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ExtraClass disrupting Indian #EdTech space SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:22 PM on Monday, December 16th, 2019
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.

ExtraClass disrupting Indian EdTech space

  • Google-KPMG report states the biggest barrier in the adoption of online courses in India is the unavailability of quality content at affordable prices.

By: ANI

New Delhi [India], Dec 16 (ANI/Digpu): Aditi Mishra, a class 12 student is determined to get admission into the prestigious Delhi University, which is known for its high admission cut-offs.

Aditi belongs to a small village of Ballia district in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. One of the problems, which the students from small towns and villages face is the lack of quality education.

One day, her friend recommended ExtraClass. She instantly fell in love with the app and how its teachers make even the most difficult concepts simple for students.

ExtraClass was founded by Delhi University alumni, Jaideep and Parteek Solanki in late 2018 and eventually registered as a private limited company by the same name “Extraclass EdTech Pvt Ltd.”, which offers comprehensive educational content along with real-time doubt solving on its app-based platform.

Parteek Solanki, CEO of Extraclass, is a cost accountant by profession and has previously worked with Indigo Airlines.

“High quality at affordable prices made Indigo one of the largest airline carriers in India. I always thought why we couldn’t do the same with online education, that’s where the inspiration came from!” said Parteek Solanki.

A 2017 Google-KPMG report states the biggest barrier in the adoption of online courses in India is the unavailability of quality content at affordable prices.

“Using technology as an enabler we at ExtraClass are trying to remove this barrier by providing courses at affordable prices,” said Jaideep, COO, Extraclass.

In the pre-revenue stage, the biggest motivating factor for the Extraclass team is when thousands of students from various parts of India regularly send thank you notes, explaining how the app has brought a positive change in their lives, by providing quality content at their fingertips.

ExtraClass app provides high-quality video classes, notes, practice tests, as well as doubt sessions for the students.

The Content is prepared by a team of expert teachers who also resolves students’ doubts. The App is currently available for class 10 to 12 CBSE board.

With a 4.8 rating, ExtraClass app has been consistently ranked as a top app on iOS and was trending 2 on Google play-store in September2019.

Moreover, the startup boasts of having more than 200,000 students on their platform in less than a year.

“80 per cent of the students come from tier2, tier3 cities and small towns. To tap the large vernacular language audience, we have to ensure our content is available in multiple languages for various state boards” said Parteek.

So far, ExtraClass has only created content in Hinglish (EnglishHindi) for class 10 and 12 and is looking forward to adding new classes and launch content in other regional languages as well.

Students in tier2, tier3 cities and small towns have access to high-speed internet; however, they don’t have deep pockets to pay for expensive online courses.

Extraclass comes as a saviour and provides free online classes to millions of school-going students in India.

Founders at ExtraClass EdTech are not worried about monetising for the moment.

“Monetisation can wait till we grab a major chunk of market share from the established players. “Low infrastructure cost and a larger student base will help us leverage on the economics of scale and the ExtraClass courses will be priced very aggressively, based on a pull model,” said Jaideep.

Extraclass is currently bootstrapped and yet shown strong traction which is hard even for many VC funded startups in EdTech space.

As a result of which, renowned VC firms like Mayfield Funds is showing interest in them. With several e-learning apps like Byju’s, Toppr, Unacademy and Vedantu, it’s tough to survive in a competitive world without any funding.

Looking at the overwhelming journey of the ExtraClass, external funds can surely add speed to their goals and who knows we may be looking at another unicorn in the making.

Source:https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/263409704/extraclass-disrupting-indian-edtech-space

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Posted in betterU Education Corp, Featured | Comments Off on ExtraClass disrupting Indian #EdTech space SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Empower Clinics $CBDT.ca – As Smoke Clears From 2019, The US Cannabis Market Focuses On 2020 $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:02 PM on Monday, December 16th, 2019

SPONSOR:

Why Empower Clinics

  • A leading owner/operator of physician staffed health and pain management clinics.
  • Patient database of over 165,000 patients 
  • Platform generating $1.4M USD (9 months ending Sept. 30, 2019)
  • Proprietary technology platforms including Electronic Health Records portal and e-Commerce for CBD product distribution
  • Recently launched CBD extraction facility
  • First extraction system capacity = 6,000 Kg per year.
  • CBD based products are poised to be a $20B global industry by 2022
  • Medical cannabis is poised to be a $100B global industry by 2025

As Smoke Clears From 2019, The US Cannabis Market Focuses On 2020

  • The U.S. legal cannabis market is forecast to grow to $30 billion by 2025, as state markets quickly cannibalize demand from the illicit market, thereby achieving a key objective of legalization in undercutting the unregulated activities
  • Through the robust growth in currently legal markets, cannabis will likewise continue to be a significant generator of new jobs (from 258,437 in 2019, to a projected 743,196 in 2025 – an increase of 188%), and of tax revenues for the federal and state goverments ($1.41 billion in 2019, projecting to $4.06 billion in 2025)

By: New Frontier Data

While 2019 was a year marked by turbulence and reconsidered expectations in the legal cannabis industry, significant opportunities for growth and prosperity nevertheless await in 2020.

Despite strong consumer demand, challenges in operationalizing key markets – including Canada and California – coupled with slow progress toward U.S. federal legalization (among other reasons) have resulted in a slowdown in cannabis investments and dramatic contraction in value of the largest companies.Though the mysterious vaping crisis of EVALI (i.e., “e-cigarette or vaping, product use associated lung injuries”) threw a virtual wrench into a segment which had been projected to account for 29% of U.S. legal cannabis sales and $4.9 billion in 2019, other categories have seen strong sustained growth amid strong consumer demand.

The U.S. legal cannabis market is forecast to grow to $30 billion by 2025, as state markets quickly cannibalize demand from the illicit market, thereby achieving a key objective of legalization in undercutting the unregulated activities. Through the robust growth in currently legal markets, cannabis will likewise continue to be a significant generator of new jobs (from 258,437 in 2019, to a projected 743,196 in 2025 – an increase of 188%), and of tax revenues for the federal and state goverments ($1.41 billion in 2019, projecting to $4.06 billion in 2025).

Given the growth seen in Colorado’s successful program, a prosperous market is achievable if deftly managed, and critical growing pains are avoided. However, it takes years for the market’s economics to stabilize, a period during which efficiency, scale, and competition all increase dramatically. Even as Colorado’s legal market nears saturation, wholesale prices (which have already fallen by half) in the Rocky Mountain State are expected to continue to fall, driving further consolidation as less efficient and undifferentiated producers are displaced by high-performing operators.

Meantime, markets are opening in Illinois and Michigan, and Florida seems headed for an adult-use referendum in the nation’s third-most populous state, which approved medical use with 71% in favor in 2016. Almost all Americans now live in a market which has expanded to include access to either CBD, medical, or full adult-use purchases. And with more than a dozen other states likely to further expand legal cannabis access within the next two or three years, the delays in federal regulatory reform appear to be doing little to slow the public’s rising enthusiasm for legalization.

Innovation is driving development of new products. A far-flung range of cannabis-related technologies are emerging to attract new demographic groups and new opportunities through everything from Big Data business analytics to compliance testing, new extraction technologies, and the rise of smart consumption devices.

U.S. hemp saw a 459% increase in cultivation acreage from 2018 to 2019. Passage of the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill catalyzed the dramatic growth, though lack of the industry’s processing capacity coupled with supply-chain challenges to leave some early producers struggling to get harvests and products to market.

Here too, innovation and commercialization will play a transformative role, activating new applications that are in development, from bioplastics to construction materials. As the U.S. hemp industry matures, it will transition from being a seed, textile, and industrial product importer to a global exporter. Though the U.S. had lagged behind countries like Canada and France with hemp legislation, the 2018 Farm Bill cleared the way for the U.S. industry to accelerate and establish itself as a global exporting powerhouse led by hemp-derived CBD.

While the U.S. federal government through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) offers more confusion than clarity about the legality of CBD products and use, domestic and international demand keeps expanding apace.

While the FDA promises guidance to be forthcoming, it is likelier that confusion will confound consumers for the foreseeable future, throughout 2020 and beyond until the long-term research studies which federal prohibition prevented for decades can finally be performed.

Heading into the new year, the convergent forces which characterized 2019’s turbulence are not yet resolved. However, as the irrational exuberance that has fueled much of the speculative investments in cannabis has been displaced by a more clear-eyed, long-term strategic approach, the companies that weather the storm will be keenly positioned to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities which legal cannabis will present globally in 2020.

Click Here to see 10 intriguing cannabis statistics from 2019

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/node/14993046

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Empower Clinics Inc. | Comments Off on Empower Clinics $CBDT.ca – As Smoke Clears From 2019, The US Cannabis Market Focuses On 2020 $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $OGI.ca

Europe approves US$3.5bn for R&D in major push to create sustainable #battery manufacturing ecosystem SPONSOR: $HPQ.ca Silicon $FSLR $SPWR $CSIQ $PYR.ca $XMG.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:21 AM on Monday, December 16th, 2019

SPONSOR: HPQ-Silicon Resources HPQ: TSX-V aiming to become the lowest cost producer of Silicon Metal and a vertically integrated and diversified High Purity, Solar Grade Silicon Metal producer. Click here for more info.

Europe approves US$3.5bn for R&D in major push to create sustainable battery manufacturing ecosystem

  • European Commission gave the nod to a €3.2 billion (US$3.5 billion) plan by major EU states to create a “pan-European” battery ecosystem via a coordinated research push alongside industry operators
  • The so-called IPCEI – Important Project of Common European Interest, a status conferred to research schemes seen as key in the EU – will see Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden support their respective national battery industries with the Commission’s blessing

By: José Rojo Martín

The Commission’s MaroÅ¡ Å efčovič (right) hails the new IPCEI deal with Economy ministers of Germany (Peter Altmaier, left) and France (Bruno Le Maire, centre). Image credit: European Commission

European authorities have waved through a multi-billion-euro scheme to turn the continent into a global hub for green battery making, amid hints that barriers could be set for foreign imports.

This week, the European Commission gave the nod to a €3.2 billion (US$3.5 billion) plan by major EU states to create a “pan-European” battery ecosystem via a coordinated research push alongside industry operators.

The so-called IPCEI – Important Project of Common European Interest, a status conferred to research schemes seen as key in the EU – will see Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden support their respective national battery industries with the Commission’s blessing.

The €3.2 billion will bankroll projects by 17 sector players across the seven countries, from BASF to Eneris, BMW, Enel X and Fortum. At a respective €1.25 billion (US$1.38 billion) and €960 million (US$1.06 billion), German and French battery schemes will reap a sizeable slice of the funding.

The multi-country project will be structured along the four core steps of the battery chain, from the more efficient sourcing of ores to the development of cells and modules, the roll-out of software- and algorithm-powered battery systems and sounder recycling and dismantling practices.

The €3.2 billion pot will focus on lithium-ion batteries, both liquid electrolytes and solid-state systems, and seek to unlock a further €5 billion in private money. If backed projects exceed their revenue expectations, they will return the extra gains to their respective member states.

The IPCEI – to be overseen by a body integrated by all seven states – stems from months of talks between the Economy ministers of Germany (Peter Altmaier), France (Bruno Le Maire) and others. On social media this week, the Commission’s Maroš Šefčovič thanked all for their “coordination”.

In separate statements to the media, also this week, Å efčovič’s hinted that EU authorities may not stop at fostering an EU battery landscape; they could also act to set up hurdles to battery imports from outside the EU bloc.

Šefčovič, the Commission’s VP for Interinstitutional Relations, was asked whether Southeast Asia-made batteries could face EU bans if they breach green standards the EU is developing:

“I think that if they would not respect the standards, then yes,” he said, in comments reported by Euractiv.

Europe bets on batteries after PV defeat at the hands of Asia

The European Commission now rallying behind the IPCEI may have begun its term only this month but its battery manufacturing ambitions go back a longer way. Šefčovič, who was also part of the earlier cabinet, launched the European Battery Alliance in 2017 and continues to head the group.

Whether the new €3.2 billion research push and the broader Alliance that underpins it can make Europe a serious global contender remains to be seen. The continent has already waged, and largely lost, a similar pulse over solar manufacturing in the past decade.

Policymakers first acted to set up minimum import prices to shield EU module makers against cheaper Chinese rivals, but changed tack when the tariffs raised PV prices but were not the job creator they were hoped to be. Last year’s phase-out further crippled an already weak EU sector.

Attempts since to revive EU solar makers, including a vow by French president Emmanuel Macron to bring back the “champions”, have been greeted with scepticism. Approached for a recent PV Tech Power feature, BNEF analyst Jenny Chase said PV making in Europe “doesn’t make sense” anymore.

However, Chase and several other interviewees did feel battery making could prove a better wager for Europe. “Batteries are a bit more nascent and interesting. The complexity, the role of software, may create more potential to keep highly paid jobs in Europe,” she remarked.

The view emerged as various battery factory schemes made strides in Europe this year. Northvolt’s plans to create a 56GWh fleet of lithium cell factories in Europe have been followed by Tesla’s ambitions for a gigafactory near Berlin that would make “batteries, powertrains and vehicles”.

As the Commission itself insisted this week, Europe’s pitch for battery know-how comes with a specific focus on reduced environmental footprint. Its statement explicitly linked the efforts to nurture a battery sector to the EU’s broader transition towards climate neutrality.

The energy storage focus of the EU’s climate-minded policymakers has been apparent with earlier decisions this year. Last month, the European Investment Bank voted to shift its multi-billion-euro energy lending capabilities to prioritise storage batteries, grid upgrades and others.

Source: https://www.energy-storage.news/news/europe-wages-multi-billion-crusade-to-nurture-battery-ecosystem?utm_source=rss-feeds&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=general

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Posted in HPQ-Silicon Resources Inc. | Comments Off on Europe approves US$3.5bn for R&D in major push to create sustainable #battery manufacturing ecosystem SPONSOR: $HPQ.ca Silicon $FSLR $SPWR $CSIQ $PYR.ca $XMG.ca

VIDEO: ZEN Graphene $ZEN.ca Recaps Successful 2019, Enters 2020 Strong $LLG.ca $FMS.ca $NGC.ca $CVE.ca $DNI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:30 PM on Sunday, December 15th, 2019

This decade began with incredible hope for graphene as the miracle material that would change everything.

By 2015, hope gave way to indifference as graphene failed to live up to the smallest of expectations.

With the next decade just 15 days away, ZEN Graphene Solutions has reignited the great graphene hope with a string of great successes in 2019 that put commercialization within sight.

If you walked away from graphene years ago, you now owe it to yourself to watch this interview with ZEN CEO Francis Dube and find out why 2020 could mark the start of the graphene decade.

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Posted in AGORACOM Via Satellite, All Recent Posts, Zen Graphene Solutions | Comments Off on VIDEO: ZEN Graphene $ZEN.ca Recaps Successful 2019, Enters 2020 Strong $LLG.ca $FMS.ca $NGC.ca $CVE.ca $DNI.ca

#Palladium Barrels Toward $2,000 as Red-Hot Rally Shreds Records – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:45 PM on Friday, December 13th, 2019

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium Barrels Toward $2,000 as Red-Hot Rally Shreds Records

  • Palladium’s blistering rally shows no sign yet of cooling off as records tumble
  • the precious metal advanced to the highest ever on Friday as it climbed for an unprecedented 16th straight day.

Ranjeetha Pakiam, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) — Palladium’s blistering rally shows no sign yet of cooling off as records tumble: the precious metal advanced to the highest ever on Friday as it climbed for an unprecedented 16th straight day.

Prices are now barreling toward $2,000 an ounce as mining disruptions in major producer South Africa add to supply concerns, tightening a market already hobbled by a persistent deficit.

Palladium is headed for a seventh quarterly climb as demand for the metal used in autocatalysts has been strengthened by tighter emissions rules, with Citigroup Inc. forecasting it could hit $2,500 an ounce next year. In South Africa, rolling blackouts have hurt miners’ operations after state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. announced record power cuts.

Spot prices climbed as much as 1.3% to $1,965.82 an ounce, and traded at $1,960.93.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ranjeetha Pakiam in Singapore at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Phoebe Sedgman at [email protected], Jake Lloyd-Smith

Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/palladium-barrels-toward-2-000-as-red-hot-rally-shreds-records-1.1362097

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Posted in New Age Metals | Comments Off on #Palladium Barrels Toward $2,000 as Red-Hot Rally Shreds Records – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Dutch Bank ING Reportedly Working on #Crypto Custody Tech #Bitcoin #Ethereum $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:15 PM on Friday, December 13th, 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.

Dutch Bank ING Reportedly Working on Crypto Custody Tech

  • Netherlands-based banking multinational ING is developing technology for the custody of crypto assets, according to Reuters.

By: Daniel Palmer

The news agency said in a report on Wednesday that sources “familiar with the matter” indicated the ultimate aim of the initiative is to provide secure crypto storage facilities for the bank’s customers.

The tech, though still in the early stages, is apparently being built by a team based in Amsterdam.

Responding to Reuters in a statement, ING said it “sees increasing opportunities with regard to digital assets on both asset backed and native security tokens,” and is taking a particular focus on developing blockchain technology to open up the sector for clients.

ING is already involved in a number of blockchain initiatives, with its dedicated development team saying in April that it’s working on privacy technology called “bulletproofs” to potentially conceal client data.

It’s also working on blockchain-based trade finance as part of consortium startup R3’s Marco Polo project and another in partnership with ABN Amro, also a Dutch bank. In January, ING inked a five-year licensing deal with R3 for use of its Corda Enterprise platform.

If ING now moves into custodianship of crypto assets, it will be one of very few traditional finance institutions to have done so.

Fidelity’s digital assets arm launched custody services earlier this year, as did Bakkt, the bitcoin derivatives subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange. A plan by Japanese bank Nomura to offer institutional-grade custody for digital assets was delayed till 2020 in spring.

Otherwise, only a few smaller banks such as Julius Baer and Arab Bank’s Swiss arm have moved to offer the service in a bid to attract clients.

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/dutch-bank-ing-reportedly-working-on-crypto-custody-tech

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Posted in All Recent Posts, Blockchain stocks, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, Smallcap Blockchain stocks, ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Dutch Bank ING Reportedly Working on #Crypto Custody Tech #Bitcoin #Ethereum $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #EdTech Platform #Vedantu Raises $11M Led by #Omidyar Network with Participation from #Accel & Others $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:40 AM on Friday, December 13th, 2019
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.

EdTech Platform Vedantu Raises $11M Led by Omidyar Network with Participation from Accel & Others

Round led by Omidyar Network with participation from Accel & overseas Education conglomerate

  • Vedantu, an EdTech platform and pioneer of the ‘live online, interactive’ class has raised funds of $11 million (INR 79 crores)
  • company’s proprietary technology platform allows interaction between the student and the teacher via an online whiteboard and an audio and video environment.

By: inventiva

Vedantu, an EdTech platform and pioneer of the ‘live online, interactive’ class has raised funds of $11 million (INR 79 crores). The company’s proprietary technology platform allows interaction between the student and the teacher via an online whiteboard and an audio and video environment. Students also access content, take assessments and get their learning report on the platform. Vedantu aims to deploy the majority of these funds for further technology development to create a more personalized LIVE learning experience for students and to develop its Student App.

Vedantu started operations in 2015 and has currently completed 800,000 hours of LIVE classes with a student base of 40,000 from grades 4 to 12 (for CBSE & ICSE Boards) and works with 500 teachers. The teachers who are chosen after a rigorous selection process are spread over 80 cities. Each tutor must maintain a high rating from students to continue teaching.

According to a report by Google and KPMG, the online education industry in India is poised to grow eight times to become a $1.96 billion industry by 2021 as an increasing number of students consume content through e-routes. In this segment, primary, secondary and supplemental education is likely to see the highest uptake and paid user base is estimated to touch 9.6 Mn users in 2021.

According to Vamsi Krishna, Vedantu CEO and Co-Founder, “Our aim at Vedantu has always been to reimagine and improve the way teaching and learning have been happening for decades. Today on Vedantu, thousands of students from all across the world study virtually with teachers, who are located far away from them. By using technology tools, data and AI, we are not just connecting these students to amazing teachers, but we are able to create a superior learning experience for students and aid in their outcome improvement, which is unlike any offline experience. Teaching and learning are set to transform at a rapid pace and our mission at Vedantu is to accelerate these transformations.”

Siddharth Nautiyal, investment partner, Omidyar Network said, “The lowering data costs and availability of high speed internet is making the online teaching model a reality. Vedantu’s one-to-many live classes  are disrupting the market while providing students a meaningful learning experience through ‘star’ teachers and an AI-powered platform to students in over 400 cities. We are excited about our partnership with Vedantu as they build a solution for the next half billion Indians who are coming online for the first time.”

“As one of the early starters, Vedantu is a category defining company in online LIVE tutoring. Their constantly evolving tech platform combines the best of teaching & learning experience making education accessible, affordable and impactful. We are committed to Vedantu’s vision & excited to be a catalyst in this journey”, added Anand Daniel, Accel Partners.

Source: https://www.inventiva.co.in/stories/inventiva/edtech-platform-vedantu-raises-11m-led-by-omidyar-network-with-participation-from-accel-others/

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Posted in betterU Education Corp | Comments Off on SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #EdTech Platform #Vedantu Raises $11M Led by #Omidyar Network with Participation from #Accel & Others $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Heritage Cannabis Provides Initial $250,000 Financing to Empower Clinics $CBDT.ca for Joint Venture Extraction Facility $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $OGI.ca $FAF.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:07 AM on Friday, December 13th, 2019
  • Announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Empower Healthcare Assets Inc., has issued a convertible promissory note in the principal amount of CAD$250,000 to Heritage
  • Under the terms of the LOI, Empower and Heritage will each hold a 50% ownership interest in the JV entity.
  • Heritage, via its wholly owned subsidiary, Purefarma Solutions Inc. will install extraction units and related downstream extraction equipment inside Empower’s existing 5,000 sq. ft. licenced hemp processing facility in Sandy, OR.

HERITAGE CANNABIS HOLDINGS CORP. (CSE:CANN) (“Heritage”) provides $250,000 of funding to support the development of the previously announced Empower – Heritage Extraction Center Joint Venture (the “JV”) in Sandy, OR.

VANCOUVER, BC / December 13, 2019 / EMPOWER CLINICS INC. (CSE:CBDT)(OTC:EPWCF)(Frankfurt:8EC) (“Empower” or the “Company“), a vertically integrated and growth-oriented CBD life sciences company, is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Empower Healthcare Assets Inc., has issued a convertible promissory note (the “Note“) in the principal amount of CAD$250,000 to Heritage, pursuant to an initial first funding under the letter of intent (the “LOI“) previously announced by the Company on September 17, 2019.

Under the terms of the LOI, Empower and Heritage will each hold a 50% ownership interest in the JV entity (“NewCo“). Heritage, via its wholly owned subsidiary, Purefarma Solutions Inc. (“Purefarma“), will install extraction units and related downstream extraction equipment inside Empower’s existing 5,000 sq. ft. licenced hemp processing facility in Sandy, OR. In addition, Purefarma will train and supervise staff on the proprietary methods of extraction and oil production that it utilizes in Canada. The JV will be equally funded by both companies, with Heritage investing an initial $500,000 for start-up funds, as the build-out completes and the JV secures high quality hemp supply from local growers.

“Securing the initial advance from Heritage demonstrates the confidence both companies have in being able to finalize a definitive agreement for the formation of the JV and commence full operations at the Sandy, OR facility,” said Steven McAuley, Empower’s Chairman and CEO. “Receiving the advance allows us to place purchase orders for equipment and complete 2020 state licensing requirements to begin product production, which is expected to be followed soon after by the set up of the hemp-derived CBD extraction equipment.”

“We at Heritage continue to be excited and optimistic about our potential with the large U.S. markets. Having a distribution partner like Empower and a licenced facility together are expected to allow us to accelerate our path to new revenue and support the order pipeline we are building,” said Clint Sharples, CEO of Heritage.

The Note bears interest at the rate of 2.0% per annum and will mature no later than December 31, 2021. The Note contains an optional conversion provision for Heritage to surrender the Note in exchange for shares in the capital of Empower. The number of Empower shares to be issued to Heritage will be based on the value of the shares at the close of business the day before this Note is surrendered to the Company, subject to a minimum conversion price of $●, being the closing price of the shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSE“) on December ●, 2019.

A further optional conversion provision provides that, on or after the date when a definitive agreement is executed and delivered by the parties in connection with the JV, Heritage may surrender the Note to the Company in exchange for an equity interest in Newco equal to Heritage’s pro-rata cash investment in NewCo made pursuant to the Note, provided however, that the Company shall have 60 days to match Heritage’s contribution to NewCo, such that if the Company or an affiliate invests an amount equal to Heritage’s investment, the equity ownership in NewCo will be held equally by Heritage and the Company. Upon conversion, all amounts advanced under the Note shall be deemed to be an equity advance to NewCo for purposes of the JV.

The proceeds of the Note shall be used solely in connection with the JV and the incorporation of Newco. The proceeds shall not be used to repay the outstanding balance under any existing or future bank or credit facility or similar arrangement, including any scheduled payments of principal and interest.

The Note and any Empower shares issued thereunder will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of the issuance of the Note under applicable Canadian securities laws, as well as resale restrictions under applicable United States securities laws. The issuance of the Note and any Empower shares are subject to the approval of the CSE. Neither the Note nor any of the Empower shares that may be issuable thereunder will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and none may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

ABOUT EMPOWER

Empower is a leading owner/operator of a network of physician-staffed clinics focused on helping patients improve and protect their health through innovative uses of medical cannabis. It is expected that Empower’s proprietary product line “Sollievo” will offer patients a variety of delivery methods of doctor recommended cannabidiol (CBD) based product options in its clinics, online and at major retailers. With over 165,000 patients, an expanding clinic footprint, a focus on new technologies, including tele-medicine, and an expanded product development strategy, Empower is undertaking new growth initiatives to be positioned as a vertically integrated, diverse, market-leading service provider for complex patient requirements in 2019 and beyond.

ABOUT HERITAGE CANNABIS HOLDINGS CORP.

The Company is a vertically integrated cannabis provider that currently has two Health Canada approved licenced producers, through its subsidiaries Voyage Cannabis Corp. and CannaCure Corp. both regulated under the Cannabis Act Regulations. Working under these two licences, Heritage has two additional subsidiaries, Purefarma Solutions, which provides extraction services, and BriteLife Sciences that is focused on cannabis based medical solutions. Heritage as the parent Company, is focused on providing resources for its subsidiaries to advance their products or services to compete both domestically and internationally.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Steven McAuley
Chief Executive Officer

CONTACTS:

Investors: Steve Low
Boom Capital Markets
[email protected]
647-620-5101

Investors: Steven McAuley
CEO
[email protected]
604-789-2146

For French inquiries: Remy Scalabrini, Maricom Inc., E: [email protected], T: (888) 585-MARI

DISCLAIMER FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements” or “forward-looking information” (collectively “forward looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements can frequently be identified by words such as “plans”, “continues”, “expects”, “projects”, “intends”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed” and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding: the proposed JV; the Company’s intention to open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility; the expected use of proceeds of the Note; the expected benefits to the Company and its shareholders as a result of the proposed JV. Such statements are only projections, are based on assumptions known to management at this time, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including that: Heritage and Empower may be unable to agree on terms of a definitive agreement with respect to the JV; that the Company may not open a hemp-based CBD extraction facility; that legislative changes may have an adverse effect on the Company’s business and product development; that the Company may not be able to obtain adequate financing to pursue its business plan; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; failure to obtain any necessary approvals in connection with the proposed JV or extraction facility; and other factors beyond the Company’s control. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities laws.

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#Palladium posts all-time high that tops gold’s record price – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:14 PM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium posts all-time high that tops gold’s record price

By: Allen Sykora

  • Palladium prices have once again hit a fresh all-time high, in the process exceeding gold’s record from nine years ago, as demand for the palladium in catalytic converters remains robust, traders and analysts said.

An additional impetus this week was continuing power issues in South Africa, some observers added.

As of 10:31 a.m. EST, spot palladium was up $26 to $1,922 an ounce and peaked at $1,935.30. Commerzbank analysts pointed out that this topped gold’s peak near $1,911 set back in 2011.

Platinum was up $2 to $938 an ounce and peaked at $944.40, its strongest level since Nov. 4.

TD Securities described the platinum group metals as “on fire as South African power woes add to supply concerns, particularly for palladium, which is in short supply.”

A desk trader downplayed the South African issue but emphasized the voracious demand for palladium in catalytic converters. The metal moved to a wide price premium over platinum in the two years, since palladium is used for catalytic converters in gasoline-powered cars, popular in the No. 1 and No. 2 car markets of China and the U.S.

“Palladium is trading strictly off of the fundamentals,” the trader said. “We have such strong demand…for catalytic converters.”

In particular, he explained, the consumption has increased in China and other countries due to more stringent environmental regulations. This has meant more loadings of palladium in each vehicle. In fact, some analysts said this has more than offset a decline in car sales during 2019.

“Palladium has been in a structural deficit for the last few years,” the desk trader said. “The increased demand due to higher emissions regulations in China, and a little bit in India, is just pushing that deficit deeper and deeper, which is driving the price…There is just a supply issue with people trying to get metal.”

Spot palladium has soared by 52% since the start of the year.

The trader said the South African power issues have been on traders’ radars for a while now. He pointed out that the load shedding has abated some from earlier in the week,
yet palladium has continued to rise anyway due to the strong demand, particularly from China.

“Even though we regard the steep price rise as exaggerated, there is no end in sight to the rally,” said Daniel Briesemann, metals analyst with Commerzbank. “Alongside palladium, platinum has also gained significantly for the second day in a row….This is probably related to the power outages in South Africa.”

Rolling power blackouts have occurred this week in South Africa, which along with Russia, is one of the world’s two leading producers of platinum group metals. This has impacted mining operations, which rely on electricity for operations that occur far below the ground, according to news reports.

Flooding after heavy rains exacerbated problems at public utility Eskom, according to news reports. The country’s president has also attributed some of the issues to suspected sabotage at power stations. Eskom provides more than 90% of South Africa’s power.

By Allen Sykora

For Kitco News

Source: https://www.kitco.com/news/2019-12-12/Palladium-posts-all-time-high-that-tops-gold-s-record-price.html

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SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – Addressing India’s unemployability problem $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:30 PM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019
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.

How to address India’s unemployability problem?

  • According to a report by KPMG and Google, the Indian edtech market is pegged to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.

Neernidhi Samtani

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”– Nelson Mandela

But how is one supposed to change the world if provided with outdated education?
How is one supposed to even progress if not provided with the platform to change the world after taking the education?

This is the state youth find themselves rather consistently. No, I’m not talking about Senegal or Syria. I’m talking about India which is not just largely unemployed but unemployable.

The unemployability problem

Let’s understand the difference first. Unemployability essentially means that even if there were available jobs, companies wouldn’t hire the student because he is largely substandard and lack skills worth paying for. Unemployability emerges from a wide gap between the level of student’s skills and knowledge resulting from his college education and in the level of what market demands.

The distressing growing number of educated youth (age 15-29) who are “Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET)” had increased to 115 million in 2017-18 from 70 million in 2004-5 points to growing “unemployability” depicting a significant problem with education in India.

From my experience in educating students over the past 8 years I have gathered, after graduating most students from Tier 2 & Tier 3 colleges wander in metro cities learning about the market realizing the massive gap in their knowledge and market demand, taking a few short-term courses (computer & communication skills), going for some walk-in interviews and finally settle for anything they can find. This period ranges approximately from 1.5 to 2 years after college.

The “National Employability Report – Engineers 2016” (NERE), by Aspiring Minds, an employment assessment organization found out that nearly 80% of the graduating engineers are unemployable. The above figures reinforce the fact that only 20 per cent of the five million students who graduate every year get employed in India according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

CP Gurnani, CEO & MD of Tech Mahindra resonates with the above findings in an interview given to TOI, “The top 10 IT companies take only 6% of the engineering graduates. What happens to the remaining 94%? If you come to Tech Mahindra, I have created a five-acre tech & learning center. For learnability, skill development and being ready for the market, the onus is now shifting onto the industry.”

Reasons behind unemployability

During all the razzmatazz in the post-liberalisation era while the “mass recruiters” propelled the service economy at the rate of 9% annually, AICTE approved engineering institutes grew to 10,396 in 2018 from a mere 337 in 1991.

But as with every fairy tale, bubbles burst, realities change and supply becomes more than the demand.

Careers started going for a toss and unemployability becomes a two-fold problem in India:

1. Student Mindset: Many are living a myth: getting into a college is the door to a great career.

They fail to seek meaningful advice from the right stakeholders and not just with peers who still believe in the myth of “engineering royalty”.

Only 3.84 per cent of engineers in the country have the technical, cognitive and linguistic skills required for software-related jobs in startups. A recent study by the University of Exeter in the UK listed skills like communication, problem-solving, being self-motivated, organizational, team spirit, adaptability, negotiation as inevitable to the hiring process. Students from Tier 2 & Tier 3 fall short in these parameters in a considerable way and rarely strive to learn these.

Apart from a lack of internships, engineers also have low employability because only 36 per cent do projects beyond their curriculum.

2. Outdated Curriculum and Reluctant Colleges: Student attendance writing assignments are given a priority rather than acquiring expert faculty.

Colleges are not able to upgrade and keep up with the pace of advancement in the market in terms of curriculum and expert faculty. The jobs of the glorified past are becoming redundant. Though the demand for skills like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, digital marketing and mobile development has been shooting up, only 3 per cent of engineers have these new-age technological skills.

Only 40 per cent of engineering graduates do an internship, while a mere 7 per cent of students do multiple internships and colleges play little or no part in the procurement.

The subjects are taught in a very theoretical manner. Whereas 60 per cent of faculty doesn’t talk about the application of concepts in the industry, only 47 per cent of the engineers attend any industry talk.

Employability vs Employment (NERE)

EmployableGot an Interview OpportunityReached Final RoundEmployedAverage Salary
19.11 %72.64 %51.66 %19.91 %3,13,000

Possible solutions

After the IT services and engineering institutes revolution, India saw a third revolution- Start-ups.

According to a report by KPMG and Google, the Indian edtech market is pegged to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.

The best possible solutions to the unemployability problem can be obtained through strategic partnerships and collaborations between Startups, Institutes and Industry.

Startups have a better chance of solving these challenges simply because they have the ability to aggregate and accelerate. When all these stakeholders work as a team with a focus on employability to offer industry-oriented quality education, which can advance as quickly as the technology it can bring about a paradigm shift in mainstream education:

Student Awareness: Students need to learn that one-time education (degrees) will neither guarantee them jobs nor will last through entire working career. Companies are shifting from hiring based on credentials to hiring based on a candidate’s portfolio/projects and experience.

Institute collaborations EdTech startups can collaborate with institutes which provide infrastructure and accreditations keeping the business models “asset light”. Startups can either take the on-campus “Bootcamps” way (E.g. PESTO) providing 2-6 months- coding, soft skills, mock interviews, workshops, industry talks and new age technology courses along with placements in internships or the full take-over way (E.g. Sunstone Eduversity) where the responsibilities for admissions, academics (program design, curriculum, and pedagogy), and placements are presided completely by the startup.

Industry collaborations Startups can diligently make industry collaborations with industry experts and stalwarts for helping prepare a better curriculum in resonance with current market scenario and bringing industry leaders as expert faculty on-board(can be a mix of online-offline lectures) which would help students understand market demands. Collaborations should focus on providing hands-on experience in terms of internships. Placing these students is easier because of trust due to industry collaborations.

Certification Collaborations Institutes or startups can collaborate with other strategic partners like foreign universities and renowned private education companies using their industry-oriented curriculums and opening up new avenues like digital marketing, AI & ML, big data, cloud computing, etc.

We need change. We need it now. We need it at a pace which can only be achieved through strategic collaborations. We need dozens of such startups to keep with the pace of technology advancements. DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author’s own.   Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-growth-catalyst/how-to-address-indias-unemployability-problem/

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