Sunniva Inc. Agrees To Sell Its Okanagan Falls Property To CannaPharmaRx, Inc. for CAD $20 Million

June 12, 2019

Transaction is Subject to Financial Audit and Satisfaction of Other Conditions

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 12, 2019 / Sunniva Inc. ("Sunniva") (SNN; SNNVF) and CannaPharmaRx, Inc. ("CannaPharmaRx") (OTC PINK: CPMD) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a share purchase agreement dated June 11, 2019, pursuant to which Sunniva has agreed to sell Sunniva Medical Inc. ("SMI") to CannaPharmaRx in an all-cash transaction for CAD $20 million less certain outstanding liabilities in SMI, including the mortgage on the property. Net proceeds payable to Sunniva are anticipated to be approximately CAD $15.5 million. Closing is anticipated to occur on or around July 5, 2019. Effectiveness of the agreement is subject to certain closing conditions including completion of a financial audit of SMI and receipt of sufficient financing by the Purchaser.

SMI owns the Sunniva Canada Campus, which includes construction assets for a planned 759,000 square foot greenhouse located on an approximately 114-acre property in Okanagan Falls, British Columbia.

"The sale of SMI is in line with our previously announced strategy of evaluating strategic alternatives for our operations in Canada," said Dr. Anthony Holler, CEO of Sunniva Inc. "Sunniva is focused on the advancement of our California assets and expanding our sales and distribution infrastructure in the state to support our continued growth in this rapidly evolving market. The disposition of the Okanagan Falls property is part of this strategy as we are directing our efforts and capital resources towards the completion of the Cathedral City facility and the ongoing development of our cannabis brands in California."

Dominic Colvin, the CEO of CannaPharmaRx stated, "We are excited to have reached an agreement to purchase this property from Sunniva. The acquisition and development of the Okanagan Falls property, combined with our Hanover, Ontario property and ownership interest in GN Ventures Ltd., sets the stage for the next step in CannaPharmaRx's growth strategy to become a significant player in the Canadian cannabis industry while continuing to strive to maximize shareholder value."

For more information on Sunniva please visit www.sunniva.com.

For more information on CannaPharmaRx please visit www.CannaPharmaRx.com.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Sunniva, Inc.

Sunniva, through its subsidiaries, is a vertically integrated cannabis company operating in the world's two largest cannabis markets - California and Canada. In Canada, Sunniva's wholly owned subsidiary NHS operates medical cannabis clinics that provide educational and clinical services to patients. In California, Sunniva is focused on creating sustainable premium cannabis brands supported by our large-scale, purpose-built cGMP designed greenhouse and extraction facilities. We offer a steadfast commitment to safety and quality assurance providing cannabis products free from pesticides, which positions Sunniva in California as a leading provider of safe, high quality, reproducible products at scale. Through production from Phase One of our strategically positioned 325,000 square foot high technology greenhouse which is nearing completion and our fully operational Extraction Facility in California, we are launching Sunniva branded products in various product categories and price points including flower, pre-rolls, vape cartridges and premium concentrates. Sunniva branded products will be showcased within our flagship dispensary to be located at the greenhouse and our in-house marketing and distribution team will strive to ensure the placement of Sunniva branded products at licensed dispensaries throughout the state. Sunniva's management and board of directors have a proven track record for creating significant shareholder value both in the healthcare and biotech industries.

About CannaPharmaRx, Inc.

CannaPharmaRx is focused on the acquisition and development of state-of-the-art cannabis grow facilities located in Canada. CPMD has recently completed an initial acquisition of a 48,500 square foot cannabis grow facility presently under development and is currently in discussion with other companies regarding potential acquisitions or business combinations. CannaPharmaRx's business strategy is to become a leader in high quality and low-cost production of cannabis in Canada through the development, acquisition and enhancement of existing facilities. CannaPharmaRx is presently targeting acquisitions of companies in the final stages of obtaining cannabis licensee applications or those which are nearing revenue generation. CannaPharmaRx is committed to operating high quality facilities utilizing the latest technology in combined heat and power generation to ensure being a low-cost producer of cannabis. CannaPharmaRx is in the process of completing an application to list its common stock on the Canadian Stock Exchange with initial trading anticipated to being during the second quarter of 2019.


Forward Looking Statements (with respect to Sunniva)

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, statements regarding Sunniva's operations and growth opportunities, Sunniva's plans to launch Sunniva-branded products in various product categories including high quality distillate, premium concentrates, vape cartridges, flower, pre-rolls, and beverages, which will be showcased within Sunniva's flagship dispensary, the placement of Sunniva-branded products at licensed dispensaries throughout California, and statements regarding the anticipated closing date of the sale of SMI, the closing conditions of such sale, and the net proceeds to be obtained therefrom are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, events or developments to be materially different from any future results, events or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risk factors included in the Sunniva's continuous disclosure documents available on www.sedar.com. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Although Sunniva has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other risk factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements. Sunniva assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available as a result of future events, new information or for any other reason except as required by law.

Safe Harbor Statement (with respect to CannaPharmaRx)

This press release may contain forward looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues and any payment of dividends on our common and preferred stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by CannaPharmaRx with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other matters, CannaPharmaRx may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based upon many factors including, but not limited to, general stock market conditions. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the company's most recent SEC filings. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in our expansion of our existing and new service lines, noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long term. Additional service offerings may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s) based upon the various geopolitical locations where we will be providing services, the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time.

Company Contacts:
Sunniva Inc.
Dr. Anthony Holler
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (866) 786-6482
Sunniva Investor Contact:
Phil Carlson / Erika Kay
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: (212) 896-1233
Email: pcarlson@kcsa.com / ekay@kcsa.com
Sunniva Media Contact:
Katelyn Tumino / Tony Forde
KCSA Strategic Communications
Phone: (212) 896-1252
Email: ktumino@kcsa.com / tforde@kcsa.com

SOURCE: Cannapharmarx, Inc.

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https://www.accesswire.com/548573/Sunniva-Inc-Agrees-To-Sell-Its-Okanagan-Falls-Property-To-CannaPharmaRx-Inc-for-CAD-20-Million

Venture Capital China Going Bust?

China’s Venture Capital Boom Shows Signs of Turning Into a Bust

From Bloomberg by Peter Elstrom July 9, 2019


China went through a five-year surge in venture capital investment that fostered a new generation of startups from ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing to TikTok-parent Bytedance Ltd. Now the boom may be over.

Venture deals in China plummeted in the second quarter as investors pulled back amid unpredictable trade talks and growing concerns about startup valuations. The value of investments in the country tumbled 77% to $9.4 billion in the second quarter from a year earlier, while the number of deals roughly halved to 692, according to the market research firm Preqin.

The second quarter of 2018 marked the peak for China venture deals with a total of $41.3 billion invested. That included a $14 billion round for digital payments giant Ant Financial, $3 billion for e-commerce upstart Pinduoduo Inc. and $1.9 billion for truck-sharing service Manbang Group (known also as Full Truck Alliance Group). By comparison, the largest venture deal in the second quarter of 2019 was a $1 billion investment in JD Health, the health care affiliate of e-commerce provider JD.com Inc.

China has never been through a widespread bust like the U.S. did after the dotcom boom, in part because the country’s venture market is so new. Years of steady growth in tech investments resulted in predictable -- and enormous -- profits. Whether the current downturn becomes a painful crash depends in large part on how VCs, entrepreneurs and regulators navigate terrain they’ve never seen before.

“We’re seeing real stress in the system for the first time,” said Gary Rieschel, a founding partner at Qiming Venture Partners who has worked in China and the U.S. “We have never seen a downturn in the China market. For 20 years, it’s been pretty much up and to the right.”

Venture deals in the U.S. rose about 15% in the second quarter of 2019 to $27.7 billion, while Europe investments climbed 32% to $7.9 billion, according to Preqin.

“We haven’t seen the same slowdown in other markets,” said Chris Elvin, head of private equity at Preqin. “It’s always tricky with quarterly numbers though. A quarter doesn’t necessarily mean a trend.”

China’s venture boom began in 2014 when Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. went public in the largest-ever initial public offering, making clear to investors the potential riches in the world’s most populous country. Venture deals tripled that year to more than $17 billion and proceeded to rise every year through 2018 when the total topped $105 billion, almost as much as in the U.S.

Along the way, firms like Qiming, Sequoia China, Tiger Global Management and SoftBank Group Corp. fostered some of the most valuable startups in the world. Bytedance, the force behind short-video app TikTok and other addictive services, sports a valuation of $75 billion, the highest anywhere according to CB Insights. Didi, the ride-hailing service that ousted Uber Technologies Inc. from China, was last valued at $56 billion, the second highest.

But the rise of China’s tech industry put it squarely in the crossfire of the trade war. The Trump administration has accused China of stealing intellectual property and unfairly subsidizing companies in strategic fields, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. In May, the U.S. blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co., preventing the telecom giant from buying American components, and is considering doing the same to a swath of startups.

The trade war gives investors one more reason for caution. Valuations had already grown vertiginous. High-profile startups such as smartphone-maker Xiaomi Corp. and delivery giant Meituan Dianping saw their stocks tumble after they went public, reinforcing the impression that private-market valuations had gotten out of hand.

So-called sharing economy startups have also tested the patience of their investors. Companies like Didi, Meituan and bike-sharing provider Ofo blitzed the market with heavy subsidies to grab market share from rivals, making up for their losses with venture money. Now there’s skepticism that many such companies will ever turn a profit.

“You’re really reaching the end of the shared economy -- this idea of let’s give away services for free and make up for it in volume,” Rieschel said. “Some companies -- Didi is the classic case -- are just not showing any ability to become profitable.”

A Didi representative didn’t respond to a message and email seeking comment.

Valuations haven’t declined yet in China though. The country’s startups have resisted so-called down rounds, when they raise money at lower valuations than an earlier round. “China entrepreneurs, more than any on the planet, will do unnatural things to avoid a down round,” Rieschel said.

Meanwhile, venture firms are pivoting to alternative business models, like enterprise software. Such startups are not only less capital intensive, they are at a stage of development where they require less money.

This also may simply be a time when venture investors opt for caution. Given the volatile negotiations between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, it’s not clear what kind of opportunities China’s tech startups will face in the years ahead or how capital markets will treat the next big IPO filing.

“It won’t cost you that much to sit on your hands for a few months,” Rieschel said.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-09/china-s-venture-capital-boom-shows-signs-of-turning-into-a-bust

Federal Court Rules Case in Favor of Crypto ICO Against SEC

From CCN.com Dec. 3, 2018

Last week, the U.S. federal court ruled a case between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a crypto initial coin offering (ICO) project called Blockvest in favor of the ICO project.

Marco Santori, the president and chief legal officer at Blockchain, said:

“The SEC brought an enforcement action against a company called Blockvest, alleging that Blockvest’s ICO was a securities offering. SEC asked the court for a preliminary injunction (an order freezing Blockvest’s assets, among other things) so it called a hearing on the evidence.”

The SEC failed to justify that the ICO in question was actually a security and the court refused to acknowledge the token as a security solely based on the distribution method of the asset.

Precedent For the Market
The unexpected decision of the federal court is not necessarily a loss for the SEC nor a huge victory for the cryptocurrency sector. As SEC chairman Jay Clayton said, most ICOs that investors in the market talk about are mostly considered securities under existing U.S. regulations.

But, the outcome of the case established a precedent for the market and with some technicalities, some ICOs could potentially challenge the SEC in court and win a case if supported by sufficient evidence.

The SEC and investors in ICOs could also become more cautious in filing a lawsuit against an ICO project, as the court requires the plaintiff to explicitly describe the nature of the asset as a security, unaffected by the method in which the asset was introduced to the market.

“According to the court, in the ICO context there must be a ‘risk of financial loss’. This supports the proposition that something like an airdrop, by itself, cannot be a securities offering, even if the airdropped tokens are pre-functional. Admittedly rare today but possible,” Santori said.

The Blockchain executive, who operates the most widely utilized cryptocurrency wallet platform in the world, added that the federal court “went out of its way” to reject the argument from the SEC that the mere act of distributing an asset through an airdrop or a token sale is a security as it doubled down on its stance that a token offering in itself is not a security.

An important element of the case was the requirement of the court to the SEC to prove that an investor bought the token because the investor was offered the security directly by the issuer. For instance, if an investor in an ICO is to file a lawsuit against the project, the investor will need to prove, somehow, that the investor invested in the token sale directly by looking at the website, whitepaper, or some other information offered by the issuer.

More Complex to Sue an ICO
The recent federal court ruling created a more complex environment for both the SEC and investors in ICOs to challenge the issuer of a token and to claim that a token is a security based on U.S. regulations.

Santori added that the precedent established by the Blockvest case has raised the bar for any plaintiff seeking to sue ICO issuers:

“As my colleagues in twitter law have stated, SEC pretty much got what it wanted with regard to Blockvest. No bloody noses here. The precedent, though, is lasting, and definitely raises the bar for any plaintiff – public or private – seeking to sue ICO issuers. It’s going to be more complex, I think, than any of us realized. And a lot gets lost in the world of ICOs, like remembering.”

Source: https://www.ccn.com/monumental-federal-court-rules-case-in-favor-of-crypto-ico-against-sec/

Start-up Bitcoin Rewards Firm Raises $2.25 million

Bitcoin [BTC] rewards start-up raises $2.25 million; Bain Venture Capital one among the investors

From AMBcrypto.com by Priya, Nov. 15, 2018

Earlier today, Lolli, a Bitcoin rewards start-up announced that they have raised $2.25 million in their seed round. The start-up gained investment from the top-notch players across the globe.

This included Bain Capital, a private investment firm based in Boston, Version One, Digital Currency Group, Forerunner Ventures, 3K VC, Quaker Health Ventures, SV Angel, FJ Labs, and Rugged Ventures. More so, the company stated that they gained investment from the “some incredible strategic angels.”

With the investment raised in their seed round, the start-up will be making further improvements on their product, add more merchants, increase the strength their team and increase the adoption of Lolli.

The reward application enables users to gain free Bitcoin when they shop online. This includes various industries such as lifestyle, trade, food, and fashion. Lolli has partnered with over 500 online retail merchants. The company which works towards making Bitcoin more accessible has successfully added Hilton, Marriott, GoDaddy, Priceline, Booking.com, Walgreens, VRBO, and CVS to their partnership list.

The CEO and Founder of Lolli, Alex Adelman, in an interview with The Block said:

People haven’t really thought about the consumer. People want to earn bitcoin more than they want to spend it. You can attract young, affluent users who are tech-savvy if you offer them bitcoin”

Adelman further added:

“We are working with international retailers. Bitcoin is inherently international”

According to The Block, Angela Tran Kingyens, a partner at Version one said:

“Lolli makes it incredibly simple for people to earn bitcoin when they shop online. All a user has to do is sign up for Lolli and shop at one of 750+ top online stores, and they will automatically get bitcoin deposited to their Lolli wallet. The simplicity of the product and mass appeal of shopping will lead to broader adoption of bitcoin.”

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-btc-rewards-start-up-raises-2-25-million-bain-venture-capital-one-among-the-investors/

VC Funding: Turning it Down Might Be Good for Your Business

Why Not Getting VC Funding Might Be Better for Your Business

Here's why lifestyle businesses appeal to so many entrepreneurs.

From Entrepreneur.com by Jim Price, Nov. 6, 2018

When I started teaching a new venture creation elective to MBAs 15 years and over 2,000 students ago, I'd tell my student teams they each had to come up with -- and develop a compelling plan for -- a (theoretically) VC-backable startup concept. Made sense, right? MBAs wanted to be part of building the Next Big Thing, and venture capital-backed startups had driven a massive tech boom over the prior decade -- a wave I'd been lucky enough to ride.

But, it didn't take me long to ease up on that "it's gotta be VC-backable" requirement. Looking back, I had three reasons for that shift:

Startup lessons tend to apply across the board: First, folks immersed in the action-based learning exercise of mapping out a startup consistently reported back, after reentering the workforce, that they were able to apply those learnings and frameworks to almost any entrepreneurial -- or intrapreneurial -- experience in their careers.

Many people find low-tech businesses more appealing: Second, a lot of teams would come up with quite interesting but low-tech startup ideas. As I discussed in my recent article, "Who Would Invest in Your Startup, and Why?," low-tech businesses rarely represent interesting investments to VCs, primarily because of low valuation multiples (often due to limited growth upside).

A vanishingly small proportion of all startups raise VC financing: Finally, I looked at the numbers and realized that most startups -- indeed, even most very successful startups -- do not raise money from venture capitalists. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2017 saw approximately 556,000 business applications from corporations (what they call CBAs) in the U.S. (That's only about 18 percent of all new business applications, to make sure we're not counting sole proprietorships, two- to three-person professional services practices, and so on.) Meanwhile, Venture Monitor data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association tells us that, during the same period, U.S. "first financings" from VCs (as opposed to follow-on financings) numbered 2,676, or less than one-half of 1 percent of new corporations started. Now granted, first financings from VCs will tend to occur one to three years after a company first incorporates, but the statistics year-to-year are similar enough that the proportionality doesn't change in a meaningful way.

But, what I teach and how I teach it completely aside, my real "a-ha" has been a growing appreciation for non-VC-backable startups and how they can represent a genuinely appealing path for many entrepreneurs. Let's look at the positive side of the ledger for so-called lifestyle businesses:

Ownership and control
Raising equity financing from VCs -- or, for that matter, angels -- comes with a downside that few talk about: pressure to achieve a liquity event (sale of the company or IPO) within a fairly short time horizon (we're talking three to six years, typically). Since your company needs to be pretty massive to go public, we're really talking about pressure to sell the company. If you don't raise equity financing, you're in far better control of your own destiny. If you're in a reasonably protected niche, you've got the luxury of time to grow at a more leisurely pace. It's also up to you as to whether you want a board or directors and/or advisory board, and whom you want to invite to join.

Less dependency and greater chances of success
On the one hand, you'll need to fund your lifestyle businesses through savings, credit cards, friend-and-family loans, bank lines of credit, small business loans and the like. And while it may sound sexier to load up on lots of VC rocket fuel for your startup, as we've discussed, that funding path assumes you'll be one of the select few who's successful in attracting VC investment, and it comes with outside pressure to "go big or go home" and sell the company. So in general, you can think of well-crafted lifestyle businesses as being lower upside, but also lower risk. Taking the lifestyle business route, you stand a higher chance of getting airborne and achieving some level of success.

More options in life
If you own and control the business, you can decide the degree to which you choose to grow it aggressively to maximize cash flow or wealth, versus taking a more casual approach. Perhaps you'll decide to build the business to a certain plateau and then simply manage it for free cash flow that makes work an option. And, building a lifestyle business in this fashion by no means precludes eventually selling the company if you choose -- or, alternatively, handing it down to your kids some day.

You can still leverage technology.
Whereas a lot of lifestyle businesses are low-tech in nature, increasingly, we're finding that even those entrepreneurs are creatively leveraging technology to successfully launch, grow and become more profitable. Social media campaigns, search-optimized websites, customer newsletters and referral networks can all play a crucial role. And behind the scenes, smart lifestyle entrepreneurs are exercising the muscle of low-cost, online tools for everything from brand management to accounting and finance, inventory control, customer relationship management, point-of-sale tools and HR management.

Building a VC-backed startup can be bracing and both personally and financially rewarding. Been there, got the t-shirt. But, nobody's going to feel sorry for you if you get your lifestyle startup to the point where you've created life options such as hiring a general manager and calling in from the lake house a couple of times a week to check in.

Source:  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322417

Funding for Startups in the D.C. Area Reached $50 Million in October

Funding Roundup: D.C.-Area Startups Raised $50M in October

By Kieran McQuilkin - October 31, 2018
Topic: Funding for Startups

October was another quiet month volume-wise for DMV term sheets, with just one high-value deal moving big money into the local startup scene and several around $4 million and $5 million. At least 11 D.C. metro-area startups (including Baltimore) raised a combined $50 million in funding, led by an eight-figure venture round by Bethesda data analytics company Aledade.

The biggest tech funding deal came from D.C.-based sales software company Afiniti, which quietly raised $130 million in a Series D round, valuing it at $1.6 billion and making it the metro area’s newest unicorn. Since it was founded in 2016, it aged out of our startup roundup, but was a notable capital infusion nonetheless.

A few investment groups got in on the action as well, with the opening of a $300 million fund for a District-based venture capital firm and the closing of a Vienna firm’s first outside fund of $250 million.

FYI, we cover startup funding news in the DC Inno Beat newsletter every weekday. Stay on top of who’s getting funded by signing up here. See you in the inbox.

Below are the 11 local startups that raised capital in October.

Aledade, a Bethesda-based data analytics software company that helps doctors cut costs on readmissions, raised $23 million in new venture funding. Palo Alto-based Meritech Capital Partners led the round, contributing $15 million. The new money is a continuation of a prior round, and it adds to a $23 million round late last year.

On-demand technology repair company Fixt hauled in $6.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by San Francisco-based Precursor Ventures and U.S. Cellular, with participation from Naples Technology Ventures and additional existing investors. The Baltimore-based startup previously raised a $1.4 million seed round in early 2016.

Columbia, Md.-based Zentail, which helps small retailers manage their e-commerce operations across websites like Amazon and eBay, raised $5 million. Initialized Capital led the Series A round for the 3-year-old startup, with participation from FundersClub. It has previously raised $1.2 million in seed funding.

Baltimore startup Hunt a Killer, which sells subscription boxes with mystery puzzles is seeking up to $5 million in venture capital to support customer growth and new products. It expects to have 50,000 customers by yearend. Last month, the company also announced a long-term $8 million funding deal from Clearbanc.

UMB-born biotech startup Breethe has raised at least $3.5 million of a $5 million funding round toward its quest to create artificial lungs. It spun out of the university in 2014 and is backed by more than $5 million in previous funding, including a $3 million round reported in December last year.

D.C.-based nonprofit edtech startup CommonLit is continuing its blockbuster growth with a $3.5 million grant from Google. In June this year, CommonLit nabbed $4 million in funding from backers including AT&T, Teach for America, the EPIC Foundation, Arthur Rock Foundation and others.

Bethesda-based cybersecurity startup Syncurity closed a $2 million round of investment. The new funding was led by the Maryland Technological Development Corporation, better known as TEDCO, which has made a variety of startup investments. Syncurity, founded by JP Bourget in 2014, raised an undisclosed seed round in 2014 and $380,000 in 2016.

Byte Back, a nonprofit that offers technology training and job placement to underserved populations in the D.C. area, is expanding its services to Baltimore with a $775,000 grant from TD Bank. The grant came as part of the inaugural TD Ready Challenge, which this year focused on financial security and awarded the same total to 10 organizations in the U.S. and Canada.

D.C.-based voice app creator XAPP Media raised at least $750,000 from seven investors in a maximum $2 million equity round, according to SEC filings. The company has launched and manages over 1,000 apps on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Microsoft’s Catana. It’s no stranger to fundraising, having hauled in $11.3 million in capital since 2014, according to a Crunchbase tally.

Maryland-based AI startup RedShred was awarded a $745,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase 2 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will be provided over 18 months for development and commercialization of its technology, which analyzes and produces summaries of lengthy proposal documents for government contractors, grant researchers and universities. The company previously was awarded a $225,000 Phase 1 SBIR grant in 2016.

David Adler, founder and CEO of event-planning platform BizBash Media, along with his company and family invested over $500,000 in D.C.-based startup Goodshuffle. Goodshuffle launched four years ago and makes a software tool designed for event rental, production and entertainment companies to manage inventory, track sales and streamline operations.

A pair of investment companies made moves in October as well:

D.C. venture capital firm Updata Partners opened a $300 million raise for its latest fund. The fund, which targets later-stage companies and provides growth funding, has invested in several D.C.-area startups, including real estate platform Homesnap and content creation platform Storyblocks. According to its website, the VC firm has raised $750M in committed capital and invested in more than 40 companies.

Vienna-based growth equity firm Aldrich Capital Partners closed on its first outside fund, raking in $256 million. The investment company had previously used a self-funded $50M to invest in several startups, including Cofense, which sold for $400 million this year. Aldrich partners said the fund will be aimed at companies in healthcare IT, fintech and software that are still led by their founders and haven’t yet raised institutional funding.

Source: https://www.americaninno.com/dc/funding-dc/funding-roundup-d-c-area-startups-raised-50m-in-october/

Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) Sale Nets $8.86 Million for Ethereum Scaling

Multicoin Leads $10 Million SAFT Sale for Ethereum Scaling Startup Skale

From Coindesk.com by Nikhilesh De Oct. 4, 2018

Blockchain startup Skale Labs raised nearly $10 million in an effort to develop a blockchain scalability infrastructure for ethereum, the company announced Thursday.

The startup says in a press statement that it raised $8.86 million in a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) sale led by Multicoin Capital, on top of $785,000 raised earlier this year.

Galaxy Digital, Aspect Ventures, Blockchange Ventures, Boost.VC, Canaan Venture Partners, Floodgate Fund, Hack.VC, Neo Global Capital and Signia Venture Partners also participated in the sale.

The company intends to launch an open-source permissionless blockchain targeted toward providing ethereum-based decentralized application (dapp) developers a new base platform to build upon.

In particular, Skale intends to launch the first implementation of the Ethereum Virtual Machine on a Plasma chain – a move it says would help dapp developers by giving them a layer-2 platform on which to execute smart contracts.

Using Skale's network will enable dapps to conduct "millions of transactions per second at a fraction of the cost of what's possible today," the release claims.

Jack O'Holleran, co-founder and CEO of Skale Labs, said in a statement that "helping Ethereum dapp developers scale applications is the center of what we do."

He added:

"We are sharply focused on making Layer 2 easy, fast, secure and cost-effective for anyone who wants to run smart contracts on Ethereum ... We are looking forward to bringing this network to market in a fully open-source, [peer-to-peer] manner."

The startup plans to set its testnet live by the end of 2018 and activate its mainnet in the upcoming year. A foundation will also be launched to support the network, similar to the Ethereum Foundation and its work supporting the Ethereum mainnet, the firm says.

"Skale is uniquely positioned to dominate Layer 2 on Ethereum," said Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani, adding that the project is "Ethereum's best shot at fending off competition from other smart contract platforms."

Source:

Blockchain Investments to Watch in Late 2018

6 Promising ICOs In Late 2018

InvestInBlockchain.com by Matt Laxen August 31, 2018

The meteoric rise of Bitcoin in late 2017 brought with it an explosion of companies running crowdsales in the form of ICOs. While the entire market has cooled off since then, ICOs are still turning heads, and investors are almost guaranteed to be more selective with their investments this year.

Among the thousands of cryptocurrencies that will end up worthless, the chances of finding a project with a strong use case and competent team are diminished, since there are only so many problems to solve with blockchain.

It’s becoming easier than ever to create your own token, publish a website and whitepaper, and launch a crowdsale. We at Invest in Blockchain have researched ICOs scheduled for the end of 2018, and there are a few that stand out to us as worth a second look. However, it’s necessary to remind potential investors to do their due diligence — as always, never invest more than you’re willing to lose.

With all that said, here are our top 6 ICO picks scheduled for the end of 2018, listed in chronological order.

Disclaimer: This is not professional financial advice, and you should always use multiple sources for information while doing your own research. Investing in ICOs is a high-risk endeavor.

CitiCash

CitiCash is a cryptocurrency that’s placed simplicity and user-friendliness at the forefront of its design. As much as cryptocurrency gained public awareness at the end of 2017, the general public still isn’t all that interested for a couple reasons.

As explained in the CitiCash whitepaper, the majority of people simply don’t understand what cryptocurrencies are, and that poses a major roadblock when it comes to mass adoption. Another common rebuttal among skeptics (and rightfully so), is that you can’t pay for everyday goods and services with it. While that’s changing rapidly, at the moment there’s little incentive for the average individual to switch from fiat to crypto.

In order to make the transition as easy as possible, CitiCash is developing a network between their wallets and established debit card technologies. Upon request, users will be provided a debit card that’s linked to their CitiCash wallet, which automatically converts funds into the respective fiat currency of the vendor receiving payment.

CitiCash will also offer the simple conversion of their native token into any other cryptocurrency, with all the work being done on the backend, maximizing ease of use for customers of all levels of tech saviness.

CitiCash ICO
The CitiCash ICO will start on September 1, 2018, and will last 1 month or until sold out. 130 million CitiCash coins (CCH) will be available for the public sale, with a minimum purchase set at 10 CCH. Each coin will be worth $0.15, and no whitelisting is necessary to participate. All unsold coins will be frozen in the CitiCash wallet for 1 year, then used for further expansion of the project.

After 1 billion CCH are released into the market over a span of 20 years, an algorithmic inflation process will begin, releasing an additional 2,103,840 CCH into the market. The CitiCash team explains in their whitepaper that “this will ensure that the total coin supply will not shrink due to coins being lost by their owners over time.”

Humancoin

Humancoin is what happens when philanthropy gets decentralized. The majority of us have been subjected to late-night commercials of sad-looking dogs complete with music meant to stir our emotions into opening our wallets. While there are legitimate nonprofits operating this way, trust in charities has dropped in recent years after scandals involving humanitarian charities were brought to light.

The Humancoin team is creating a blockchain solution for donors and recipients of funds worldwide. The inherently transparent nature of cryptocurrency makes them a perfect means of transaction for philanthropic industries. According to the Humancoin whitepaper, there are 3 main reasons that people who are ready to donate to change their minds:

• Lack of trust in charities, and doubts that their contribution will reach the recipient on time and in full due to a lack of international charity regulation.
• Cross-border payment complexity and potential issues dealing with foreign governments.
• The inability to see any additional benefits from making a donation.

To tackle these problems, Humancoin plans to focus their effort on the collaboration of charity, eCommerce, and cryptocurrency markets.

Humancoin ICO
The Humancoin ICO starts September 15, 2018 and ends November 1, 2018. Slightly more than half (50.9%) of the total 6 billion tokens will be available during the tokensale. Tokens are priced at US$0.01 per token, with a minimum purchase of 0.1 ETH required.

Including the already finished presale, the crowdsale has been broken up into 4 stages.

Real Estate Doc

The real estate market is rife with paperwork that’s begging to be automated. The Real Estate Doc (RED) vision is to set the standard for commercial real estate leasing technology, allowing users to manage their businesses through customized, self-executing smart contracts.

Taken directly from their whitepaper, there are 5 distinct modules that make up the RED platform:

1. Digital Document Management
2. Asset Planning and Budgeting
3. Streamlined Client/Vendor KYC Process
4. Payments and Loyalty Points Management
5. The Space Exchange

The Digital Document Management module allows users to easily build and manage contracts for monthly lease payments, maintenance requirements, security deposits, and more. Clients will be able to grant access and collaboratively build contracts, track edits made to documents, sign electronically, and even work offline.

The Asset Planner presents analytics on contract values, payment schedules, revenues, and more on a user-friendly, customizable dashboard. Users will be able to set monthly, quarterly, and annual budgets for each asset category, and track them to monitor performance.

The Streamlined KYC framework allows corporate landlords to ensure vendor applicants are in good standing with the law. Checks are typically made with third-party applications by Experian and Equifax, and the KYC is automatically recorded on a private sidechain, and can be used for future lease agreements.

The Loyalty Points Management module allows users to transfer loyalty points between separate establishments within the same RED network. They also offer a payment gateway, meant to streamline the payment management process and reduce transaction costs.

The Space Exchange allows real estate companies to rent out a variety of spaces, from entire shops to shelf space in storage units. Customers will be able to bid through the RED payment gateway listed above, which has tokens pegged to the US dollar.

Real Estate Doc ICO
The Real Estate Doc public token sale runs from October 4, 2018 to October 31, 2018, or until their hard cap of US$9 million is raised. Out of the total 1 billion REDT token supply, 500 million will be available during the entire token generation event. There’s a minimum contribution of 0.1 ETH, and 1 REDT will cost US$0.018.

Code of Talent 

The rise of the internet and technology are begging to revolutionize one of the most important aspects of our society: the education system. Originally, schools and universities acted like gatekeepers of knowledge.

Today, you can find Ivy League college courses online for free. However, e-learning hasn’t reached the same level of effectiveness as our traditional educational institutions.

Code of Talent is looking to close the gap between students and teachers operating online, covering a wide array of educational programs. They describe their purpose as such:

To create equal opportunities for everyone on the planet, by igniting their motivation to learn and develop their skills and talents. Otherwise, they don’t stand a chance in the world of tomorrow.

The Code of Talent team has broken down the problem into 4 main sections: there’s no access to good teachers, classroom learning is boring, there’s a disconnect between theory and skills, and people are not motivated to learn. In order to solve these 4 problems, Code of Talent is implementing a 5-pronged approach:

They’ll create a gamified micro-learning engine, making it fun to learn about subjects in short bursts, rather than powering through a 2-hour lecture.
There are merit-based incentives for students and teachers.
Students and teachers will be able to interact directly.
Being that the system is built on blockchain technology, there will be an immutable record for future employers.
Employers, advertisers, and sponsors will be able to integrate directly into the platform.

Code of Talent ICO
The Code of Talent ICO event begins October 15, 2018, with 55% of the total 336,363,636 CODE tokens available during their public sale. Each CODE token will be worth US$0.10, and will be available for purchase with ETH. The budget allocation following the tokensale will be as follows:

MenaPay

As Middle East and North African (MENA) countries begin integrating crypto into their populations, one of their unique barriers is a religious one. The conservative Islamic traditions in the area means that new financial technologies will be carefully vetted before integration is considered.

MenaPay is the first fully backed, 100% Islam-compliant crypto solution looking to enter the MENA region. One of the tenets of Islamic banking, called Mudarabah, equates to systems of profit sharing. In order to abide by local financial laws, the MenaPay token cycle will distribute 75% of revenue amongst token holders through various fees.

Since stable coins play a vital role in the mass adoption of crypto, MenaPay will also introduce a token called MenaCash, which is backed by USD at a 1:1 ratio. With the volatility of the crypto market taken care of, MenaPay is able to focus on integrating their crypto solution into the MENA region in a couple of ways.

The desktop and mobile applications will be present in Arabic, providing an enormous 24% of the global population an everyday crypto solution in their common language. According to the MenaPay website, the MENA region alone supports 420 million people, and an estimated 86% of the population is unbanked.

To facilitate the simple onboarding of third-party enterprises, MenaPay will offer Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs) to interested businesses. They’ll also offer merchants a user-friendly management and reporting dashboard to keep track of expenses and revenue.

MenaPay has released their roadmap, which shows their goal to be listed on a top 10 exchange by the end of 2018. They also plan to reach 5 million active users and a $1 billion market cap before Q3 2019. It’s a tall order, however, MenaPay has hired an impressive team covering every aspect of their business, and they plan to partner with creative influencers in the region. They’re also building an offline reseller network that will operate within local communities.

The MENA region has shown itself to be a very lucrative market, holding strong potential for the first cryptocurrency platform that can navigate through Sharia law.

MenaPay ICO
The MenaPay token sale is currently set for November 2018. Of the total 400 million MPAY tokens being issued, 256 million will be available for sale. Their target hardcap is sitting at $25 million, and each MPAY token is worth an estimated $0.165 at ICO price. All unsold tokens will be burned.

Akropolis

Decades ago, it was common to find men striving for a career they’d commit to working their entire lives. The fortunate ones were able to lock down jobs that earned them a pension after retiring.

As time has gone on, and technology has increased transparency across the board, there are problems within the pension industry that require a solution.

Akropolis is setting out to disrupt pensions by means of decentralization.

In their introductory blog post made in March 2018, Akropolis explained that a collapse of the pension system is mathematically inevitable. They opened the post by citing the World Economic Forum prediction that the worldwide pension gap will grow from $70 trillion to $400 trillion in 2050, which is roughly 5 times greater than the current global GDP.

WEF – We’ll Live to 100 – How Can We Afford It?
Later in the article, they went on to succinctly describe one of the main issues as such:

As observed by a many a sector analyst, most of the world’s state pensions systems function like glorified Ponzi schemes, diverting the savings of younger investors to support the obligations to the older demographic.

With average life expectancy on the rise (therefore increasing the necessity for pension savings) a transparent and decentralized solution could be the answer we need. The Akropolis platform is based on a smart contract infrastructure that will manage pension funds. This allows all users to observe what’s been happening with their funds as the years roll by.

By outsourcing pension management to blockchain-based software, overhead is directly cut, leading to less fees—and better retirements.

Akropolis ICO
The official start date for the Akropolis ICO is yet to be announced, and you can join their official waitlist by signing up on their website. For more information on the Akroplis solution, you can read their whitepaper, join their Telegram, and follow them on Twitter.

Source:  https://www.investinblockchain.com/

Healthcare venture capital funding to hit new high in 2018

Healthcare venture capital funding continues to pour into startups, and the pace this year is already expected to top 2017's total figure of $15 billion, according to data from the MoneyTree report from PwC and CB insights.

During the second quarter of 2018, healthcare companies raised $5.3 billion in venture capital (VC) funding across 216 deals, on par with the $5.3 billion raised during the first quarter.

Across all industries, venture capital-backed companies raised $23 billion across 1,416 deals—a new record, PwC found.

The healthcare sector was second only to $8.9 billion raised in 610 deals completed in the internet sector. Healthcare represented 15 percent of all VC investments during the quarter.

Not only were there more deals, but they appeared to be getting bigger. More than 45 mega-rounds raised $100 million or more, with the second quarter marking the third straight quarter with more than 30 mega-rounds.

Two healthcare startups were among the largest U.S. deals in the second quarter. California-based Allogene Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing cancer treatment therapies, raised $300 million from venture firms Vida Venture, BellCo Capital and TPG Capital, which has also invested with health insurance provider Humana in the acquisition of Kindred Healthcare and Curo Health.

Grail, a disease diagnosis company based in California, also raised $300 million during the second quarter, with funding from Sequoia Capital China, Ally Bridge Group and Blue Pool Capital.

Beyond venture capital, the healthcare sector has also seen an influx of private equity funding over the last few years, though rising valuations have curbed the appetites of some potential investors in the sector.

Amy Baxter on HealthExec.com
July 16, 2018
Source: https://www.healthexec.com/topics/healthcare-economics/healthcare-venture-capital-funding-high-2018