Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 28, 2020) - RavenQuest BioMed Inc. (CSE: RQB) (OTCQB: RVVQF) (FSE: 1IT) (the "Company" or "RavenQuest"), is pleased to provide the following update on all aspects of the Company's business plans for 2020 and beyond.
RavenQuest has spent the last few months extensively reviewing the cannabis industry in Canada and internationally. The following are our key objectives near term:
The Company's focus will be a technology company that grows cannabis using our technologies. This means we will be focusing on and growing our Consulting and Technologies sales business during 2020 while the cannabis supply side in Canada normalizes.
RavenQuest is also working through a convertible debenture payment that is due February 28th, 2020. With this payment being near term, we have taken prudent measures to reduce costs across the business, work quickly to profitability and improve the balance sheet.
The Company will continue to grow cannabis on a contract production basis for Canada and Internationally. Cannabis production will ramp up according to demand and contracts.
Image 1: Current harvest in Alberta Green Biotech facility located in Edmonton, Alberta
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Technology
With the recently announced acquisition of DigiGro, we add to our portfolio of technology an attribute that will advance our IP platform significantly. DigiGro is a disruptor technology platform that connects plant growers (micro-cultivators and designated growers), personal growers (traditional or legal) to information on plant cultivation techniques with vendors of cultivation supplies. These supplies could be and are not limited to lighting, air filtration, nutrients, growth substrate, biologicals or integrated plant management, sanitation, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and tools.
Image 2: New LED lights implemented in the orbital garden
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Connecting the consumer to the vendor and taking a percentage of the sale allows the Company to reach beyond the cannabis medical and recreational sales revenue to capitalize on sales of equipment to personal and small and medium sized growers.
Image 3: Screenshot of beta version of DigiGro Application
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Cultivation Technology
Our early results with the use of an LED in the Orbital Gardens was better than forecasted. Please see attached images.
The Company's SACT (Semi-Autonomous Cultivation Technology) has now consistently controlled the growing cycle including lighting, fertigation and climate control without staff intervention and with the appropriate alarm occurring if a set point is not met. This reduces head count requirements for daily checks of the growing system. We have also reduced feeding cycles to one per day versus two in the past. This has further reduced cost per gram as nutrients are one of the top four cost inputs for cultivation.
As of December 2019, fifty-five gardens were in Cultivation and POD 1 was in semi-annual cleaning as per the SOPs. Our cultivation production will be in line with supply agreement sales.
Phase 2 licensing for our Edmonton facility from Health Canada is still in progress with no additional questions.
The Roto-Gro patent infringement response was completed on December 14th , 2019. January 27th Roto-Gro responded to our response. We will now allow the legal proceedings to move forward.
Consulting
In Q3 of 2019, RavenQuest successfully managed and consulted Bonify Holdings Corporation to full licence status from a suspended licence. This was a first of kind event for the regulation of cannabis under the Cannabis Act. RQB is the industry leader in consulting cannabis companies from blank page to full licence. This fact harnessed with our technologies, we can provide a full engineered solution for any client wanting to improve existing facilities or new greenfield sites. We are ramping up our consulting business to drive revenues and are offering this service in Canada and Internationally.
Environment, Sustainability and Governance
The world is increasingly addressing climate impact and RavenQuest has been at the forefront of environmental impact challenges for large scale cannabis cultivators. Through our cultivating techniques and technology, used in our Edmonton flagship facility, our climate impact per gram is vastly less than greenhouse or indoor grown plants. At RavenQuest, we produce superior products with
70% less electrical usage (the flat table or Canadian Greenhouses),
90% less nutrients (smaller plants with only one large bud),
70% less water (not as much plant material to trim off and throw to waste).
Our design estimates of yield, input costs and staffing have been met in multiple batch cycles in our Edmonton flagship facility.
Sustainability
RavenQuest cares deeply about the environment and as such we are using compostable packaging materials in Canadian and international sales where allowable by the regulations. We design and engineer solutions to ensure the packaging used leaves a minimal footprint on the earth, post consumption of the product. We also have the lowest facility waste stream per kilogram produced.
Governance
In 2018, RavenQuest led the industry in taking a realistic view of the Good Will and Intangible Assets value for our facilities. Our board took the prudent approach to write down our Markham asset a full year prior to many licenced producers taking this difficult but realistic action to the balance sheet. We drive our Company with appropriate audit committee processes to ensure proper disclosure for the regulators and our shareholders.
We have committed to the following committees:
The Board of Directors provides the operational vision to ensure every business aspect is aligned with Top of Mind sustainability goals. These goals are a part of our Corporate Social Responsibility review.
We have taken steps to update our board members to include diversity and sector experience. Both of these improvements allow for deeper and diverse understanding and knowledge of the sector, faster response time to the changing conditions in the cannabis space and improved guidance for the company.
Image 4: Current harvest in Alberta Green Biotech facility located in Edmonton, Alberta
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McGill University
McGill Plant Sciences is actively progressing with Genome and DNA sequencing progressing. Microbe testing against cannabis plants has advance with new results showing alignment to our overall plant grow and yield objectives. Seed production for plant stability has begun, this will be aligned to the genome studies. Cannabis Anti-pathogens studies utilizing three identified microbes is achieving our desired results and we hope to produce publishable results in the next three months.
Maricann/Wayland
With Wayland announcing its Court Approval of Sale Process, the Company will not be supplying cannabis to Wayland/Maricann. We will now look to move this product to Canadian and International supply agreements.
European Expansion
The Company will not move forward with a Joint Venture (JV) or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) until the Roto-Gro patent infringement has been resolved. Once we determine a path forward, we will reengage our investment partners to commence a European expansion.
Announcements
We have mutually terminated the following:
About RavenQuest BioMed Inc.
RavenQuest BioMed Inc. is a diversified publicly traded cannabis company with divisions focused upon cannabis production, management services & consulting and specialized research & development.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
RAVENQUEST BIOMED INC.
"George Robinson"
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Info@rqbglobal.com
Neither Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the development of a licensed cannabis production facility and anticipated production from such a facility. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
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