Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
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Cannabis industry expects bump in sales for Canada Day long weekend
Canada Day long weekend is no longer mostly the preserve of the liquor industry, say some of the country’s cannabis retailers.
More of the pie for that flag-waving party is being carved out by legal pot sellers as the first post-legalization national birthday approaches, says an online cannabis information resource.
By: Bill Kaufmann
The Canada Day long weekend is no longer mostly the preserve of the
liquor industry, say some of the country’s cannabis retailers.
More of the pie for that flag-waving party is being carved out by
legal pot sellers as the first post-legalization national birthday
approaches, says an online cannabis information resource.
A survey commissioned by Leafly Canada suggests 25 per cent of
Alberta adults plan to embark on a cannabis buzz this long weekend,
among the highest in the country.
“That’s one in four compared to one in five (nationally),†said Jo
Vos, managing director of Leafly Canada, which commissioned the poll of
1,513 people conducted last week by Maru/Blue.
“Alberta and Atlantic Canada are leading the country in plans to consume this weekend,†said Vos.
Among millennials surveyed — those aged 22 to 37 — a whopping 33 per
cent said they plan to toke up or consume edibles on Canada’s 152nd
anniversary weekend.
The latest Statistics Canada figures on cannabis consumption suggest
15 per cent of Canadians reported using pot in the past three months,
with 19 per cent planning to consume it over the next three months.
“That was a similar percentage to what was reported before legalization,†states StatsCan.
Those numbers rise to 33 per cent among those aged 18 to 24.
Cannabis information clearing house Leafly is confident legalization
is pushing cannabis use into the mainstream when weekends approach, said
Vos.
“We believe consumption patterns will continue to shift and there’s a
broader awareness of cannabis as an option,†she said, adding those
follow the lines of booze consumption.
“We know there are behaviour patterns very similar to alcohol in the lead-up to weekends.â€
There are even “very compelling†indications that cannabis could displace some alcohol use, added Vos.
It was illegal but now there’s a freedom,Mark Goliger
Some statistics on alcohol sales in Canada show they haven’t
decreased since pot legalization, but some predict that might happen
when cannabis-infused beverages come on the market at year’s end.
Vos acknowledged marketing the newly legalized product is a much
tougher task than that facing the alcohol industry, whose wares can be
promoted openly on a host of platforms, including newspaper ads and
street signage.
Legalization has grown Canadian cannabis demand “but not
exponentially,†said Mark Goliger, CEO of National Access Cannabis
(NAC), which operates 15 stores in Alberta.
But he said the first summer long weekend following prohibition’s end
will likely see a spike in people consuming pot, and those who do
should feel no stigma.
“It was illegal but now there’s a freedom,†said Goliger.
“Long weekends are a time for people to relax and enjoy more of
everything, whether it’s food, friends, drinks, cannabis and, hopefully,
sunshine.â€
NAC recently announced revenues of $40 million since legalization,
through its NewLeaf Cannabis stores in Alberta and other outlets in
Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
“We’d love to have been further ahead but with the (now-ended)
moratorium on new stores in Alberta, supply problems, with Ontario going
to a lottery system for new stores and B.C. not going as fast as we’d
like, it’s impacted things,†he said.
Cannabis retailers expect to sell plenty of the green stuff on the
first Canada Day long weekend since legalization.Ryan Remiorz / THE
CANADIAN PRESS
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:31 AM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
Life of mine (LOM) of 14 years, with 6 million tonnes annually of potential process plant feed at an average grade of 0.88 g/t Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) and process recovery rate of 80%, resulting in an annual average payable Pd production of 119,000 ounces
Pre-Production capital requirements: $495 M
Undiscounted cash flow before income and mining taxes of $586M
Undiscounted cash flow after income and mining taxes of $384M
June 27th, 2019 – Rockport, Canada – New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J.F) Harry Barr, Chairman & CEO, stated; “We are pleased to update our shareholders and interested parties as to the results of the initial Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the company’s 100% owned River Valley PGM Project in Sudbury, Ontario Canada. The PEA has been developed by various independent consultants – P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (P&E) was responsible for the open pit mining, surface infrastructure, tailings facility, and project economics; DRA Americas Inc. (“DRA”) was responsible for all metallurgical test work and processing aspects of the Project; and WSP Canada Inc. (“WSP”) was responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate. The PEA demonstrates positive economics for a large-scale mining open pit operation, with 14 years of Palladium and Platinum production.”
Go-Forward Plan: In
order to enhance the Project, the PEA has outlined a phased work
approach to completing a Pre-Feasibility study. This includes advanced
metallurgical testing to improve / confirm process recoveries and more
accurately estimate concentrate grades, geotechnical logging of drill
core, with new geotechnical holes to create a 3D geomechanical block
model and estimate pit wall angles, hydrogeological studies that will
estimate water inflows to the open pits and generate a site water and
management plan. The Pre-Feasibility study will update the Project study
to a higher level of precision.
NAM plans to continue to improve
the River Valley Project’s value proposition by drill testing
geophysical anomalies found during the 2018 geophysics campaign,
continuing the geophysical program throughout the 16 kilometres of the
contact mineralization adding significant potential to find new
deposits, drilling near the defined open pit shells to increase the mine
life, drilling deeper to test the open-ended Deposit at depth, and
re-assaying existing drill core for Rhodium in order that Rhodium may be
added to the Project’s metal suite.
Technical Report: For
readers to fully understand the information in this news release, they
should read the PEA Technical Report in its entirety which the Company
expects to file in accordance with NI 43-101 within 45 days from the
date of this news release on SEDAR (www.sedar.com)
and it will also be available at that time on the New Age Metals
website, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that
relate to the PEA. The Technical Report is intended to be read in its
entirety, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context.
PEA Highlights (CDN$ unless otherwise noted):
– Life of mine (LOM) of 14 years,
with 6 million tonnes annually of potential process plant feed at an
average grade of 0.88 g/t Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) and process
recovery rate of 80%, resulting in an annual average payable Pd
production of 119,000 ounces
– Pre-Production capital requirements: $495 M
– Undiscounted cash flow before income and mining taxes of $586M
– Undiscounted cash flow after income and mining taxes of $384M
– Average unit operating cost of $19.50/tonne over the life-of-mine
– LOM average operating cash cost
of $971 per ounce (US$709/oz) and all-in sustaining cash cost of $972
per ounce (US$709/oz) at a 1.37 CDN: USD exchange rate.
– A mining contractor will be engaged for the open pit mining
– Pre-tax NPV (5%): $262M, After-tax NPV (5%): $139 M
– Pre-tax IRR: 13%, After-tax IRR: 10%
– Assumed metal prices of US$1,200/oz Pd, US$1,050/oz Pt, US$1,350/oz Au, US$3.25/lb Cu, US$8.00/lb Ni, US$35/lb Co
– Using a + 20% Pd price
sensitivity (to the base case of US$1,200/oz Pd) US$1,440 /oz Pd returns
a pre-tax IRR of 19% and an after tax-IRR of 15%. Palladium price as of June 25, 2019 is US$1,510/oz Pd, which would return a pre-tax IRR of 21% and an after-tax IRR of 16%.
– River Valley process plant feed will be treated by a conventional sulphide flotation process plant to produce a single saleable PGM concentrate that will be transported to the Sudbury area for smelting/refining
– Potential for up to 325 jobs at the peak of production
PEA Summary
The PEA parameters are summarized in Table 1.
(*) Cautionary statement NI 43-101:
The PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). Readers are
cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred
Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to
have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them
to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that
the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral
Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. All currency is stated as CDN$ unless stated otherwise.
Table 1: PEA Summary Parameters
Assumptions
Palladium Price (Base case) US$/oz
1,200
Exchange Rate US$:CDN$
1.37
Production Profile
Total Tonnes Processed
78,100,000
Process Plant Head Grade PdEq g/t
0.88
Mine Life (years)
14
Daily process plant throughput (tpd)
16,440
Palladium Process Plant Recovery
80%
Total Payable Palladium Equivalent Ounces
1,600,000
Average annual Palladium Production Ounces
119,000
Operating Costs
Unit Operating Costs (per tonne processed)
19.50
Mining Costs
10.20
Processing Costs
8.44
G&A
0.90
LOM Average Cash Cost US$/oz
709
Capital Requirements
Pre-Production Capital Cost
$495.1 M
Sustaining Capital Cost (Life of Mine) Including Salvage
$1.0 M
Project Economics
Royalties
3% (Buy down to 1.5% with $1,500,000 payment)
Royalty Payable After $1.5M Payment
$39.7 M
Taxes
$202.3 M
Pre-Tax
NPV (5% Discount Rate)
$262 M
IRR
13%
Payback (years)
6.6
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flows
$586 M
After-Tax
NPV (5% Discount Rate)
$139 M
IRR
10%
Payback (years)
7.0
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flows
$384 M
Operating Cost
Table 2: Operating Cost Summary.
OPERATING COST
LOM ($/t)
Mining Cost
$/t material
2.28
Mining Cost
$/t feed
10.20
Processing Cost
$/t feed
8.44
G&A
$/t feed
0.90
Unit Operating
$/t feed
19.50
Capital Cost
Table 3: Capital Cost Summary
Development Capital
Initial (Y-2, Y-1) ($ M)
Sustaining ($’ M)
Total LOM ($’ M)
Mine Pre-Stripping
17.3
17.3
Process Plant Incl. Indirects
401.3
401.3
TMF
8.0
8.0
Mine Site Infrastructure
10.0
10.0
Office, Warehouse, Shops
10.0
10.0
Owner Cost
5.0
5.0
10% Contingency
43.4
43.4
Initial Project Capital
495.1
495.1
Sustaining Capital
Closure Bond
26.0
26.0
Salvage Value
-25.0
-25.0
Total Sustaining Capital
1.0
1.0
Total Capital
495.1
1.0
496.1
Project Economics and Sensitivities
The economic results of the PEA are
summarized in Table 4 on an after-tax basis. The sensitivities and the
impact of cash flows have been calculated for +/- 20% variations against
the base case.
Table 4: Project Economics Sensitivity.
Project Sensitivity Analysis
Pd Price Sensitivity
%
-20%
-15%
-10%
-5%
Base Case
+5%
+10%
+15%
+20%
Spot
US$/oz
960
1,020
1,080
1,140
1,200
1,260
1,320
1,380
1,440
1,510
NPV (CDN$ M)
-23
16
59
98
139
179
220
260
300
347
IRR (%)
4
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
15
16
OPEX Sensitivity
%
-20%
-15%
-10%
-5%
Base Case
+5%
+10%
+15%
+20%
Cost Per Tonne
16
17
18
18
19
20
21
22
23
NPV (CDN$ M)
212
194
175
157
139
120
102
83
68
IRR (%)
14
12
11
10
10
9
8
7
7
CAPEX Sensitivity
%
-20%
-15%
-10%
-5%
Base Case
+5%
+10%
+15%
+20%
CAPEX (CDN$ M)
397
422
446
471
496
521
546
570
595
NPV (CDN$ M)
284
248
212
175
139
102
64
28
-6
IRR (%)
14
13
12
11
10
8
7
6
5
River Valley Project Site Plan
See the image below that shows a site
plan from the River Valley PEA. The map shows all of the 14 open pits
that have been used in the engineering design of the Project as well as
the proposed process plant site, low-grade stockpile, waste rock storage
facilities, tailings storage facility and site infrastructure.
Click Image To View Full Size
Mineral Resource
The pit constrained Mineral Resource
Estimate which formed the basis of the PEA, is set out in Table 5 and
was prepared by WSP under the supervision of Todd McCracken, P. Geo., an
“Independent Qualified Person”, as defined in NI 43-101. The effective
date of this Mineral Resource Estimate is January 9, 2019. The Mineral
Resource database contains 710 boreholes with 106,554 assays records in
the database, and 2,642 surface channel samplings. The Mineral Resource
Estimate update was completed on the Dana North, Dana South, Pine,
Banshee, Lismer, Lismer Extension, Varley, Azen, Razor, and River Valley
Extension Zones, using the ordinary kriging (OK) methodology on a
capped and composited borehole dataset consistent with industry
standards. Validation of the results was conducted thought the use of
visual inspection, swath plots and global statistical comparison of the
model against inverse distance squared (ID2) and nearest neighbour (NN) models.
Table 5: Pit Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate for River Valley PGM Project – Effective January 9, 2019.
Click Image To View Full Size
Class
PGM + Au (oz)
PdEq (oz)
PtEq (oz)
Measured
1,394,000
1,701,000
1,701,000
Indicated
983,000
1,166,000
1,166,000
Meas +Ind
2,377,000
2,867,000
2,867,000
Inferred
841,000
1,059,000
1,059,000
Notes:
1.CIM definition standards were followed for the Mineral Resource Estimate.
2.The 2018 Mineral
Resource models used Ordinary Kriging grade estimation within a
three-dimensional block model with mineralized zones defined by
wireframed solids.
3.A base cut-off
grade of 0.35 g/t PdEq was used for reporting Mineral Resources in a
constrained pit and 2.00 g/t PdEq was used for reporting the Mineral
Resources under the pit.
6.Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have economic viability
7. The Inferred
Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than
that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted
to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the
Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral
Resource with continued exploration.
Mining and Processing
The PEA is preliminary
in nature, and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered
too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied
to them that would enable them to be categorized as
Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the Preliminary Economic
Assessment will be realized.
The River Valley Project is expected
to be mined by a contractor. Initial mining will occur at the northwest
end of the Deposit, close to the proposed process plant site. A series
of 14 open pits will be mined, and will progress in a southeasterly
direction. Pit numbers 1 to 4 contain the bulk of the mineralized
process plant feed.
Annual process plant feed of up to 6
Mtpy (0.5 Mtpm) is planned, at an average strip ratio of 3.6:1 over the
life-of-mine. It is anticipated that a fleet of 221 t haul trucks, 29 m3
excavators and 254 mm diameter hole rotary drills will be utilized,
following industry standard conventional open pit mining techniques.
The process plant is designed to
produce a single saleable PGM concentrate using conventional sulphide
flotation techniques. The concentrate will be trucked to a
smelter/refinery in the Sudbury area.
The Run-Of-Mine (ROM) feed from the
mine will be crushed in a single primary jaw crushing stage prior to the
grinding circuit. The crusher discharge will be conveyed to a live
stockpile, which will provide an operating buffer between the crushing
and grinding circuits.
The grinding circuit will consist of a SAG mill in closed circuit with a pebble crusher and two ball mills in parallel.
The process plant design considers
three stages of cleaner flotation and is designed to process 21,920 tpd
(6.0 Mtpy) of ROM feed.
The flotation circuit configuration and design are based on the locked cycle tests conducted by SGS Canada in 2013.
Concentrate and tailings products
will be dewatered using high-rate thickeners and the concentrate will be
further dewatered by conventional plate and frame vacuum filtration.
Process water will be recovered from
the concentrate and tailings thickener overflow. Raw water is assumed to
be sourced from the local environment and will be used as makeup water.
It is assumed that 10% of the raw water requirement will be recycled
from the tailings pond.
Conventional tailings deposition techniques will be utilized.
A 230 kV transmission line is located
passing through the village of Warren, approximately 22 km from the
Project. A 115 kV transmission line passes through the village of Field,
located approximately 15 km to the east of the Project. It is assumed
that electrical power will be provided by the local utility via either
of these overland power lines. Diesel generators will be used to supply
emergency power.
Project Enhancement Opportunities
The PEA demonstrates that River
Valley has the potential to be economically viable. The PEA also
outlines several opportunities to enhance Project value. Additional
opportunities include:
Area of Focus
Opportunities to Explore
Management Target
Geotechnical study
– Geotechnical logging of drill core,
with new geotechnical holes to create a 3D geomechanical block model
and estimate pit wall slope angles
– Estimate pit wall slopes
Hydrogeological study
– Estimate water in-flows to the open pits and generate a site water management plan
– Site water management plan
Increase the Project Mineral Resource base
– Additional drilling in the footwall to expand the Mineral Resource.
After the ground proofing and surface exploration program conducted in
Summer 2018 which followed up on the most recent induced polarization
geophysical survey by Abitibi, NAM management has designed a 3-phase
5,000 metre drill program to test the new geophysical anomalies. See the
map figure below which shows these new geophysical anomalies and
potential targets for the next stage of drilling at River Valley
superimposed over the upper 4 kilometres of the project map.
Click Image To View Full Size
– Drilling near the defined open pit shells to increase the mine life.
– Drilling deeper to test the open-ended deposit at depth. Average drill hole depth is 220 metres below surface.
– Increase tonnes, grade and mine life of Project
– Continue to drill recent footwall discoveries
– Add additional Mineral Resources to the Project.
Mineral Resource
– In-fill drilling to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources
– Improve Mineral Resource classification
Mineral Resource
– Step-out drilling to increase the Mineral Resource Estimate
– Increase the size of the Mineral Resource Estimate
Metallurgical testing
– Advanced metallurgical testing to
confirm or potentially improve process recoveries and more accurately
estimate concentrate grades produced
– Achieve a process recovery equal or greater than 80%.
Geophysical surveys
– Continue with induced polarization
geophysical surveys over the 12.5 kilometres of the contact / footwall
that has not been surveyed in the 2017 and 2018 programs
conducted on the Project. This work can be carried out in phases as
funding is available or until the contact / footwall is covered, see the
map figure below that shows a proposed scenario for how to phase the
work.
Click Image To View Full Size
– Outline new targets highlighting new potential footwall discoveries over the entire Project
Advanced sampling for Rhodium
– Re-assaying existing core for
Rhodium. Rhodium has been identified, however, insufficient assaying in
the past has not allowed for Rhodium’s inclusion in the Mineral Resource
Estimate.
– Quantify the amount of Rhodium in the Project and add this to the existing Mineral Resource Estimate
Pre-Feasibility study
– Updated Mineral Resource Estimate,
optimize the mine plan, process plant design, and Project economics.
Address environmental aspects.
– Update the Project study to a higher level of precision
Qualified Persons and NI 43-101 Disclosure
The PEA was prepared under the supervision
of Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. The Mineral
Resource Estimate was prepared by Todd McCracken, P.Geo. of WSP Canada
Inc. Metallurgical testwork and process plant design and cost estimates
were prepared by Jim Kambossos, P. Eng. of DRA Americas
Inc. All three are independent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI
43-101. Mr. Puritch has reviewed and approved the technical information
in this release. Michael Neumann, P.Eng. Managing Director for NAM is
the company Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101
and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news
release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Harry Barr”
Harry G. Barr, Chairman and CEO
For further information on New Age Metals,
please contact Harry Barr and/or Anthony Ghitter, Business Development
at 613-659-2773, or [email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor
its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward
Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ
materially from actual future events or results and are based on current
expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical
fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition,
forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses
words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”,
“confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”,
“project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar
expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and
uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a
variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s
ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make
available adequate current public information, additional or different
regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed,
and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the
Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that
identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to
differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The
Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’
expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the
date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:30 AM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
Continued the expansion of its wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., into Europe, with its latest launch in the Netherlands.
As a result of the positive feedback received during its United Kingdom launch in March, the Company made a strategic decision to offer its hempSMART™ CBD product line and expand its European footprint further by holding an event on June 15, 2019, in the Netherlands.
ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 27, 2019 — via NetworkWire – MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC.(“MCOA†or the “Companyâ€) (OTCQB: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, has continued the expansion of its wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., into Europe, with its latest launch in the Netherlands.
As a result of the positive feedback received during its United
Kingdom launch in March, the Company made a strategic decision to offer
its hempSMART™ CBD product line and expand its European footprint
further by holding an event on June 15, 2019, in the Netherlands.
“The Netherlands launch was a complete success, with people traveling
from other parts of Europe to witness the excitement around our
hempSMART™ CBD product line,†said Mr. Ian Harvey, Global Sales Director
of hempSMART, Ltd. “The event featured our CEO, Don Steinberg,
unveiling our wellness products via video link and educating people
about the benefits of our prime quality botanical ingredients. Our
products sold out at the end of the event, and we engaged new marketing
associates for hempSMART™ as evangelists to the brand that will help
spread our vision.â€
“Our high-quality CBD products combined with our compilation of
highly knowledgeable hempSMART™ team members have effectively increased
the Company’s footprint into the compelling European market,†said Mr.
Steinberg.
The Brightfield Group, a predictive market intelligence firm focused
on the legal CBD and cannabis industries, opined on March 26, 2019, that
the European CBD market was estimated at $318 million in 2018 and is
expected to grow over 400 percent by 2023. Brightfield’s assessment was
based on its opinion that CBD is just starting to take hold in Europe,
and presents a great opportunity for developed brands to enter and
expand into.
About Marijuana Company of America, Inc. MCOA is
a corporation that participates in (1) product research and development
of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name hempSMART™,
which targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing
program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products
containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business
entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and
jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated
for medicinal and recreational use; and (4) the expansion of its
business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp
industry as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment
mature and develop.
About Our hempSMART™ Products Containing CBD
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized
CBD as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products
containing CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold
based upon claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any
medical condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the
FDA’s jurisdiction.
Forward-Looking Statements This
news release contains “forward-looking statements†that are not purely
historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans,
expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking
statements include, among other things, the development, costs and
results of new business opportunities, and words such as “anticipate,â€
“seek,†intend,†“believe,†“estimate,†“expect,†“project,†“plan†or
similar phrases may be deemed “forward-looking statements†within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual
results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking
statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others,
the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S.
and global economies, the impact of competition and the Company’s
reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of
cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update
the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual
results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations
and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can
be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or
intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of
the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk
factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K, our
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from
time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more
information, please visit www.sec.gov.
Tags: Cannabis, CBD, CSE, Hemp, Marijuana, stocks, tsx, tsx-v, weed Posted in Marijuana Company of America | Comments Off on Marijuana Company of America’s $MCOA #hempSMART™ Brand Continues European Expansion with Netherlands Launch $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca
Unacademy, an online learning platform, has raised $50 million Series D funding round
from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume
Ventures. Aakrit Vaish, co-founder of tech firm Haptik and Sujeet
Kumar, co-founder of business-to-business online marketplace Udaan also
participated in the round, along with Unacademy founders, Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini.
“By leveraging technology and
high-quality educators, we aim to move closer to our mission of
democratising education at all levels, starting with test prep,†said
Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and chief executive of Unacademy. “We are seeing unprecedented growth and engagement from learners in smaller towns and cities, and are also very humbled to see that top-quality educators are choosing Unacademy as their primary platform to reach out to students.â€
The company now has more than 400 top educators from
across the country taking live classes every day on Unacademy Plus.
This is available to every student, irrespective of their location said
the company.
Unacademy recently launched its Plus Subscription, and since its launch, more than 50,000 learners have
subscribed to Unacademy Plus. The firm said this service is available
for more than 20 exam categories and provides students unlimited access
to live courses by top educators across the country. Learners get
a personalised live learning experience that is augmented by
doubt-clearing sessions with the educators, interactive classes and live
test series. More than 600 live classes are conducted every day by the
educators on Plus who teach from all across the country.
“Unacademy is a very meaningful ed-tech company in the making and
Sequoia India is excited to invest signiï¬cantly in this round,” said
Shailendra Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore.
“We were thrilled with how rapidly Gaurav (Munjal) and the team
converted some of our collective product brainstorming sessions into an
amazing live-streaming product and a subscription business for the test
prep market,†said Singh.
Unacademy was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini and Hemesh Singh
in 2015. The firm said the platform empowers educators by making it easy
for them to create high-quality educational lessons on the Educator
App, that learners access via the Learning App. The platform currently
has more than 10,000 registered educators and 13 million learners. The
company had previously raised a Series C round of $21 million in July
2018 from Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, and
others. In October 2018, Unacademy acquired Jaipur-based online education and career portal Wiï¬study, one of the fastest growing education YouTube channels in the world.
The company said it has the largest distribution for educational
videos on its free platform and YouTube and Unacademy lessons have more
than 100 million monthly views across these platforms. Unacademy’s
YouTube channels currently have more than 11 million subscribers,
according to the company.
The global online education market
is projected to reach a total market size of $286.62 billion by 2023,
increasing from $159.52 billion in 2017, according to the report titled
‘Global Online Education Market.’
In March this year, another edtech company
Byju’s raised an additional funding of $31 million in a financing round
led by US-based growth equity investor General Atlantic (GA), along
with Chinese internet giant Tencent. The investment took the valuation
of Byju’s to over $5 billion, from $3.6 billion when it raised $540
million in a funding round led by South African conglomerate Naspers in
December last year.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:27 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
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companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
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The radical idea hiding inside Facebook’s digital currency proposal
A major goal of the Libra Association, the nonprofit Facebook has created to manage the project’s development, is to use Libra to revolutionize the concept of digital identity.
Relevant passage lives near the bottom of a document meant to explain the role of the Libra Association:
“An additional goal of the association is to develop and promote an open identity standard.
Last week, after months of hype and speculation, Facebook finally revealed its plan to launch a blockchain system, called Libra. Since the launch, most of the attention has focused on Libra coin, the cryptocurrency that will run on the new blockchain.
But tucked away in one of the documents Facebook published is
something that may turn out to be just as important as the coin—if not
more so. A major goal of the Libra Association, the nonprofit Facebook
has created to manage the project’s development, is to use Libra to
revolutionize the concept of digital identity.
The relevant passage lives near the bottom of a document
meant to explain the role of the Libra Association: “An additional goal
of the association is to develop and promote an open identity standard.
We believe that decentralized and portable digital identity is a
prerequisite to financial inclusion and competition.â€
But what is a “decentralized and portable digital identity� In
theory, it provides a way to avoid having to trust a single,
centralized authority to verify and take care of our identifying
credentials. For internet users, it would mean that instead of relying
on Facebook or Google’s own log-in tool to provide our credentials to
other websites, we could own and control them ourselves. In theory, this
could better protect that information from hackers and identity
thieves, since it wouldn’t live on company servers.
The concept (sometimes called “self-sovereign identityâ€)
is something of a holy grail in the world of internet technology, and
developers have been pursuing it for years. Big companies including
Microsoft and IBM have been working on decentralized identity
applications for a while now, and so have a number of startups.
But it’s more than just an internet thing. For the roughly one billion
people around the world without any kind of identifying credentials at
all, such technology could make it possible to access financial services
that they cannot today, starting with things like bank accounts and
loans.
Helping some of those people must be part of what Facebook meant when it said in the Libra white paper
that the new system is intended to “serve as an efficient medium of
exchange for billions of people around the world†and “improve access to
financial services.†In some cases the currency itself might be able to
do that, but in others it’s likely that users will need some form of
identification to access a particular service. That’s probably why
Libra’s developers call an open, portable identity standard a
“prerequisite to financial inclusion.â€
But such a digital identity could go beyond finance, too.
Sharing many kinds of sensitive data using a blockchain—for instance,
health information—might require some form of automated ID check.
Facebook itself already has experience with digital identities.
Facebook Connect lets users log in to third party sites using their
Facebook-verified credentials (you might be using it to access
technologyreview.com right now). But Facebook Connect is risky because
it relies on a central authority, argues Christopher Allen, cochair of the credentials community group
of the World Wide Web Consortium, the most important international
standards body for the web. Trusting one entity with this responsibility
is dangerous because the site could go down or the business could fail.
And Facebook can revoke accounts at will.
But it’s hard to say how decentralized Libra’s new identity
system would be, because Facebook hasn’t revealed anything about what
it’s planning.
For example, there’s the possibility that the digital identity
will only work inside the Libra network, which requires permission to
participate in. Unlike systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, for which
anyone with the right hardware and an internet connection can join and
help validate transactions, Libra requires its validators to be
identified and approved. Nearly 30 companies have already signed up to
run network “nodes,†and Libra’s developers want to up that to 100 by
the time the platform is supposed to launch for real next year.
Facebook’s main message with the launch of Libra and the Libra
Association appears to be a response to past criticisms of how it
handled personal data. The company appears to be saying “Hey, look,
we’re trying to be more open. We don’t want to be this honey pot of
everyone’s information,†says Wayne Vaughan, co-founder of the Decentralized Identity Foundation,
a consortium of companies all working on aspects of blockchain-based
identity. But if whatever identity standard they might come up with only
works for 100 companies, says Vaughan, “that’s not decentralizedâ€â€”it’s
just a standard for 100 companies. Facebook did not respond to a request
for comment.
Either way, it’s not clear how Facebook and the Libra
Association would overcome some big technical challenges that have held
back blockchain-based identity systems. For one, blockchains are still
hard to use for many people. A problem that is particularly difficult
for identity applications is that if you lose or forget your private
keys, which aren’t easy to manage in the first place, it’s hard to
restore them, says Allen.
Another technical challenge pertains to privacy. How will the
personal identification data be kept separate from financial
transactions? This piece is particularly concerning for privacy
advocates in the context of Libra, given Facebook’s less-than-stellar
track record. And an aversion to financial surveillance fuels much of
the cryptocurrency movement.
“Where you spend your money and who you spend it with and how
much you spend is some of the most private information for people,†says
Vaughan.
On the whole, says Allen, though the technology of
decentralized identity has advanced to the point of several serious
pilot tests, it’s “not anywhere near ready†for adoption by billions of
people around the world. And given what the company has revealed so far,
“I don’t see how Facebook can do it,†he says.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:46 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
Announced that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., has successfully launched and generated sales from its hempSMART™ CBD product line in Scotland.
On June 22, 2019, the hempSMART UK team successfully sold out at its launch event, which led to the sign-up of numerous new marketing associates.
ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 26, 2019 – - MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA INC. (“MCOA†or the “Companyâ€) (OTCQB: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, is pleased to announce that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., has successfully launched and generated sales from its hempSMART™ CBD product line in Scotland.
On June 22, 2019, the hempSMART UK team successfully sold out at its
launch event, which led to the sign-up of numerous new marketing
associates. The Company’s launch event included an in-depth overview on
the education of the CBD industry and its hempSMART products, as well as
its marketing and compensation plans.
“We are delighted to report another milestone with the opening of
hempSMART and our expansion into Scotland,†said Mr. Ian Harvey, Global
Sales Director of hempSMART, Ltd. “There is a real demand for
high-quality CBD products throughout Europe, and the success
demonstrated from our sales in Scotland has confirmed this. After
Saturday’s event, Scotland is an ideal location for the hempSMART brand,
with future events and opportunity presentations already in place. I
personally didn’t expect to ever be a part of a new company that could
generate so much success and excitement in such a short period of time.â€
“We are excited to finally offer our premium line of CBD products to
the country of Scotland,†said Mr. Don Steinberg, CEO of MCOA. “It has
always been MCOA’s goal to open sales of its hempSMART products in
multiple countries around the world. Our Company anticipates additional
expansions of our footprint into other EU countries moving into the
second half of 2019.â€
About Marijuana Company of America, Inc. MCOA is a
corporation that participates in (1) product research and development
of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name “hempSMART™â€
and targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing
program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products
containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business
entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and
jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated
for medicinal and recreational use; and (4) the expansion of its
business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp
industry, as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment
mature and develop.
About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD The
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD
as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing
CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon
claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical
condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s
jurisdiction.
Forward Looking Statements This news
release contains “forward-looking statements” that are not purely
historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans,
expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking
statements include, among other things, the development, costs and
results of new business opportunities and words such as “anticipate,”
“seek,” intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan” or
similar phrases that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking
statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others,
the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S.
and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company’s
reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of
cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of
the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update
the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual
results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations
and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can
be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or
intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of
the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk
factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-12G, our
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from
time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more
information, please visit www.sec.gov.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 7:39 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
Announced that, in celebration of Canada Day, it will launch its new Hemp Energy Drink line over the Canada Day long weekend, on June 29, across its existing Ontario locations, as well as its two brand new accessories stores in Niagara Falls and Pickering, set to open this weekend.
Samples will be available at all locations.
Vaughan, Ontario–(June 26, 2019) – Spyder Cannabis Inc. (TSXV: SPDR) (“Spyder Cannabis” or the “Company“) is excited to announce that, in celebration of Canada Day, it will launch its new Hemp Energy Drink line over the Canada Day long weekend, on June 29, across its existing Ontario locations, as well as its two brand new accessories stores in Niagara Falls and Pickering, set to open this weekend. Samples will be available at all locations.
As previously disclosed in the Company’s press release of June 18,
2019, Spyder Cannabis signed an exclusive agreement with Tetra Natural
Health, a subsidiary of Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSXV: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF), to
distribute the three flavors of its Hemp Energy Drink in cannabis
accessory stores, vape stores, and kiosks in Canada and the United
States.
“We are thrilled to launch a premium brand, the Hemp Energy Drink, to
our customers this Canada Day long weekend, starting June 29th. This is
a historic time for the Canadian hemp industry, and we are excited to
be at the forefront of the retail and wholesale distribution of
innovative new products. Our focus is on providing unique and
distinctive quality hemp derived options, specially curated to meet the
needs of all Canadians. We are looking forward to sharing our products
throughout Canada,” stated Daniel Pelchovitz, CEO and President of
Spyder.
Founded in 2014 Spyder is an established chain of three high-end vape
stores in Ontario, with stores located in Woodbridge, Scarborough and
Burlington. The Spyder brand is defined by its high-quality proprietary
line of e-juice, liquids and exclusive retail deals, dispensed in
uniquely designed stores creating the optimal customer experience.
Spyder is building off this leading retail, distribution and branding
eCig and vapes company and expanding into the legal cannabis and hemp
derived market. Spyder has developed a scalable retail model with
aggressive expansion plan to create a significant retail footprint with
targeted and disciplined retail distribution strategy focusing on
Canadian retail and U.S. hemp kiosks in high traffic peripheral areas.
About Tetra Natural Health:
Tetra Natural Health Inc. is a subsidiary of Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.
that focuses on identification, development and marketing of hemp or
cannabis-based natural health products, or cannabinoids-based products
authorized for sale by Health Canada. For more information, visit: www.tetranaturalhealth.com.
About Tetra Bio-Pharma:
Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSXV: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) a biopharmaceutical
leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health
Canada approved and FDA reviewed clinical program aimed at bringing
novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare
providers. Tetra Bio-Pharma has subsidiaries engaged in the development
of an advanced and growing pipeline of Bio Pharmaceuticals, Natural
Health and Veterinary Products containing cannabis and other medicinal
plant-based elements. With patients at the core of its mission, Tetra
Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and
safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry
by regulators, physicians and insurance companies. For more information
visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com
Cautionary Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
This news release includes statements containing certain
“forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable
securities laws (“forward-looking statements”). Forward-looking
statements are frequently characterized by words such as “plan”,
“continue”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”,
“estimate”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed” and other similar
words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will”
occur.
These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were
used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in
the forward-looking statements throughout this news release.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of
management at the date the statements are made. Any number of risks and
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Spyder Cannabis Inc. Dan Pelchovitz President & Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (905) 265-8273 Email: [email protected]
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:36 PM on Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by
legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap
companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just
lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap
exits. Click Here For More Information.
What Bitcoin Breaking $11,000 Means for the Crypto Market’s Future
Bitcoin, which collapsed to a low of $3,100 in December, smashed through the $11,000 mark on Sunday after breaking through the critical $10,000 level.
Both levels were considered highly unlikely only a few weeks ago.
Bitcoin,
which collapsed to a low of $3,100 in December, smashed through the
$11,000 mark on Sunday after breaking through the critical $10,000
level. Both levels were considered highly unlikely only a few weeks ago.
At a price just under $11,000 on Monday evening, the world’s largest
digital coin by market capitalization recovered over half its historic
increase during the peak of the crypto frenzy when it neared $20,000
before crashing almost 75%.
Bitcoin’s continued rise, which is also fueling rallies in Asian
cryptocurrency stocks, illustrates the currency’s resilience in the face
of major skepticism and also cryptocurrency’s widening acceptance by
major established companies such as Facebook Inc. (FB), investment behemoth Fidelity, and others, as outlined in a detailed Bloomberg report.
Crypto Money Has Been ‘Waiting on the Sidelines’
“The bounce back of Bitcoin has been fairly extraordinary,†said
George McDonaugh, chief executive and co-founder of London-based
blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm KR1 Plc, to Bloomberg just
after the virtual currency breached the key $10,000 level on Friday. It
was the first time that Bitcoin had reached that level in roughly 15
months. “Money didn’t leave the asset behind, it just sat on the
sidelines waiting to get back in.â€
This in part due to renewed mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies
and the distributed ledger technology that it runs on. Facebook’s Libra
is perhaps the highest profile crypto project, as the social media
pioneer partners with companies such as Visa Inc. (V) and Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) to build the system.
Asian Crypto-Stocks Gain Momentum Alongside Bitcoin Rally
The crypto rally coincided with a rally in related stocks in Asia on
Monday, per another Bloomberg report. In Tokyo, GMO Internet Inc. jumped
7%, while Metaphs Inc. climbed 11%, Remixpoint Inc. 6.2%, and Ceres
Inc. increased 4.4%. In South Korea, Vidente Co. increased 5.4%, and
Woori Technology Investment Co. jumped 4.6%.
Supun Walpola, an analyst with LightStream, attributes gains in Asian
crypto-stocks to Bitcoin’s resurgence. “Going long on stocks that have
exposure to cryptocurrency is something that we have seen in the past
during a Bitcoin/cryptocurrency bull run — especially with those who
want to avoid the volatility of crypto but at the same time want to have
some exposure into these markets,†he said, adding that the increase in
stock prices for these crypto companies typically increase more than
the actual benefit that these firms would get during a crypto surge.
This has “always resulted in immediate corrections,†Walpola wrote in an
email to Bloomberg.
That said, investors should check themselves before investing in
crypto stocks despite their relatively lower risk, given “such
strategies have often gone wrong when crypto markets turn red — which
could happen just about at any time,†said the analyst.
While Bitcoin has eased back below $11,000 it is still dramatically
higher than the $10,000 support level. Bitcoin’s 2019 rebound – and that
of other cryptocurrencies – will be tested by the latest calls by Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin for new global regulatory standards to bring
cryptocurrency “out of the shadows” and to prevent illicit financing by
criminals, terrorists and rogue nations. Crypto bulls say these rules
would hobble the young industry, as outlined in another Bloomberg report.
Looking Ahead
Despite the growing demand for cryptocurrencies and signs that the
long “crypto winter†is over, various headwinds threaten to pull Bitcoin
back below $10,000, likely resulting in a downfall for the rest of the
nascent industry. These risks position the digital coin for continued
volatility as demonstrated in May. Alongside other downside drivers, the
fact that bitcoins are used mostly for speculation, not commerce, has
also been a main concern cited by bears.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:19 PM on Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
In the gambling sphere, there’s barely a bookmaker now that doesn’t include esports and there’s a plethora of esports specific operators too
One thing that hasn’t quite materialized yet is betting exchanges, similar to Betfair, and this is an opportunity Esports Entertainment Group are keen to capitalize on.Â
There’s
undoubtedly been growth in esports betting over recent years.
Entertainment and betting arguably go hand-in-hand and players are
already betting on a multitude of titles ranging from Counter-Strike
through to Hearthstone. In the gambling sphere, there’s barely a
bookmaker now that doesn’t include esports and there’s a plethora of
esports specific operators too. One thing that hasn’t quite materialised
yet is betting exchanges, similar to Betfair, and this is an
opportunity Esports Entertainment Group are keen to capitalise on.
A week on from the news of a big partnership with Dignitas, we spoke to Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group
about his Vie.gg exchange – what they’re trying to achieve – and how he
sees the intersection between gambling and esports developing.
Grant Johnson, Vie.gg CEO (right)
Esports
Insider: Tell us about how Vie came about. As a seasoned gambling
expert, your profile doesn’t fit the typical ‘gamer’ mold – so what
piqued your interest in this particular area?
Grant Johnson:
It all came about back in 2013 when I was doing some work with a group
who wanted to get into the sports bet casino business. They asked me
what was “newâ€. I did some research and started reading about esports. I
had the good fortune to get introduced to Alex Lim. At the time he was
the Secretary-General of the IeSF. He, in turn, introduced me to Ken
Silva, founder, and president of EsportsCanada, who invited me to the
Starcraft championship in Toronto late 2013.
I
was absolutely blown away by the excitement and energy displayed by the
fans at the event and the fact that the vast majority of the fans were
in their 20s. I spoke to several people regarding interest in wagering
and the feedback was unanimous — there was a strong interest.
Effectively that was the ah-ha!
moment for me. The group I was working with decided they were not
interested in the sector so I decided to launch my own company at the
time called VGambling, which has evolved into Esports Entertainment
Group (OTCQB:GMBL). Which in turn launched Vie.gg and the bet exchange
platform.
ESI: The
gambling industry on the esports side clearly isn’t as developed as the
traditional sports counterpart yet — why do you think this is and how
do you think this can change?
GJ: Yes,
I do believe it will change and it’s already happening. I believe the
fan base has to become comfortable with betting. Clearly, some already
are and that number is growing rapidly. As I did my research,
transparency and Player vs Player options were a constant theme in the
feedback we were getting. Hence the bet exchange platform which is
specifically suited for the PvP wagering.
We
went the route of being a publicly traded company so that the fans,
players, and bettors could see with full transparency who was behind the
platform. Generally, it is almost impossible to tell with traditional
betting operators who the people really are behind it.
ESI:
Vie.gg is one of the only exchanges currently in esports. How important
are exchanges in a betting ecosystem and do you envisage the space
developing in the future?
GJ: Clearly
by virtue of the fact we elected to go this way. We are strong
believers in the bet exchange system. Esports is all about competing
against your friends, and here the bet itself becomes a competition of
knowledge which our research has told us is key to the fans of esports.
The players can bet directly against each other and not have to deal
with the house taking a position against them as it is in traditional
betting.
“I
was absolutely blown away by the excitement and energy displayed by the
fans at the event and the fact that the vast majority of the fans were
in their 20sâ€
As
the esports community becomes more comfortable with placing a bet and
they come to understand that bet exchange is a more transparent option
for them, we feel in the end a significant portion of the market will
prefer the exchange model. At this stage, it’s all about educating the
fan base about the player versus player bet experience and that is where
our main focus lies right now.
ESI: The
esports market has been fragmented and regulation is fast improving
with more traditional sports betting operators coming in and positioning
themselves in the market. What do you see the landscape looking like
five years from now? How is Vie positioned differently to these
traditional sportsbook brands?
GJ: I
agree that there is a great deal of change and educating taking place.
The traditional sports books are offering esports in the general belief
that their sportsbook player base will cross over to do some esports
betting. I do think in certain titles there is some crossover, however,
we think that percentage is fairly small.
We
believe a focussed effort on the esports fan specifically is key. I
agree with the financial experts that the esports betting space will see
explosive growth in the next five years. And I believe I have read that
esports gambling could, in fact, eclipse the current size of the
esports ecosystem itself. That offers huge potential.
I
believe in our position as the first mover with the exchange and the
transparency that comes with being public. We also believe in partnering
with the esports brands that the fan base trusts and follows. Our new
and exciting partnership with Dignitas will put us in a strong position
to be a major beneficiary of this growth.
ESI: Vie.gg
are involved with teams like Dignitas and Epsilon and other esports
teams with collaborative sponsor agreements amongst other streamers and
influencers. How do you leverage the relationships these offer and what
can fans expect to see from these partnerships in the future?
GJ: Clearly,
influencers like teams and streamers have a great deal of social
exposure and connection with their followers. By aligning ourselves with
these teams and brands such as Epsilon and our newest partners
Dignitas, both of which have loyal long term fan bases, we are in a
position to offer our product to the fans in partnership with the
brands.
“I
believe I have read that esports gambling could, in fact, eclipse the
current size of the esports ecosystem itself. That offers huge
potentialâ€
It
is a continuation of our belief in transparency and dedication to the
esports industry and we feel that in the long run, it will give us an
option to offer the fans a way to have confidence in and feel
comfortable using Vie.gg for placing wagers when they chose to do so.
