration cost – lower doses mean lower overall drug costs.
  • Masks unwanted taste – the technology eliminates or reduces the need for sweeteners.

Lexaria has demonstrated in animal studies a propensity for DehydraTECH technology to elevate the quantity of drug delivered across the blood-brain barrier by as much as 1,900 percent, initiating additional new patent applications and opening possibilities for improved drug delivery.

Since 2016, DehydraTECH has repeatedly demonstrated, with cannabinoids and nicotine, the ability to increase bio-absorption by up to five to 10 times, reduce time of onset from one to two hours to just minutes, and mask unwanted tastes. The technology is to be further evaluated for additional orally administered bioactive molecules, including antivirals, cannabinoids, vitamins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and nicotine.

Market Considerations

Lexaria is focusing ongoing research and development efforts on the advancement of product candidates across several key segments:

  • Tobacco [1] – Valued at $786.1 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $908.3 billion by 2026
  • Nicotine Replacement [2] – Valued at $59.8 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $147.9 billion by 2028
  • CBD [3] – Valued at $4.1 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $111.8 billion by 2030
  • Cardiovascular Drugs [4] – Valued at $96.1 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $107.8 billion by 2025
  • Antivirals [5] – Valued at $55.6 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $66.7 billion by 2025
  • Epilepsy [6] – Valued at $10.6 billion in 2021, this market is forecast to reach $16.6 billion by 2031
  • Human Hormones [7] – Valued at $5.4 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $13 billion by 2026
  • PDE5 Inhibitors [8] – Valued at $4.9 billion in 2022, this market is forecast to reach $6 billion by 2025

Management Team

Chris Bunka is Chairman and CEO of Lexaria Bioscience Corp. He is a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in several private and public companies since the late 1980s. He has extensive experience in the capital markets, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, as well as corporate finance. He is named as an inventor on multiple patent innovations.

John Docherty, M.Sc., is the President of Lexaria. He is a pharmacologist and toxicologist, and a specialist in the development of drug delivery technologies. He is the former president and COO of Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: HBP). He is named as an inventor on multiple issued and pending patents.

Greg Downey is Lexaria's CFO. He has more than 35 years of diverse financial experience in the mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, and construction industries, and in the public sector. He served for eight years as CFO for several public companies and has provided business advisory and financial accounting services to many large organizations.

Gregg Smith is a strategic advisor to Lexaria. He is a founder and private investor with Evolution VC Partners. He is a member of the Sand Hill Angels and held previous investment banking roles with Cowen and Company and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Dr. Philip Ainslie serves as a scientific and medical advisor to Lexaria. He is co-director for the Centre for Heart, Lung and Vascular Health, Canada. He is also Research Chair in Cerebrovascular Physiology and Professor at the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Development at the University of British Columbia.

QSAM Biosciences Inc. (OTCQB: QSAM)

QSAM Biosciences Inc. (OTCQB: QSAM) is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on bringing to market targeted therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. The company is committed to advancing the fight against cancer through the discovery, development and delivery of effective treatment options for adult and pediatric patients.

QSAM Biosciences was founded in 2020 by Executive Chairman Dr. C. Richard Piazza and CEO Douglas Baum. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

CycloSam®

CycloSam®, QSAM Biosciences' initial technology, is a clinical-stage bone targeting radiopharmaceutical invented by world-renowned scientists at IsoTherapeutics Group LLC. By leveraging a patented, low specific activity form of Samarium-153 (resulting in far less undesirable europium impurity) and what management believes to be a superior chelating agent in DOTMP, CycloSam is designed to selectively target sites of high bone mineral turnover to deliver a prescribed tumor-killing dose of radiation to the bone tumor sites while minimizing radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissue. These parameters are currently being tested in an FDA-cleared clinical trial.

CycloSam® has been shown in laboratory testing to cause significantly less (30x less) buildup of long-lived radionuclidic impurities than prior FDA-approved drugs, which management believes will enable the ability to safely administer therapeutic doses via higher and multiple-dose regimens and effectively expand its potential clinical utility to therapeutic uses in areas of high unmet medical needs.

The indications for CycloSam® currently being evaluated by QSAM Biosciences include:

  • Metastatic Bone Cancers – On April 28, 2022, QSAM Biosciences announced that the first patient had commenced treatment in its clinical trial evaluating CycloSam in patients with metastatic bone cancer. As noted in the release, the study is a Phase 1 open-label, dose-escalation trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, dosimetry, and preliminary efficacy of CycloSam®.
  • Pediatric Osteosarcoma/Ewing's Sarcoma – On February 2, 2022, the company announced that the U.S. FDA has granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to CycloSam for the treatment of osteosarcoma. Combined with a previously granted orphan drug designation for osteosarcoma received in 2021, this milestone "may allow QSAM to potentially bring CycloSam® to market more rapidly through additional incentives and eligibilities," according to CEO Douglas Baum.
  • Bone Marrow Ablation – In a 2020 single patient Investigational New Drug (IND) study, an investigator concluded that high-dose CycloSam® can be administered safely to ablate bone marrow in advance of a stem cell transplant with no apparent renal toxicity and no unexpected adverse events attributable to the drug.

QSAM Biosciences' preclinical and clinical development pipeline is supported by a strong IP portfolio. The company has secured 14 patents across three distinct patent families spanning the U.S., Japan, Canada and the European Union.

Market Outlook

Through its ongoing development of CycloSam®, QSAM Biosciences is targeting multiple large and underserved market opportunities. According to the American Cancer Society, roughly 400,000 new cases of malignant bone metastasis are diagnosed annually in the U.S. alone. Additionally, QSAM will pursue indications for osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma that are the most common primary malignancies of bone tissues in children.

Despite this pressing need, the current standard of care for bone cancer is aggressive and suboptimal, leading to marginal success with significant side effects and poor long-term survival prognosis. As a result, QSAM Biosciences estimates a sizable market opportunity for its development pipeline.

  • Bone Metastasis has an estimated total addressable market of $20 billion in the U.S. based on total new cases and comparable drug pricing.
  • Osteosarcoma/Ewing's Sarcoma have a total addressable market of roughly $125 million in the U.S. based on approximately 1,000 new cases in 2021.
  • The total addressable market for Bone Marrow Ablation is projected at $1 billion, with an estimated 32,000 procedures completed annually.

The company anticipates that the ability to administer CycloSam® for higher and multiple-dose regimens may expand its clinical utility for therapeutic uses in additional areas of high unmet medical needs.

Management Team

QSAM Biosciences is led by an experienced management team and board with an extensive record of FDA approvals, big pharma partnerships and M&A transactions.

Dr. C. Richard Piazza is the Executive Chairman of QSAM Biosciences. Since 2017, he has also served as President and CEO of IGL Pharma Inc., the licensor of CycloSam®, and as a consultant to IsoTherapeutics Group LLC, the inventors of the technology. Dr. Piazza also currently serves on the board of directors of NovaScan LLC, a privately held cancer detection and diagnostics company. He has more than 48 years of health care experience in both medical devices and pharmaceutical/biotech and has led several technology companies to market success, including numerous FDA approvals in both sectors. Dr. Piazza obtained a BS in Economics and a BS in Speech Pathology from the State University of New York and an MA & PhD in Economics from the University of Buffalo and Leeds University.

Douglas R. Baum is the company's CEO and Director. He brings to QSAM Biosciences over 30 years of experience in the bioscience and biotech industries, including development, FDA/EMA approval and commercialization of multiple drugs and medical devices. Mr. Baum has overseen 15 product approvals through the FDA and EMA and raised over $85 million in capital to fund breakthrough technologies. From 2017 to 2020, he consulted with multiple medical schools and biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and, from 2012 to 2017, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc. Mr. Baum holds a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization and a BBA in International Business and Marketing from the University of Texas.

Adam King is the CFO of QSAM Biosciences. He is also the Founder and CEO of King Consulting Group, where he provides a range of financial and reporting services for clients. Before founding King Consulting Group in January 2021, Mr. King was the CFO for Netsertive, a venture-backed digital marketing company. From 2016 to 2018, he was the Office Managing Audit Director for BDO's Greenville, South Carolina, office, in addition to serving as Audit Director in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Boston, Massachusetts. While at BDO, Mr. King worked with various clients, from tech and life science start-ups to billion-dollar publicly traded companies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Elon University and is a CPA in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Silo Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: SILO)

Silo Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: SILO), a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company, is focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research for people suffering from indications such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other rare neurological disorders. Silo's mission is to identify assets to license and fund research that the company believes will be transformative to the wellbeing of patients and the health care industry.

Silo is committed to developing innovative solutions to address a variety of underserved conditions. Combining Silo's resources with world-class medical research partners, the company looks to make significant advances in the medical and psychedelic space.

Silo works to identify and partner with leading medical universities, providing the needed financial resources to develop safe therapeutic treatments while moving cutting-edge research through the clinical stage and into commercialization. The company is well-capitalized with access to additional funds as opportunities present themselves.

Silo recently engaged Donohoe Advisory Associates LLC for consulting and advisory services in connection with the potential uplisting of Silo's common shares to the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Research

Silo has entered into research agreements and partnerships with multiple leading medical universities.

The company is involved in a sponsored study with Maastricht University utilizing repeated low doses of ketamine and psilocybin to examine the effects on cognitive and emotional dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease and to understand its mechanism of action. The investigator in the Netherlands is acquiring the substances for the study and will then finalize the documentation to submit to the ethics committee.

Additionally, in June 2021, Silo announced its entry into a scientific research agreement with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The agreement will leverage four other clinical trials being planned by the university to determine the effects of psilocybin on inflammation. The study will take place at The Translational Psychedelic Research (TrPR) Program at UCSF.

Silo also recently extended its exclusive option agreement with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to explore a novel invention generally known as joint-homing peptides. These peptides are being developed for use in the investigation and treatment of arthritogenic processes and can be used for enhanced targeting of therapeutic agents.

This agreement includes the study of two separate peptides. The first is an option and study for the treatment of arthritis. The second is a patented licensed peptide for the central nervous system, with an initial study for MS autoimmune diseases, in addition to rheumatoid arthritis. Animal studies are underway for both initial indications relating to the UMB agreement, with the potential for studies evaluating additional indications in the future.

Finally, Silo signed an agreement with Columbia University granting it an option to license certain assets currently under development, including an Alzheimer's disease formulation targeting NDMARs and 5-HT4Rs, as well as a prophylactic treatment for stress-induced disorders and PTSD. Both candidates are currently being tested in mice and have already provided early data.

In addition to its university partnerships, Silo entered a joint venture agreement with Zylo Therapeutics Inc. ("ZTI") focused on the development of ketamine and psilocybin using ZTI's Z-Pod™ technology for the transdermal time released delivery of therapeutics. In November 2021, the company announced ZTI's reception of its first ketamine shipment and initiation of loading ketamine into its Z-Pod technology. In a news release, Eric Weisblum, CEO of Silo, called the development an "important milestone" that will help the company "study the benefits of slow-release transdermal release of Ketamine."

Market Overview

According to Coherent Market Insights, the fibromyalgia treatment market was valued at $2.78 billion in 2018 and has a projected CAGR of 3.3% over the forecast period 2018 to 2026. Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes pain all over the body, sleep problems, fatigue, and emotional and mental distress.

The global PTSD therapeutics market is expected to reach $10.68 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2026, according to a report by Credence Research. Growing prevalence of PTSD is the chief factor driving the global treatment market. Increases in events such as wars, combat, and interpersonal violence has been a major contributing factor. Other factors like growing emphasis on rehabilitation initiatives by governments for treating their war veterans has also been facilitating the increase in demand for PTSD therapeutics.

Fortune Business Insights reports the global Parkinson's disease treatment market is predicted to grow to $8.38 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system which primarily affects the brain, causing uncontrollable shaking and tremors, difficulties in balance and restricted body movement making it difficult for the person to function or perform a daily routine.

Management Team

Eric Weisblum is CEO and founder of Silo Pharma. He has over 25 years of Wall Street experience, most recently in the biotechnology sector. He has served on the board of Aikido Pharma and was the president of Sableridge Capital. He has a proven track record in licensing therapeutic assets and assisting in their development. He brings to the company nearly 20 years of expertise in structuring and trading financial instruments. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Hartford's Barney School of Business.

Dr. Kevin Muñoz was appointed to the Silo board of directors in October 2020. He teaches biomedical sciences and medical intervention for the Passaic County Technical Institute. He previously served as Director of Operations at Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He began his career with Harlem Health Promotion Center in New York City as a research assistant. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Medicine from Xavier University School of Medicine.

Josh Woolley, M.D., Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor for Silo. He is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. He is also a psychiatrist on staff at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is the director and founder of the Bonding and Attunement in Neuropsychiatric Disorders Laboratory. He received both his M.D. and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSF, where he completed his psychiatry residency training.

Charles Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor for Silo Pharma. He directs the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as part of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. He was chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and clinical director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA)

Tingo Inc. (OTC: TMNA) is a digital service agri-fintech technology company focused on foundation-level agriculture and related financial services in Africa. The company aims to be Africa's leading agri-fintech player, transforming rural farming communities to connect through its proprietary platform to meet their complete needs – from inputs and agronomy to off take and marketplace – and deliver sustainable income in an impactful way. The company's vision is to build complete digitally inclusive ecosystems that promote financial inclusion and deliver disruptive micro-finance solutions, empower societies, produce social upliftment in rural communities and open international opportunities.

Tingo believes that a truly connected world will help contribute to a better global society. The company's core focus areas are telecoms, financial services/fintech and agritech. Tingo's goal is to provide a best-in-class customer experience, support the domestic economies of its host countries and support technological and financial inclusion to end the poverty premium. Through this, Tingo hopes to deliver attractive returns to shareholders while investing in the long-term future of the company and its subsidiaries.

Global climate change is challenging sustainable production and food security. Tingo's strategy and market execution provide an opportunity for Africa to be a core focal point to solve a number of key areas of concern, including food security, gender equality, financial inclusion and poverty alleviation, to name a few. Disruption of micro finance through the use of DeFi-based stable coins and smart contracts will give agri-communities access to capital markets-driven digital finance solutions that make them more competitive and sustainable economically, striking a good balance of returns between digital asset providers and Tingo as the service partner. This innovation will deliver significant access to much needed finance at 'Grassroot' levels, delivering tangible social upliftment and GDP growth in the African markets served by Tingo.

Tingo Mobile, with more than nine million subscribers, is Nigeria's leading technology and device-as-a-service platform aimed at accelerating digital commerce, especially in the country's agritech and fintech verticals. The company helps farmers acquire mobile phones through a unique leasing plan, connecting them to mobile and data networks through its own virtual mobile network. Tingo also connects farmers to markets, services and resources via Nwassa, its digital agritech marketplace platform that commenced operations in 2020. The company has also launched a beta version of TingoPay – a B2B and B2C fintech app aimed at providing financial services to users inside and outside of the agriculture value chain. Among the services offered are mobile wallets, payment processing and access to specialist lenders, insurers and pension products.

Tingo will soon announce its innovative blockchain-based solution for use of digital stable coins to empower frictionless trade across borders in Africa. The company's market-proven model in Nigeria is its core foundation, enabling Tingo to deliver the same service model across Africa to become the continent's leading agri-fintech business powered through smartphone technology.

The African Continental Free Trade (ACFT) plan will be a key framework to prepare the company to be the leading intra-Africa trading hub for trade flows across Africa in the medium term, when it is likely the agreement will be executed into tangible activity. Tingo is well positioned to easily transform the goals of the ACFT into reality when finally implemented by the African Union and the various African countries that have not signed up.

Businesses

Tingo has four core business lines:

  • Mobile Phone Leasing – Tingo has distributed almost 30 million mobile handsets since 2014 and will continue to replace the devices of its installed customer base every three years. Tingo Mobile provides the latest mobile phone handsets at an affordable price point and allows customers to spread payments over 36 months.
  • Mobile Voice and Data Service – Through a mobile virtual network, Tingo provides its customers with voice and data services, allowing customers to communicate effectively, both inside and outside the agricultural ecosystem.
  • Nwassa Marketplace Platform – Nwassa is Tingo's proprietary agritech platform which provides Africa's farmers with access to global markets to secure more competitive pricing for their crops. The platform processes 500,000 daily transactions with a value of over $8 million. A select group of trusted partners can assist smallholder farmers and agricultural cooperatives with packaging, warehousing, and dry and wet cargo logistics, as well as up-to-date information from the global agricultural sector. Tingo provides its customers with digital wallet services, which enable them to send and receive domestic payments, monitor cash flow in real time and securely hold money. The company also provides access to other services, such as utility bill payment, virtual airtime top-up, insurance services and alternative lending solutions.
  • TingoPay – Since the launch of the Nwassa platform, Tingo has been a dominant player in the B2B fintech vertical. After many successful months of operating Nwassa, Tingo entered the fintech B2C vertical to extend its B2B offering to a broader market beyond agriculture.

Market Opportunity

Africa is the second-largest continent by population. It is also the youngest by far, with a median age of 18 for its 1.3 billion people. Tingo believes the building blocks for growth in Africa's agriculture industry are in place and that the company is well positioned to participate in the upside. Sub-Saharan Africa's population is growing at a rate of 2.7 percent per year. At the current growth rate, the continent's population will double by 2050. Africa's youthfulness represents a significant opportunity for material growth in demand for agricultural commodities. This younger generation is also being born into a digital world and is comfortable using technology.

Africa's governments are improving business conditions for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Sub-Saharan Africa's World Bank Doing Business rank has improved from 45 in 2004 to 65 in 2020. Tingo believes this trend will continue and encourage establishment of more new ventures across all economic sectors, including agriculture.

Africa attracted $407 billion of Foreign Direct Investments ("FDI") between 2014 and 2018. Investments are increasingly focused on services and industrial sectors. Only 20 percent of investments are in extractive industries – a clear reversal from 2008, when 55 percent of FDI was aimed at resource extraction. Tingo believes FDI into Africa will help resolve significant infrastructure constraints and create value for agribusiness.

Management Team

Dozy Mmobuosi is the CEO of Tingo. He cofounded Tingo Mobile PLC (Nigeria) in 2001 and led the design and launch of Nigeria's first SMS banking solution, which is still in use in the country today. He also headed a team of more than 120 Chinese and Nigerian engineers in the construction of two mobile phone assembly plants in Nigeria, which have produced and distributed 20 million phones across the country. He has led Tingo's growth to more than $600 million in revenue annually. He holds a Ph.D. in Rural Advancement from UPM Malaysia.

Dakshesh Patel is the CFO of Tingo. He was formerly CFO of NatWest's Global Debt and Investment Banking division. He has served as a Director at Gerken Capital Associates, a San Francisco-based alternative asset fund manager. He also led the restructure of Lloyds Banking Group (last financial crisis); managed integration of two leading shipping groups' global treasury function to create world-leading shipping group Maersk Shipping; built three fintech companies; and exited one to Worldpay. Mr. Patel has strong banking experience, with a focus on Africa. He is a chartered accountant.

Chris Cleverly is president of Tingo. He has served as CEO of the Made in Africa Foundation, and as CEO of blockchain payments gateway startup Kamari. He has been a board member of several companies, both public and private, in the UK, India, China and Africa. He has advised multiple UK companies on their entrance into African markets, and regularly advises the UK Government on development issues and African governments on investment issues.

Rory Bowen is the Chief of Staff at Tingo. Mr. Bowen started his career in traditional capital and derivatives markets working for Moneycorp and Tradition UK in European and emerging markets across FX, interest rate derivative and government bond markets. He has also spent time with one of Europe's fastest growing fintech's banking circles. Before joining Tingo, he was Chief of Staff at FinTech Alliance, an organization established in partnership with the UK Government Department for International Trade to foster innovation, growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the financial services sector and facilitate greater public/private cooperation.

Receive Alerts from TinyGems

Text "Gems" to 844-397-5787

(US Mobile Phones Only)

Connect with TinyGems

Twitter   Facebook   LinkedIn

TinyGems Logo