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Expansion, name change, investment; busy week for three Okanagan cannabis companies

An Okanagan company has announced that its application for a hemp licence has been approved by Health Canada. The Associated Press

Three cannabis companies in the Okanagan made announcements this week, including a numbered company changing its name.

Green Mountain granted industrial hemp license

First, Green Mountain Health Alliance of Penticton announced that its application for an industrial hemp license was approved by Health Canada.

The company says it intends to cultivate hemp for the extraction of cannabidiol (CBD) and conduct research on high CBD hemp varietals. That licence, according to Green Mountain, will complement its original plan of growing and selling cannabis.

Green Mountain says it has secured three properties in the Okanagan: a 16-acre ALR parcel in Kaleden, a leased commercial greenhouse in the White Lake area of Kaleden and a 98-acre parcel of Indigenous agricultural land in Marron Valley, with an intent to lease.

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The company says it intends to use two of the three properties for hemp cultivation – the 98 acres in Marron Valley, where hemp will be grown outdoors; and the greenhouse in White Lake, as a nursery for hemp cultivation, along with research and development.

“The Canadian cannabis market is continually developing, and with the ‘second wave’ of legalization coming around edibles, beverages, etc., in October of this year, we anticipate the demand for CBD will increase significantly,” said Green Mountain president Wade Attwood.

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He added “we applied for the hemp license to complement our core business model of producing cannabis, and, as we are still awaiting our cannabis license, we believe cultivating hemp will enable us to get to the market and be revenue positive faster than by growing cannabis alone.”

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Numbered company announces name change

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Second, the cannabis company formerly known as 10330698 Canada Ltd., is now called Starbuds International.

The Kelowna company, which says the name change comes at a time of rapid growth, is the parent company of Compass Cannabis Clinics and Starbuds Canada.

“Cannabis acceptance continues to accelerate globally,” Dave Martyn, president and co-founder of Starbuds International, said in a press release.

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Starbuds also announced that it was named the national startup of the year at the 2019 O’Cannabiz cannabis awards gala in Toronto last month.

“It’s an honour to be able to win this award and celebrate the hard work our team has put in over the last year,” said Martyn. “While legalization has come with its fair share of roll out issues, this award is acknowledgement that we are heading in the right direction.”

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True Leaf announces nearly $1 million raised from stock warrants

Lastly, True Leaf of Vernon announced that it received nearly $1 million in proceeds through stock warrants.

True Leaf said it received $914,442.73 in gross proceeds from the exercise of those warrants prior to them expiring on April 21. The company said 2,575,895 warrants were exercised with a share price of 35.5 cents.

“True Leaf is proud to have strong support from our investor community as demonstrated by the successful warrant exercise,” said Darcy Bomford, True Leaf founder and CEO.

“This additional capital will strengthen our balance sheet and allow us to continue to execute on our growth plans, including bringing a legally compliant CBD product for pets to market and expanding our global distribution, including entering new markets in the Asia Pacific region and Australia.”

True Leaf produces cannabis and hemp products for pets.

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