LAS VEGAS, NV, Dec. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PSYC Corporation (OTC Pink Market: PSYC) (“PSYC” or the “Company”), a multimedia leader focused on forward thinking market sectors such as psychedelics, cannabis, and mining and precious metals, is pleased to provide its shareholders with an overview of Company highlights and achievements from 2022 and insight into the potential it believes lies ahead in 2023.
Incorporation and Launch of Spotlight Media Corporation
In February of this year, the Company launched Spotlight Media Corporation (“SMC”), a Nevada corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of PSYC.
The Company contends that it has and plans to continue to strategically utilize SMC to effectively compartmentalize its growing list of performing media assets such as Psychedelic Spotlight, Technical 420, On the Bid, along with its respective ownership stakes in Bonfire and Psychedelic Finder.
Additionally, in recognizing the potential that it sees developing through the crossover between the psychedelics and cannabis market sectors, and as further evidenced by the Company while exhibiting at this year’s Marijuana Business Conference (“MJBizCon”) in Las Vegas, the Company will continue to evolve SMC into a multimedia leader positioned to dominate the intersection where each of these value-driven market sectors converge.
In doing so, the Company sees a unique opportunity for PSYC to become one of the first publicly traded media-focused companies to be positioned within this intersection of psychedelics and cannabis and is cautiously optimistic as to the long-term value this will present for the Company and its shareholders.
PSYC Secures $350K in Private Equity-Based Capital Financing
In March of this year, the Company secured a $350K private equity-based capital financing deal with Trent Sullivan of Jackson, Tennessee.
According to the Company, the deal, which was organized by former CFO and now Advisor to PSYC, Craig Schlesinger, played a vital role in helping strengthen the Company’s financial position throughout 2022 and directly contributed to fostering the growth of its Psychedelic Spotlight platform, as well as helping facilitate the eventual acquisition of media assets from Technical420, LLC.
PSYC’s Psychedelic Spotlight Surpasses 1M Page View Milestone
In June of this year, the Company’s Psychedelic Spotlight platform, which launched in the spring of 2020, achieved a long-standing objective when the platform surpassed the 1M page view milestone.
The Company believes that the achievement of this milestone in combination with the consistent overall performance of Psychedelic Spotlight throughout 2022, and as observed and substantiated through Google Analytics, demonstrates the successful emergence of the platform as a premier media leader for the emerging sector of psychedelics.
As the Company looks ahead to 2023, it expects Psychedelic Spotlight to not only continue to strengthen its reach and presence across the psychedelics sector as a trusted source for news and information, but to also play an integral role in fostering the growth and intended success of the Bonfire and Psychedelic Finder platforms.
PSYC Strengthens Balance Sheet by Consolidating Notes with Reduced Interest
In July of this year, the Company announced the consolidation of 49 previously issued convertible debentures (“the Debentures”). The Debentures were issued between January 2019 and December 2021 and are all owned by RB Capital Partners Inc. (“RB Capital”), the Company’s largest Debenture holder.
Included with the consolidation was an agreement to lower the interest rate from 10% to 7% and thus reduce the total amount of capital owed to RB Capital.
The Company continues to maintain the belief that this consolidation remains as part of a larger initiative for PSYC centered around enhancing the Company’s positioning for additional, accretive acquisition targets as well as future equity-based financing opportunities, and its potential to create a more reasonable path toward its intended up listing to the OTCQB.
Completion of 2021 Audited Financials
In August of this year, the Company published its 2021 audited financials helping to provide PSYC with fully audited financials for each of the two most recent fiscal years (2020 & 2021).
Per Management, the Company has made it a priority to maintain current audited financials as it continues to work through a process involved with an eventual up listing to the OTCQB that it intends to follow through within the earliest and most reasonable time frame possible. Although the Company does not offer any guarantee that any such up listing will be completed, Management maintains an optimistic outlook in its ability to execute on this long-standing objective.
Diversification Through Strategic Media Asset Acquisitions
In September of this year, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, SMC, completed the acquisition of media assets from Technical420, LLC as well as certain assets of SB Partners, LLC, that included, but were not limited to, MushroomStocks.com and OnTheBids.com, as well as Technical420.com.
Valued at $2.25 million USD, the acquisition was structured to include a mix of cash, preferred stock, and common stock warrants distributed through a series of tranches tied to revenue performance benchmarks.
This acquisition has afforded the Company the opportunity to diversify its media asset holdings beyond psychedelics and into the adjacent cannabis market sector through Technical 420, as well as into the mining and precious metals sector through the On the Bids platform.
According to Management, this diversification has been critical in allowing the Company, as a growing multimedia organization, to develop a revenue model that is no longer dependent on one market sector. Furthermore, the Company contends that both the Technical 420 and the On the Bids platforms have been key driving forces behind the revenue the Company has generated since each of them were integrated into SMC back in September.
Progress Made with Additional Psychedelic-Focused Media Assets
Bonfire
In the summer of this year, the Company, in partnership with Digital Acorn Ltd, coordinated the successful soft launch of Bonfire (f/k/a “PsycheDev”), an early-stage community-focused platform being developed for a growing community of individuals interested in exploring altered states of consciousness.
In the months following the soft launch, Bonfire held a number of virtual community events hosted by Jack Bunce, Lead Facilitator & Community Manager for Bonfire.
The Company contends that these virtual community events have helped to refine both the overall objective and mission of Bonfire, along with helping PSYC and Digital Acorn develop an effective revenue model for the platform as it moves closer to an intended official market launch.
Though an official market launch time frame has not been established as of the date of this press release, the Company remains cautiously optimistic that Bonfire may evolve into a more integral part of its revenue model within 2023.
Psychedelic Finder
This past September, the Company joined forces with Nucleus Holding Inc. (“Nucleus”), a venture studio building psychedelic brands, to launch Psychedelic Finder, a full-service, integrated technology platform that will connect the growing community of psychedelics and psychedelic-inspired healing.
This partnership is being facilitated through PSYC Tech, LLC of which PSYC owns 60% and will create an opportunity for the Company to expand on the ecosystem it is focused on developing within the psychedelics market sector by way of the various media platforms it is affiliated with.
In combining the web development talents and robust psychedelic industry database developed by Nucleus with the PSYC’s content production capabilities and available industry reach and authority that it has established through its Psychedelic Spotlight platform, the companies believe they have a unique opportunity to develop and bring to market an online database and search tool for the psychedelics market sector unlike any other.
Since forming their partnership in September, the companies have been dialed-in on developing a viable business model for Psychedelic Finder that not only intends to provide an unmatched end-to-end user experience, but that will also promote safety, responsibility, and reliability in an otherwise unregulated nascent market sector.
As with Bonfire, the Company is cautiously optimistic that Psychedelic Finder may become a more substantial part of its revenue model in 2023 and beyond.
Management's Perspective
In reflecting upon 2022, PSYC CEO, David Flores, said the following, “With all things considered, I think it’s more than reasonable to chalk up 2022 as the most successful year we have had for PSYC since I came on board as CEO in July of 2020.
All year we found ourselves up against a fair number of external challenges. The volatility experienced throughout the global markets this year had a particularly negative impact on the psychedelics market sector that presented us with a myriad of obstacles. Nonetheless, the sheer will, and perseverance of our team combined with strategic planning that led to significant moves throughout the year allowed us to not only survive a challenging year but to come out on the other end of it fundamentally stronger, in our opinion.
Psychedelic Spotlight experienced record growth over the course of 2022 and is now officially on the map as a media leader for the psychedelics sector. I truly believe this is an incredibly advantageous foothold we have earned within a market sector that still has a ton of potential ahead of it despite the slowdown it experienced this year. And it’s a foothold that we intend to make strategic use of in the months and years ahead as we develop a unique, value-focused ecosystem for this market sector that we believe will be the first of its kind.
As optimistic as we remain over the future potential of the psychedelics industry, however, we recognize the necessity of diversification. This is essential to ensuring that the Company has the resources necessary to produce revenue from multiple outlets.
The media assets we acquired from Technical420, LLC have delivered a welcome source of steady revenue for the Company that we are focused on expanding upon in the months ahead. Michael Berger and Sacha Hebbert have done a tremendous job respectively with integrating these assets into the Company and with building out a sales pipeline that is demonstrating exciting potential for us as a leading media platform for forward thinking market sectors.
In my opinion, the opportunity to tap into market sectors outside of just psychedelics such as cannabis, EV, and mining and precious metals, is a huge advantage for us as a media organization and one that we did not have a year ago.
And while we remain a long way away from achieving the revenue milestones we have our sights set on, I can say with full confidence that the financials from 2022 will ultimately reflect our strongest gross revenue earnings since PSYC shifted its primary business model to media in 2020.
Minor, yet significant accomplishments were also made throughout the year that I believe will prove to be beneficial in strengthening our ability to begin driving value back to our loyal shareholders.
From Debenture consolidation, to raising capital by way of equity, all the way to keeping each of our two most recent fiscal years fully audited, we are continuing to follow the methodical process that we believe is necessary to earn credibility within the public market sector and to effectively demonstrate the value potential in what we are building here.
This process now represents 2 ½ years of my own hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Looking back, it is easy for me to see how far we have come in that time and the progress we have made. But, I also see how much more there is left for us to do here until we reach a point where we are able to return the value back to our loyal shareholders that they deserve.
With the group of talented and passionate individuals that I am fortunate enough to be working with and the assets we have meticulously assembled within PSYC, I am encouraged in our ability to continue to defy the odds and uncover value and success in less-than-ideal environments.
Here’s to our breakthrough in 2023!”
PSYC COO, Michael Berger, added the following, “During the last quarter, we have successfully integrated the businesses and have recorded higher levels of user engagement. The combined company is recording record levels of lead generation for our clients, and we are taking steps to enhance this aspect of the business.
The acquisition has proven to be accretive to PSYC and we are still in the early stages of growth. Over the next quarter, we expect to exceed the growth that was recorded in the last calendar quarter of the year and are excited about our growth prospects as we look ahead into 2023.”
PSYC Director and Spotlight Media Corporation, COO, Sacha Hebbert, concluded with the following statement, “SMC is a full-service digital media agency that can build custom ecosystems that promote exciting and undervalued opportunities, amplify brand buy-in, and syndicate broad messaging across a comprehensive matrix of media platforms.
Our growing number of assets puts us in a unique position to insert brand positioning smack-dab in the middle of decision-making mechanisms en masse!
Unlike any other media-based company within these sectors, we believe that our engagement with end users and communities such as Bonfire and Psychedelic Finder gives us an advantage. We're tapping into the atmosphere, trends and the growing mainstream interest in psychedelics, cannabis, wellness modalities, and even natural resources. We're on the frontlines shaking hands with the bodies affecting the speed at which commercialization will become inevitable and those shaping the distribution of compounds. We're telling the most compelling stories, and as a result, we have a strong hand in influencing outcomes. That's the power of media!
Operationally it has been no small feat to integrate and scale the many arms of our transmedia formats, and I am incredibly proud of what we've accomplished so far. In our opinion, we’ve developed the secret sauce.
2022 was fantastic, but 2023 should be a banner year!”
About PSYC Corporation (OTC Pink Market: PSYC)
At PSYC Corporation we are integrating media, creativity, and technology to develop and deploy thought-provoking ideas and solutions that are fostering and transforming the approach to some of society’s most pressing matters.
PSYC has expressed its intent and commitment to positioning itself at the forefront of the psychedelic revolution and as a resource center for discovering and understanding the latest research and business opportunities surrounding psychedelic inspired medicines. In conjunction with the FDA’s more open-minded approach to psychedelic medicines, and as several major U.S. cities continue to approve the decriminalization of psilocybin, we believe investors are speculating that the psychedelic boom could be bigger than that of cannabis. PSYC is your source for current investment related news specific to psychedelic medicines and cutting-edge research improving overall health, moving this sector into the mainstream.
We are dedicated to a forward-thinking approach that embraces groundbreaking new technology and innovations and through the vision of business development we intend to continue to evolve into these unchartered territories as the industry leaders of the future.
About Spotlight Media Corporation
Spotlight Media Corporation (“SMC”) (www.spotlightmediacorp.com) is a Nevada Corporation and is a privately held wholly owned subsidiary of PSYC that was incorporated on February 8, 2022. At present time, SMC operates as a multimedia service company for the medicinal psychedelic industry through Psychedelic Spotlight in addition to the developing community-based platform, Bonfire (f/k/a “PsycheDev”). However, management intends, but cannot guarantee the success or profitability, that the business plan for SMC is to potentially expand beyond the medicinal psychedelic industry by way of other multimedia-related opportunities within other niche-style industries like cannabis, health and wellness, and sports such that SMC can make use of the audience it is establishing, across its platforms for cross-promotional opportunities and with the intent of developing a network of interconnected media-focused platforms.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors, including the effect of COVID-19 and the success of the current vaccine distribution, the adverse effect of the Omicron variant, that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are disclosed on the OTC Markets.com website and is not incorporated by reference into such reports.
Disclaimer: PSYC Corporation does not in any way encourage or condone the use, purchase, sale or transfer of any illegal substances, nor do we encourage or condone partaking in any unlawful activities. We support a harm reduction approach for the purpose of education and promoting individual and public safety. If you are choosing to use psychedelic substances, please do so responsibly.
Corporate Contact:
PSYC Corporation (PSYC)
www.psyccorporation.com
www.spotlightmediacorp.com
(702) 239-1919
info@psyccorporation.com
OTC PINK MARKET: PSYC
