Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:12 PM on Thursday, March 19th, 2020
With 165,000 patients, Empower Clinics (CBDT:CSE) (EPWCF:OTCQB)
has a database that almost every medical cannabis and CBD company would
kill for. Patient visits increased 351% in Q4 and 800% in February.
But would Coronavirus social gathering imitations put the clinic network
at risk?
No. In fact, it has had the opposite effect, with the clinics being designated an essential service. Moreover, Empower has had to actually increase operating hours.
Watch this interview with the Company’s CEO, Steven McAuley, who is Six Sigma certified under the quality initiative of legendary GE chairman Jack Welch. We’ve never seen a Six Sigma certified CEO in the Canadian small cap markets. Never …. which also explains how McAuley has been able to guide Empower Clinics through the most disruptive retail environment in recent history. Â
Grab your favourite beverage and settle in to watch what may be your next great small cap investment.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:00 PM on Thursday, March 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited
(TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and
Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media
threats. The company announced three $1M contacts in Q3-2019. Click here for more info.
How Coronavirus is Impacting Cyberspace
Hackers were also strategizing to spread fake news to create further confusion
By investigating the dark web marketplace, CYFIRMA uncovered illicit groups selling organic medicine claiming to cure and eradicate the COVID-19 virus
These discussions in the hackers’ communities were carried out in Mandarin, Japanese and English
These are interesting times – the world is witnessing an
unprecedented onslaught of upheavals not just in the ‘real-world’ but
also in the cyber world. We greeted 2020 gingerly knowing the trade war
between the U.S. and China was going to bring about economic uncertainty
but little did we know a global pandemic was upon us, with the
Coronavirus having an impact even on cyberspace.
By CYFIRMA RESEARCH
While healthcare workers are battling the COVID-19 virus, countries are in lockdown mode, and the global economy hangs in the balance, another war is raging in cyberspace.
Cyber risks and threats have multiplied with many more attack
vectors, and hackers’ techniques evolving faster than ever, blending
technical prowess with sophisticated social engineering. The current
challenge with the virus pandemic is a test of nations’ and businesses’
preparedness and resiliency on all fronts.
CYFIRMA’s threat visibility and intelligence research
revealed a massive increase of over 600% of cyberthreat indicators
related to the Coronavirus pandemic from February to early March.
Threat indicators are made up of conversations observed and uncovered
in the dark web, hackers’ forums, and closed communities. What our
researchers have seen and heard in these communities do not bode well
for governments and businesses – hackers are hard at work, actively
planning how to leverage this climate of fear and uncertainty to attain
their political and financial objectives.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has
sent out alerts on scams tricking people into revealing personal
information or donating to fraudulent charities, all under the pretext
of helping to contain and manage the coronavirus. The Federal Trade
Commission has also warned about similar scams.
CYFIRMA’s research team and
multiple security vendors have reported that threat actors have used
fear tactics to spread malware, including LokiBot, RemcosRAT, TrickBot,
and FormBook.
These hackers’ communities span far and wide, communicating in
Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, English, and Korean, unleashing campaigns
one after another to wreak havoc on unsuspecting nations and
enterprises.
On Dark Web
forums, a group from Hong Kong hatched a plan to create a new phishing
campaign targeting the population from mainland China. The group aimed
to create distrust and incite social unrest by assigning blame to the
Chinese Communist Party.
A deeper analysis of hackers’ conversations also revealed groups from
Taiwan discussing similar phishing and spam campaigns, specifically
targeting influential persons in mainland China to cause further unrest.
Korean-speaking hackers were planning to make financial gains using
sophisticated phishing campaigns, loaded with sensitive data
exfiltration malware and creating a new variant of EMOTET virus (EMOTET
is a malware strain that was first detected in 2014 and is one of the
most prevalent threats in 2019). These hackers were planning to target
Japan, Australia, Singapore, and the U.S.
CYFIRMA’s researchers also observed North Korean hackers targeting
South Korean businesses. The phishing email had the Korean language
title “Coronavirus Correspondenceâ€, tricking recipients into opening
them and launching malware into machines and networks.
With COVID-19, many hacker groups were observed to be using brand
impersonation with fake emails claiming to represent authoritative
bodies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World
Health Organization (WHO). The subject line and content of these emails
were very enticing, offering news updates and cures to the ailment.
We also noticed coronavirus-themed emails designed to look like
emails from the organizations’ leadership team and sent to all
employees.
Embedded with malware that would infect corporate networks, these
phishing attacks deploy social engineering tactics to steal data and
assets.
Other than unleashing cyberattacks to steal data, we also witnessed
the planning of fake websites to sell face masks and other health
apparatus using bitcoin in China, Japan, and the US.
To aggravate matters, hackers were also strategizing to spread fake
news to create further confusion. By investigating the dark web
marketplace, CYFIRMA uncovered illicit groups selling organic medicine
claiming to cure and eradicate the COVID-19 virus. These discussions in
the hackers’ communities were carried out in Mandarin, Japanese and
English.
A
new malware called ‘CoronaVP’ was being discussed by a Russian hacking
community; this could lead to a new ransomware or EMOTET strain,
designed to steal personal information.
Hackers leveraging on the COVID-19 pandemic are motivated by a
combination of personal financial gain as well as political espionage to
cause social upheavals. Threat actors in the world of cybercrimes are
well-equipped with tools, technology, expertise and financing to further
both commercial and political agendas. In our hyper-connected digital
world, cyber-crime is a lucrative business, and we should expect attacks
to be more frequent and more sophisticated as the pandemic continues to
cast a shadow over the global economy.
What we have witnessed in the field of cyber-intelligence has taught
us the importance of staying vigilant, and frequently, the most
dangerous forces at work are those we cannot see.
The importance of relevant and timely threat intelligence cannot be
over-emphasized as early detection of cyber threats could save
organizations from hefty financial penalties and irreversible brand
damage.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:45 PM on Thursday, March 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: CardioComm Solutions (EKG: TSX-V)
– The heartbeat of cardiovascular medicine and telemedicine. Patented
systems enable medical professionals, patients, and other healthcare
professionals, clinics, hospitals and call centres to access and manage
patient information in a secure and reliable environment.
The Tech That Could Be Our Best Hope for Fighting COVID-19—and Future Outbreaks
Battling a pandemic as serious as COVID-19 requires drastic responses, and political leaders and public-health officials have turned to some of the most radical strategies available.
The key to early response lies in looking beyond centuries-old strategies and incorporating methods that are familiar to nearly every industry from banking to retail to manufacturing, but that are still slow to be adopted in public health
Smartphone apps, data analytics and artificial intelligence all make finding and treating people with an infectious disease far more efficient than ever before
What began with a lockdown of one city in China quickly expanded to the quarantine of an entire province, and now entire countries including Italy. While social isolation and curfews are among the most effective ways to break the chain of viral transmission, some health experts say it’s possible these draconian measures didn’t have to become a global phenomenon. “If health officials could have taken action earlier and contained the outbreak in Wuhan, where the first cases were reported, the global clampdown could have been at a much more local level,†says Richard Kuhn, a virologist and professor of science at -Purdue University.
The key to early response lies in looking beyond centuries-old
strategies and incorporating methods that are familiar to nearly every
industry from banking to retail to manufacturing, but that are still
slow to be adopted in public health. Smartphone apps, data analytics and
artificial intelligence all make finding and treating people with an
infectious disease far more efficient than ever before.
“The connectivity we have today gives us ammunition to fight this
pandemic in ways we never previously thought possible,†says Alain
Labrique, director of the Johns Hopkins University Global -mHealth
Initiative. And yet, to date, the global public–health response to
COVID-19 has only scratched the surface of what these new containment
tools offer. Building on them will be critical for ensuring that the
next outbreak never gets the chance to explode from epidemic to global
pandemic.
Consider how doctors currently detect new cases of COVID-19. Many
people who develop the hallmark symptoms of the -disease—fever, cough
and shortness of breath—-physically visit a primary-care doctor, a
health care provider at an urgent-care center or an emergency room. But
that’s the last thing people potentially infected with a highly
contagious disease should do. Instead, health officials are urging them
to connect remotely via an app to a doctor who can triage their symptoms
while they’re still at home.
“The reality is that clinical brick-and-mortar medicine is rife with
the possibility of virus exposure,†says Dr. Jonathan Wiesen, founder
and chief medical officer of MediOrbis, a telehealth company. “The
system we have in place is one in which everyone who is at risk is
potentially transmitting infection. That is petrifying.†Instead, people
could call a telemedicine center and describe their symptoms to a
doctor who can then determine whether they need COVID-19
-testing—without exposing anyone else.
In Singapore, more than a million people have used a popular
telehealth app called -MaNaDr, founded by family physician Dr. Siaw Tung
Yeng, for virtual visits; 20% of the physicians in the island country
offer some level of service via the app. In an effort to control
escalating cases of coronavirus there, people with symptoms are getting
prescreened by physicians on MaNaDr and advised to stay home if they
don’t need intensive care. Patients then check in with their telehealth
doctor every evening and report if their fever persists, if they have
shortness of breath or if they are feeling worse. If they are getting
sicker, the doctor orders an ambulance to take those people to the
hospital. Siaw says the virtual monitoring makes people more comfortable
about staying at home, where many cases can be treated, instead of
flooding hospitals and doctors’ offices, straining limited resources and
potentially making others sick. “This allows us to care across
distance, monitor patients across distance and assess their progression
across distance,†says Siaw. “There is no better time for remote care
monitoring of our patients than now.â€
Other at-home devices and services currently being used in the U.S.
allow patients to measure dozens of health metrics like temperature,
blood pressure and blood sugar several times a day, and the results are
automatically stored on the cloud, from which doctors get alerts if the
readings are abnormal.
Telemedicine also serves as a powerful communication tool for keeping
hundreds of thousands of people in a specific region up to date with
the latest advice about the risk in their communities and how best to
protect themselves. That can go a long way toward reassuring people and
preventing panic and runs on health centers and hospitals.
Beyond individual-level care, the data gathered by telemedicine
services can be mined to predict the broader ebb and flow of an
epidemic’s trajectory in a population. In the U.S., Kaiser Permanente’s
tele-medicine call centers are now also serving as a bellwether for an
anticipated surge in demand for health services. Dr. Stephen Parodi,
national infectious–disease leader at Kaiser Permanente, was inspired by
a Google project from a few years ago in which the company created an
algorithm of users’ flu–related search terms to determine where clusters
of cases were mounting. Parodi started tracking coronavirus–related
calls from the health system’s 4.5 -million members in Northern
California in February. “We went from 200 calls a day to 3,500 calls a
day about symptoms of COVID-19, which was an early indicator of
community–based transmission,†he says. “Our call volume was telling us
several weeks before the country would have all of its testing online
that we have got to plan for a surge in cases.â€
On the basis of the swell in calls nationwide, the hospital system is
considering suspending elective surgeries based on local circumstances,
in part to ensure that ventilators and other critical equipment would
be available for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients with severe
symptoms. Kaiser doctors also postponed appointments for routine
mammograms and other cancer–screening tests and cut back on in-person
appointments by turning most noncritical visits into virtual visits.
The COVID-19 pandemic may be the trial by fire that telemedicine
finally needs to prove its worth, especially in the U.S. Despite the
fact that apps and technology for virtual health visits have existed for
several decades, uptake in the country has been slow. Medicare only
recently began reimbursing for telemedicine visits at rates comparable
to in-person visits, and states have just begun to relax licensing
regulations that prevent doctors in one state from -remotely treating
patients in another state. “This -pandemic is almost like us crossing
the Rubicon,†says Wiesen of MediOrbis. “It’s a clarion call for America
and for the world on how important telemedicine is.†Parodi agrees. “I
think this pandemic will bring in a fundamental change in the way we
practice medicine and in the way the health care system functions in the
U.S.,†he says. “We’re going to come out of this and -realize a lot of
health care visits don’t have to be in person.â€
Other tech innovations that haven’t fully made their way to the
public-health sector could also play a critical role in controlling this
-pandemic—and future outbreaks. Taking a closer look at health-related
data, such as electronic health records or sales of over-the-counter
medications, can provide valuable clues about how an infectious disease
like COVID-19 is moving through a population. Retail drugstores track
inventory and sales of nonprescription fever reducers, for example, and
any trends in those data might serve as an early, albeit crude,
harbinger of growing spread of disease in a community. And given the
proliferation of health–tracking apps on smartphones, analyzing data
trends like a rise in average body temperature in a given geographical
area could provide clues to emerging clusters of cases.
Geotracking on phones, while controversial because of privacy issues,
can also streamline the tedious task of contact tracing, in which
scientists try to manually trace infected patients’ whereabouts to find
as many people with whom they had direct contact and who could have been
infected. In South Korea, this strategy helped identify many of the
contacts of members of a Seoul church that formed the first major
cluster of infections in the country. In countries with a less robust
health care infrastructure, smartphones can be critical for gathering
information about emerging infections on the ground. In Bangladesh, says
Labrique, programs created to canvass for noncommunicable diseases like
hyper-tension and diabetes are now being modified to include questions
about COVID-19 symptoms. These types of real-time data can rapidly
provide a snapshot of where and how fast the disease might be spreading,
to distribute health care workers and -equipment where they’re needed
most.
It’s all about catching these cases as early as possible, to minimize
the peak of a pandemic so the health system doesn’t get overwhelmed.
But it’s not just about seeing the trends. Flattening the surge of an
infectious disease also requires action, and that’s where the advice
gets -muddier—but also where Big Data and artificial intelligence (AI)
can provide clarity.
By deeply analyzing the care that every COVID-19 patient receives,
for example, AI can tease out the best treatment strategies. Jvion, a
health care analytics company, is using AI to study 30 million patients
in its data universe to identify people and communities at highest risk
of COVID-19 on the basis of more than 5,000 variables that include not
just medical history but also lifestyle and socioeconomic factors such
as access to stable housing and transportation. Working with clients
that include large hospital systems as well as small remote health
centers, Jvion’s platform creates lists of people who should be
contacted pro-actively to warn them about their vulnerability so health
providers can create a care plan for them.
In the case of COVID-19, that might include social distancing and
avoiding large public gatherings. To help public-health departments
better prepare communities for this and future outbreaks, the company
has communicated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to share what it has learned.
Privacy issues, however, nest in every single byte of data about a
person’s health. So the power of AI methods in controlling outbreaks
depends on how effectively data can be anonymized. Only when people are
assured of privacy can algorithms help to navigate the next big hurdle:
predicting surges in cases that strain health care personnel and
availability of supplies like ventilators, masks and gowns.
If COVID-19 teaches public-health officials one thing, it’s that
there are now tools available to help contain an infectious disease
before radical measures like quarantines and curfews are needed. “What
we were doing 10 years ago and what we are doing now is vastly
different,†says Wiesen. “There is a tremendous opportunity here, and
hopefully by [the next pandemic], the use of technology and data
analytics is going to be light-years ahead of where it is today.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:57 PM on Thursday, March 19th, 2020
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The
company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
Focus On Survival Amid Coronavirus: Lightspeed’s Lessons From China For Indian Startup Founders
By: Bhumika Khatri
The VC’s partners from China and India suggested startups work on reducing cash burn, spending
Lightspeed China’s James Mi said the Chinese ecosystem is focussing on extending runway through cost-cutting
Mi advised founders to have at least six months of runway
The Indian startup ecosystem has joined the fight against the
coronavirus pandemic, as over 125 confirmed cases have emerged in India.
With three deaths so far, India has not yet seen the worst of the
outbreak. While many startups have advised employees to work from home,
some are also offering medical support, while helping employees take up
self-quarantine for Covid-19 and creating contingency plans — life has
truly changed in the age of the pandemic for many people, startup
founders included.
Many are saying that India is in the same place as China was almost
30-45 days back when the coronavirus had not yet been given the pandemic
status. So startups may have a few lessons to learn from their Chinese
counterparts. To make this happen Lightspeed India hosted a closed-door
founders-only online session recently to facilitate interactions between
Indian startup founders and venture capitalists in China so that each
group can learn from their experiences.
The discussions were led by James Mi, partner, Lightspeed China,
Udaan cofounder Amod Malviya with Lightspeed India partners’ Bejul
Somaia and Hemant Mohapatra. The VC fund received over 200 questions
from founders, with over 60 founders joining the session.
A founder who was part of the interaction told Inc42
that the session focused on fundraising, business environment and work
from home. From the experience of China, James Mi noted that the
strategy was first to focus on containment and as a result, hospitality
businesses saw decline while businesses like grocery delivery grew.
However, logistics was impacted negatively.
Other businesses that saw high adoption, traction and growth were
digital content, video streaming, edtech among others. Mi also said that
enterprise SaaS businesses saw some downturn due to the lack of
face-to-face meetings, which are crucial for large sales contracts.
Shoring Up The Runway
In terms of fundraising, Mi advised founders to have at least six
months of runway and first focus on optimising unit economics. However,
if they don’t have such a runway, they should aim to reduce burn by
cutting down unnecessary expenses on marketing and even reduce headcount
if need be. Founders were also advised to find alternative financing
options like bank loans.
Mi also urged startups to lock any existing offers and secure the
funding to support the runway as VC funding is expected to slow down in
the next quarter. He also suggested that businesses should go back to
decisions taken at earlier stages to reduce burn and work on unit
economics, rather than increasing market reach.
Lightspeed India’s Somaia shared a similar sentiment and said that
fears in financial markets are similar to the consumer market as the
capital gets scarce and selective. He said that even though financing
won’t stop, it would now be more selective, focussing on quality and
business fundamentals.
He noted that in such situations, reckless spending isn’t appreciated
and that startups should plan in a way where they can spend 2020
without external funding. Somaia advised that the startups can top-up
from the recent funding round as well if there is an interest. The trio
emphasised that founders should focus on survival on priority.
The three experienced VCs also noted that the conditions are benign
today but may become severe tomorrow. The impact on business from the
pandemic is expected to last at least two quarters. The responsibility
of businesses has changed from being equitable and fair employers to
taking precautions ranging from temperature checks to masks and
sanitisers.
Mi recollected that in China, even though factories were allowed to
work, they didn’t have the infrastructure like masks and other sanitary
needs set up to fulfil recommendations, which meant many workers
couldn’t come in. So founders need to provision for all manner of things
that they had not earlier.
Udaan cofounder Malviya shared the experience of work from home
saying that it needs a planned approach and should be embraced
correctly. He said that it becomes important to document decisions and
startups should have well-defined touchpoints on a daily and weekly
basis for different groups.
He said that work from home requirements are different for teams
which are in operations and are on managerial work etc. Among the
challenges with work from home for operational teams that Malviya noted
was a drop in productivity. He advised founders to rely on products like
Notion for documentation, Kettle.ai to track daily productivity and
Hangouts and Zoom for video collaboration.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:11 AM on Thursday, March 19th, 2020
Announced the reinstatement of BTRU to trading effective as of March 23rd , 2020
Company is providing an update on the business and notice of the Annual General Meeting of shareholders
OTTAWA, March 19, 2020 – betterU Education Corp. (TSX VENTURE: BTRU, Frankfurt: 5OGA) (the “Company” or “betterU”) has been working with the TSX Venture Exchange to file all necessary outstanding filings and is now pleased to announce the reinstatement of BTRU to trading effective as of March 23rd , 2020. The Company is providing an update on the business and notice of the Annual General Meeting of shareholders.
Message from the CEO –
“Our company has gone through a lot of turmoil over the last
year, and I want to thank all of you – our shareholders and extended
stakeholders – for weathering this storm with us. The good news is that
we are emerging stronger – more operationally and commercially focused –
than ever. While the company’s trading was suspended over the last
six-months we redoubled our efforts to build value for the Company and
our shareholders.
I am pleased to announce the official launch of our enterprise
B2B SaaS platform for skills development called ‘Ready-To-Goâ€, which is
the first mobile platform on the market to bring together everything an
employer needs to continually assess and skill any employee from entry
level to executive in an integrated manner. Ready-To-Go is proving
valuable to corporate customers globally, and we will be announcing
contracts with companies in Canada, US, India and beyond in the coming
months. Ready-To-Go completely aligns with our founding vision to
provide best in class education-to-employment solutions for individuals
and companies globally. What is different from the past was the
realization while in stealth mode over the last few months, that we are
not in the business of selling courses, we are in the business of
building better people (hence our brand ‘betterU’). As such we have
shifted our business model away from a pay-per-course (transactional)
model to a pay-per-employee (software-as-a-service) model – whereby
employers pay monthly subscriptions per employee for continual skills
improvement and tracking.
This simple shift in framing – which is both on brand and on
mission – is resonating strongly with public sector partners, private
enterprise customers, and with individuals as end-user beneficiaries.
While our focus has become more global in nature, we continue to
maintain dedicated staff and skilling platforms for India, which
inspired all of our hard work up to this point. There is still a lot of
hard work ahead of us, but we now have a solid foundation to become a
more sustainable company.†Brad Loiselle, President and CEO betterU.
Business Update – The following are additional updates on the business:
Cancelled Shares for Debt – As
previously reported on July 26th, 2019 and November 29, 2019 as part of
ongoing efforts to reduce the Company’s debt and operational liabilities
that its board of directors had approved the settlement of $125,000 of
debt through the issuance of common shares of the Company (the “Debt
Settlement”). The Company had since decided not to move forward with the
Debt Settlement due to the downward pressure of the stock price and the
level of dilution it would have created. The Company continues to look
at debt reduction options.
Board approved restructuring plan – On December 2, 2019
betterU’s board of directors approved a plan to restructure the
Company’s existing debts and liabilities in efforts to deleverage its
balance sheet. The restructuring would take place over the course of
2020 i n connection with a planned subordinated secured convertible
debenture offering and subsequent private equity placement to fund a
global rollout of the Company’s Enterprise SaaS skilling platform and
also convert or otherwise pay down the Company’s currently existing
liabilities to a sustainable level.
betterU Enterprise SaaS Platform ‘Ready-To-Go’ – is
fully operational and has been showcased to multiple corporate clients
in Canada, USA, UK and India. The Company has begun contracting with
several enterprise users, which will be announced in the week to come.
betterU has built over the last several months a database from
interested parties of 400+ Directors of Learning and Development, VPs
and HR heads from companies around the world. To support such growing
demand the Company would first have to raise additional capital through
its planned subordinated secured debenture offering. For more details
about betterU’s recently launched Enterprise SaaS ‘Ready-To-Go’
platform, please visit https://readytogo.betteru.ca/
Partnerships – Adding to our existing content
partnerships encompassing tens of thousands of courses from 100+ of the
world’s leading online education and training providers, betterU has
been expanding its offering of assessment tools required to support
employers in determining their employee skill gaps. We are pleased to
announce the Company has entered a partnership with Cyprus firm Byrq to
support betterU’s Enterprise SaaS Platform for pre-hiring candidates.
With a proven I/O psychology framework that is scientifically validated
and EEOC compliant, betterU will now be able to measure cognitive skills
including numerical, verbal, problem solving and attention to detail as
well as 16 personality traits. betterU is also pleased to announce they
have entered a partnership with USA based firm eSkill, providing
betterU with access to 600+ assessments across job roles, subject base
and modular. This partnership enables betterU to support entire
departments and job roles across organizations in determining the skills
required per employee and mapping them to their skills on betterU’s
Enterprise SaaS Platform Ready-To-Go.
Corporate Portal – betterU has developed and launched a corporate website https://corporate.betteru.ca/,
that provides access to more details about betterU’s history,
leadership, 2020 focus, Investor Relations and more information on the
Company’s ongoing activities. betterU’s corporate website will support
more visibility, transparency and access to current and relevant details
about how the business is moving forward. Please visit the site
regularly so that you are kept current.
Stock Option Grants – The following stock options were
issued to an insider on December 13th 2017, Positive Venture Group for
125,000 at an exercise price of $0.335 for a 5 year term, with 1/3rd
allowed to exercise on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd anniversary date.
AGORA Internet Relations Corp. – The Company has issued
the following number of shares in connection with settlement of $56,500
owed to Agoracom for marketing services according to the terms of the
agreement disclosed on April 12, 2017.
Marketing Services
Price per Share
Number of Shares
15-Mar-17
$11,300
0.45
25,111
15-Jun-17
$11,300
0.57
19,824
15-Sep-17
$11,300
0.38
29,736
15-Dec-17
$11,300
0.38
29,736
15-Mar-18
$11,300
0.79
14,303
Total
$56,500
118,710
Annual General Meeting (“AGMâ€) Notice – Take notice that the annual general meeting (the “Meetingâ€)
of shareholders of betterU Education Corporation (the “Corporationâ€)
will be held at 1 Hunt Club Rd, Ottawa, ON K1V 1B9 on Thursday May 28th,
2020 at 11:00 a.m. (Ottawa time) for the following purposes:
To receive the financial statements of the Corporation for its
fiscal year ended March 31st 2019 and the report of the auditor thereon;
To elect directors of the Corporation for the ensuing year;
To appoint an auditor of the Corporation for the ensuing year;
To consider and if thought fit to pass, with or without variation,
an ordinary resolution to approve the Corporation’s Stock Option Plan
allowing the granting of up to 10% of the Corporation’s issued and
outstanding common shares at any time; and
To transact such other business as may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment thereof.
The Corporation has elected to use the notice-and-access
(“Notice-and-Accessâ€) provisions under National Instrument 54-101
Communications with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting
Issuer and National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations
to distribute Meeting materials to shareholders. Notice-and-Access is a
new set of rules that allow issuers to post electronic versions of
proxy-related materials on SEDAR and on one additional website, rather
than mailing paper copies to shareholders. Shareholders have the right
to request hard copies of any proxy-related materials posted online by
the Corporation under Notice-and-Access.
Meeting materials, including the Circular, will be available under the Corporation’s profile at www.sedar.com and also at https://corporate.betteru.ca/
by April 29th 2020. The Corporation will provide to any shareholder,
upon request to the Corporation’s transfer agent, a paper copy of the
Circular and any financial statements or management discussion and
analysis of the Corporation filed with the applicable securities
regulatory authorities during the past year. In order to allow
reasonable time for you to receive and review a paper copy of the
Circular or other document prior to the proxy deadline, you should make
your request for a paper copy by April 13th 2020.
A shareholder who is unable to attend the Meeting in person and who
wishes to ensure that such shareholder’s shares will be voted at the
Meeting is requested to complete, date and sign the form of proxy for
the Meeting, or voting information form (“VIFâ€), and deliver the form of
proxy, or VIF, in accordance with its instructions.
About betterU Education Corp.
betterU is an education-to-employment technology company offering an
end-to-end solution leveraging business intelligence to automate
skilling, reskilling and upskilling for companies operating on domestic
and global scales.
betterU has integrated into its platform the content, technology and
support for tailored skills assessments, learning pathways and training
modules from 100+ of the world’s leading online education providers.
betterU’s eco-system includes detailed job, skill, employer, and
educational profiles spanning 3,000+ standardized jobs. betterU’s
integrated platform is the most efficient solution to address evolving
skilling challenges for employers and employees through the employment
lifecycle from entry level to executive. We don’t sell content, we help
build better people.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:22 PM on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
Closed a $903,000 non-brokered secured convertible loan at 12% per annum, with a related party
Loan is secured by a subordinated Hypothec on the Universality of Movable Property over all of the present and after acquired moveable property and assets of the Company.
MONTREAL, March 18, 2020 – PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (http://pyrogenesis.com) (TSX-V: PYR) (OTCQB: PYRNF) (FRA: 8PY), a high-tech company, (the “Company”, the “Corporation†or “PyroGenesis”) that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma atomized metal powder, plasma waste-to-energy systems and plasma torch systems, is pleased to announce today that it has closed a $903,000 non-brokered secured convertible loan at 12% per annum (the “Loanâ€), with a related party.
The Loans bears interest at the rate of 12% per annum, with interest
payable in cash on a quarterly basis in arrears and matures September
17th, 2021. The Loan is convertible into common shares of the Company
(each, a “Common Share”) at a conversion price of $0.28 per Common Share
(the “Conversion Price”). The Common Shares issuable on conversion of
the Loan will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and
one day from the closing date.
The Loan is secured by a subordinated Hypothec on the Universality of
Movable Property over all of the present and after acquired moveable
property and assets of the Company.
PyroGenesis intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for
general corporate purposes. The Offering is subject to the final
approval of the TSXV.
P. Peter Pascali, CEO and President of PyroGenesis, provides the following situation update:
“As a global Covid-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, it would be
an understatement to suggest that these are trying times. The world
finds itself in uncharted and precarious territory, a show that has no
script. What is certain is that the future is not as certain as we
thought it was mere weeks ago. At PyroGenesis, the health, safety and
wellbeing of our people, and community, is our number one priority. As
such, we immediately implemented an emergency work-from-home policy and,
as such, work continues without material interruption. We have also
secured our supply lines which, to date, seem to be in order. As a
cautionary second step, we managed to secure this loan which we
announced today, from a related party, to shore up any unforeseen events
that may arise from the current situation. We thought this to be
prudent under the circumstances.
Current events are presenting a unique set of challenges to
businesses. The economic and social impact is already on a scale not
seen in the post war era. This uncertain future is leading companies to
have to make difficult decisions. At PyroGenesis, we will do our part
to ensure all our employees are employed, safe, and healthy. We are
also doing our part to source limited supplies from our international
contacts to augment the needs of our community health care system.
Times like these require us as entrepreneurs and businesses leaders
to come together to help our communities assist each other. After all,
we are skilled leaders and decision makers having operated in this type
of arena all our live; making decisions on limited information,
ascertaining risk, executing and adjusting as the case may be.
It is not business as usual, that is for sure. However, a measure of a
team is how they manage crisis. At Pyogenesis, we have a seasoned team
of business veterans when it comes to innovation and crisis
management. I am proud of my team in how they handle challenges, and
never more than I am these days.
Be safe and we will keep you up to date with any material developments.â€
The Corporation did not file a material change report more than 21
days before the excepted closing of the Offering as the details of the
participation therein by related parties of the Corporation were not
settled until shortly prior to the closing of the Offering.
The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the
United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), or
any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United
States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined
in Regulation S under the 1933 Act), except pursuant to an exemption
from the registration requirements of those laws. This press release
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to
buy securities in the United States, or for the account or benefit of
U.S. persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the 1933
Act).
About PyroGenesis Canada Inc.
PyroGenesis Canada Inc., a high-tech company, is the world leader in
the design, development, manufacture and commercialization of advanced
plasma processes and products. We provide engineering and manufacturing
expertise, cutting-edge contract research, as well as turnkey process
equipment packages to the defense, metallurgical, mining, advanced
materials (including 3D printing), oil & gas, and environmental
industries. With a team of experienced engineers, scientists and
technicians working out of our Montreal office and our 3,800 m2
manufacturing facility, PyroGenesis maintains its competitive advantage
by remaining at the forefront of technology development and
commercialization. Our core competencies allow PyroGenesis to lead the
way in providing innovative plasma torches, plasma waste processes,
high-temperature metallurgical processes, and engineering services to
the global marketplace. Our operations are ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D
certified, and have been since 1997. PyroGenesis is a publicly-traded
Canadian Corporation on the TSX Venture Exchange (Ticker Symbol: PYR)
and on the OTCQB Marketplace. For more information, please visit www.pyrogenesis.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements,
including, without limitation, statements containing the words “may”,
“plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”,
“expect”, “in the process” and other similar expressions which
constitute “forward- looking information” within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the
Corporation’s current expectation and assumptions and are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited
to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the
market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the
capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research
and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new
product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory
approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the
Corporation with respect to future events and are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in
the Corporation’s ongoing filings with the securities regulatory
authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com, or at
www.otcmarkets.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ
materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements either as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture
Exchange, its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in
the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the OTCQB accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
SOURCE PyroGenesis Canada Inc.
For further information please contact: Rodayna Kafal, Vice President Investors Relations and Strategic Business Development Phone: (514) 937-0002, E-mail: [email protected]
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:46 PM on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)
Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14
million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has
interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro
Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
—————————-
Volkswagen to start using high-nickel EV batteries
Volkswagen is aiming to produce 3 million electric cars by 2025.
Company is also embarking on producing EV battery as well.
Reuters
FRANKFURT: Volkswagen will raise the amount of nickel
used in it electric car battery cells to 80% in the next year from 65%
at present, Frank Blome, head of battery cells at the carmaker said on
Tuesday.
Volkswagen’s current electric car battery cell contains 65% nickel, 15% cobalt and 20% manganese. Next generation batteries will have 80% nickel, 10% cobalt and 10% manganese, Blome told analysts on a call.
Volkswagen
is embarking on a mass production push to build 3 million electric cars
by 2025, requiring 300 gigawatt hours worth of battery cells, mainly in
Asia and Europe, he said.
Ramping up manufacturing battery packs
at scale will help the carmaker to cut battery cell costs far below
$100 per kilowatt hour by 2025, he said.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:50 PM on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The
company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
FROM THE DESK OF BRAD LOISELLE:
I hope you are well. betterU, in partnership with several of our content partners, have decided to assemble a COVID-19 All-In-One
resource toolkit available on mobile through betterU’s Ready-To-Go
platform. We have decided to make it available for FREE to support you,
your families, coworkers, employees, friends and our communities. We
want to get this in the hands of as many people as possible so feel free
to share the link.
The noise of the media is creating confusion, fear and panic, while
becoming more difficult to determine what is true or false. The app
includes access to all the most relevant COVID-19 information assembled
from leading sources around the world such as the World Health
Organization, CDC and more. It includes content in the form of videos,
text, PDFs, graphics and links. It also includes resources to support
your personal well-being as well as professional challenges of working
from home. We will be adding more content to continue to support
community needs.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:03 PM on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
SPONSOR: CardioComm Solutions (EKG: TSX-V)
– The heartbeat of cardiovascular medicine and telemedicine. Patented
systems enable medical professionals, patients, and other healthcare
professionals, clinics, hospitals and call centres to access and manage
patient information in a secure and reliable environment.
Why 5G enabled healthcare is important for patients and spatial computing
By empowering new tools, 5G enabled healthcare may help aid in caring for patients and preparing for complex medical procedures.
While augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and spatial computing are already being used in healthcare on a limited basis, 5G enabled healthcare may eventually further enhance a doctor’s ability to deliver innovative, less invasive treatments.
Among 5G’s many ultimate potential applications, some of the most exciting involve its role in simulating complex medical scenarios and enabling alternative treatments for the critically ill.
5G enabled healthcare
5G is the fifth generation of cellular wireless technology, which can
offer massive connection power and fast internet speed for data
transfer. Implementation of 5G technology accelerated the demand for
various healthcare technologies such as the Internet of Medical Things, AR/VR, artificial intelligence (AI), remote medical learning, and remote patient monitoring to name a few.
Patient real time information is important data for doctors to take
decisions in a critical situation. This has accelerated the demand for
advanced technologies in the healthcare sector. For instance,
telemedicine requires an advanced network that offers support in real
time, providing high-quality video communication without slowing down
the facility’s network. Integration of 5G network in existing
infrastructure provides real time data transfer of images, documents,
and real time videos for video-based medical consultations, to improve
the quality of care.
North America held a dominant share of the global 5G enabled
healthcare services market in 2019. It is expected to continue its
dominance throughout the forecast period. The US and Canada are the
major countries that drive the 5G enabled healthcare services market in
the region.
Demand for 5G
The aging population is expected to increase the demand for advanced
solutions such as mHealth solutions, and home healthcare, which require
high-speed internet. According to the Population Reference Bureau, in
2018, 15% of the total North American population was above the age of 65
and is expected to reach 23% by 2050. Hence, the increasing aging
population is accelerating the demand for 5G enabled healthcare
services.
The 5G enabled healthcare services market in Asia Pacific is expected
to expand at a fast-paced CAGR during the forecast period. India,
China, Japan, and Australia are major countries of the 5G enabled
healthcare services market in the region.
Increasing adoption of advanced communication solutions in the
healthcare industry, majorly in developing countries where health care
systems are often unprepared to tackle the challenges of a growing
elderly population, has raised the need for high-speed internet services
in the healthcare sector. Hence, this augments the adoption rate of 5G
services in the healthcare industry.
Tags: EKG, mhealth, small cap stocks, stocks, tsx, tsx-v Posted in CardioComm Solutions | Comments Off on Why #5G enabled healthcare #Mhealth is important for patients and spatial computing SPONSOR: CardioComm Solutions $EKG.ca – $ATE.ca $TLT.ca $OGI.ca $ACST.ca $IPA.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:53 PM on Tuesday, March 17th, 2020
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The
company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
Indian edtech industry to grow at an incredible rate in 2020
Not everyone has access to quality academic resources at school, but more and more people have a phone in their hands nowindicating how edtech is helping democratize education
At the same time, the consumer base is increasing phenomenally, paving way for opportunities not just in the academic space, but in vocational courses and skill development as well
With a robust rise in smartphone ownership and internet adoption, learning has become more personalized, convenient, and all-encompassing. Not everyone has access to quality academic resources at school, but more and more people have a phone in their hands nowindicating how edtech is helping democratize education. At the same time, the consumer base is increasing phenomenally, paving way for opportunities not just in the academic space, but in vocational courses and skill development as well.
AMIDST ALL THESE DEVELOPMENTS, HERE ARE SOME TRENDS THAT SIGNIFY HOW
THE EDTECH INDUSTRY IN INDIA WILL CONTINUE GROWING AT AN INCREDIBLE RATE
IN 2020, AND BEYOND:
With the proliferation of smartphones, there has been a significant
shift towards mobile-first solutions and products. In the edtech space,
mobile-first approach will become central for learner experience. There
are many effective ways for mobile learning to be tapped into which can
provide consumers an enhanced experience within a short-time span.
Because of this and other such factors, mobile-first learning products
will explode in the country’s edtech space.
There lies a massive opportunity in the space of vernacular content. A
report by Google India and KPMG estimated that as much as 73% of the
Indian internet users are going to interact in a regional language by
2021. Amid this, having an English-only approach for the platform will
limit the consumer base to a significant extent. Therefore, there is a
lot of scope for business in the vernacular market, and further scope
for them to play a role in bridging the country’s digital divide.
Indians are more than willing to pay for digital services now. Due to
a rise in disposable income, there has been certain income elasticity
towards expenditure on education-related products. This indicates how
across various income levels, Indian consumers are willing to invest in
value-added online learning products and platforms. The ‘freemium’ model
has also led to the rise of paid models by facilitating free trials for
better decision-making on the consumers’ end.
These are some of the several innovations and developments taking
place in various fields of edtech, leading to new delivery methods,
improvement in student engagement tactics, democratized access to
education, personalized experiences, and more. India has a large
consumer base and there are diverse categories of learners, learning
modes, courses, and outcomes that entrepreneurs in the edtech space, or
edupreneurs’ can explore. With our classrooms, workplaces, and job
markets changing owing to the rapidly emerging technologies, edtech has
become all the more relevant today, and will continue to positively
impact more and more people across the country in 2020, and beyond.
Authored article by Micha Borkowski, CEO and co-founder of Brainly, an edutech startup.
