Great article on CRWG on Cannabis! Cashing in on Cannabis: CrowdGather's Smart Approach to Capturing Value From the Industry
REDONDO BEACH, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 24, 2015 / The cannabis industry could reach $35 billion in size by 2020, according to GreenWave Advisors, while it's generally considered to be the fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy. While these dynamics should make the industry ripe for investment, the murky legality of industry on a federal level and the opaque nature of many existing publicly-traded companies in the space (that went public through reverse mergers) have made it treacherous for investors.
In this release, we'll take a look at CrowdGather's unique value proposition to investors interested in the cannabis industry.
Growing Institutional Interest
The cannabis industry has begun attracting significant levels of institutional interest. In January, venture capital heavyweight Peter Thiel announced that his $2 billion Founders Fund would be investing in Privateer Holdings, a marijuana company that owns several pot-related brands. The size of the investment wasn't officially disclosed, but insiders say that it was a "multimillion dollar" participation in Privateer's $75 million capital raise.
On a more granular level, ArcView Group has over 480 investor members that have invested over $45 million into 72 different companies. The group hosts webinars each week where up to five companies pitch investors, while offering large in-person events each quarter. With hundreds of high net worth individuals participating, the group has been an early pioneer in facilitating institutional level investments within the growing cannabis industry.
The common denominator is that these investments were all made in privately-held companies rather than publicly-traded companies. When it comes to traditional institutional investors - who may be limited to publicly-traded securities - there are fewer options. Many public companies have shaky finances, limited operating histories, and few disclosures when it comes to making regular filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Ideal Risk-Free Exposure
CrowdGather operates a growing portfolio of special interest forums and scalable multi-platform games. In April, we announced the acquisition of digital assets including WeedTracker.com, DispensaryWeed.com, and WeedInHollywood.com as part of an effort to diversify its digital assets to capitalize on the growing cannabis industry. The diversification also is consistent with our overall focus of accumulating online users and monetizing them.
While companies like GW Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:GWPH) and Cannabis Science Inc. (CBIS) are pursuing clinical trials, our business model enables them to immediately capitalize on the information component of the growing industry without relying on regulatory approvals to begin realizing revenue by providing web services to cannabis consumers and then generating revenue from advertising.
We plan on building out WeedTracker.com into a fully-featured on-line cannabis community, while turning WeedInHollywood.com into its first cannabis themed gaming title. Beyond these efforts, our management hopes to become a nexus for the entire digital cannabis movement by designing a crowdfunding platform focused on cannabis that it intends to launch on its root domain - CrowdGather.com - in early 2016.
Our Business Model
Our social gaming business generated nearly $700,000 in revenue at a 75% gross margin during the three-months ended January 31, 2015, creating a base upon which to grow its newly acquired cannabis-focused businesses. Management believes the addition of high-growth cannabis opportunities on top of its existing business creates an opportunity for institutional and retail investors to get involved in the potential upside.
According to YCharts, the company's stock is trading more than 40% below its historical valuation of $0.0872, and we believe, below our enterprise value, and with an attractive price-book ratio. We believe these dynamics suggest that the stock may be undervalued based on its assets and historical valuations, despite the addition of its new gaming and cannabis-focused businesses that have the potential to create its opportunities.
The company's management has also been making changes to the cost structure aimed at improving profitability. In May of last year, the company sold off some of its legacy assets in order to shore up its balance sheet and raise cash. While platform fees and payroll costs have risen from its subsequent Plaor acquisition, we believe that ongoing revenue growth will offset and leverage these higher expenses as it achieves scale.
Looking Ahead
We believe CrowdGather offers an opportunity to capitalize on the rapidly growing cannabis industry without taking on any of the regulatory risk. In addition, the company has the added benefit of a rapidly growing gaming business and an equity that is trading at a compelling valuation. We hope Investors in the cannabis industry, including those involved with companies like Surna Inc. (SRNA) and MaryJane Group Inc. (MJMJ), may want to take a closer look at our stock.
During its last fiscal year, the company reported revenue that increased 51% to $2.4 million and a net loss ($7.1 million) on a per share basis that was cut in half from ($0.13) to ($0.06) per share. The majority of these results were realized from its social gaming division, which accounted for about three-quarters of revenue, while forum revenue accounted for much of the remainder. Management's daily bookings and other metrics have also been increasing.
As a vote of confidence in our future prospects, CrowdGather CEO Sanjay Sabnani has also been an active buyer of the stock in the open market, having purchased 50,000 shares in mid-June of this year at prices of $0.075 to $0.08 per share, according to Form 4 filings with the SEC. Additionally, Sabnani provided bridge financing to the company earlier this year of $270,000. These actions suggest that Mr. Sabnani remains confident in the company's future and believes that the current price of the stock may be undervalued.
To learn more, visit the company's website at www.crowdgather.com.
Read Full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cashing-cannabi...00557.html
REDONDO BEACH, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 24, 2015 / The cannabis industry could reach $35 billion in size by 2020, according to GreenWave Advisors, while it's generally considered to be the fastest growing industry in the U.S. economy. While these dynamics should make the industry ripe for investment, the murky legality of industry on a federal level and the opaque nature of many existing publicly-traded companies in the space (that went public through reverse mergers) have made it treacherous for investors.
In this release, we'll take a look at CrowdGather's unique value proposition to investors interested in the cannabis industry.
Growing Institutional Interest
The cannabis industry has begun attracting significant levels of institutional interest. In January, venture capital heavyweight Peter Thiel announced that his $2 billion Founders Fund would be investing in Privateer Holdings, a marijuana company that owns several pot-related brands. The size of the investment wasn't officially disclosed, but insiders say that it was a "multimillion dollar" participation in Privateer's $75 million capital raise.
On a more granular level, ArcView Group has over 480 investor members that have invested over $45 million into 72 different companies. The group hosts webinars each week where up to five companies pitch investors, while offering large in-person events each quarter. With hundreds of high net worth individuals participating, the group has been an early pioneer in facilitating institutional level investments within the growing cannabis industry.
The common denominator is that these investments were all made in privately-held companies rather than publicly-traded companies. When it comes to traditional institutional investors - who may be limited to publicly-traded securities - there are fewer options. Many public companies have shaky finances, limited operating histories, and few disclosures when it comes to making regular filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Ideal Risk-Free Exposure
CrowdGather operates a growing portfolio of special interest forums and scalable multi-platform games. In April, we announced the acquisition of digital assets including WeedTracker.com, DispensaryWeed.com, and WeedInHollywood.com as part of an effort to diversify its digital assets to capitalize on the growing cannabis industry. The diversification also is consistent with our overall focus of accumulating online users and monetizing them.
While companies like GW Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:GWPH) and Cannabis Science Inc. (CBIS) are pursuing clinical trials, our business model enables them to immediately capitalize on the information component of the growing industry without relying on regulatory approvals to begin realizing revenue by providing web services to cannabis consumers and then generating revenue from advertising.
We plan on building out WeedTracker.com into a fully-featured on-line cannabis community, while turning WeedInHollywood.com into its first cannabis themed gaming title. Beyond these efforts, our management hopes to become a nexus for the entire digital cannabis movement by designing a crowdfunding platform focused on cannabis that it intends to launch on its root domain - CrowdGather.com - in early 2016.
Our Business Model
Our social gaming business generated nearly $700,000 in revenue at a 75% gross margin during the three-months ended January 31, 2015, creating a base upon which to grow its newly acquired cannabis-focused businesses. Management believes the addition of high-growth cannabis opportunities on top of its existing business creates an opportunity for institutional and retail investors to get involved in the potential upside.
According to YCharts, the company's stock is trading more than 40% below its historical valuation of $0.0872, and we believe, below our enterprise value, and with an attractive price-book ratio. We believe these dynamics suggest that the stock may be undervalued based on its assets and historical valuations, despite the addition of its new gaming and cannabis-focused businesses that have the potential to create its opportunities.
The company's management has also been making changes to the cost structure aimed at improving profitability. In May of last year, the company sold off some of its legacy assets in order to shore up its balance sheet and raise cash. While platform fees and payroll costs have risen from its subsequent Plaor acquisition, we believe that ongoing revenue growth will offset and leverage these higher expenses as it achieves scale.
Looking Ahead
We believe CrowdGather offers an opportunity to capitalize on the rapidly growing cannabis industry without taking on any of the regulatory risk. In addition, the company has the added benefit of a rapidly growing gaming business and an equity that is trading at a compelling valuation. We hope Investors in the cannabis industry, including those involved with companies like Surna Inc. (SRNA) and MaryJane Group Inc. (MJMJ), may want to take a closer look at our stock.
During its last fiscal year, the company reported revenue that increased 51% to $2.4 million and a net loss ($7.1 million) on a per share basis that was cut in half from ($0.13) to ($0.06) per share. The majority of these results were realized from its social gaming division, which accounted for about three-quarters of revenue, while forum revenue accounted for much of the remainder. Management's daily bookings and other metrics have also been increasing.
As a vote of confidence in our future prospects, CrowdGather CEO Sanjay Sabnani has also been an active buyer of the stock in the open market, having purchased 50,000 shares in mid-June of this year at prices of $0.075 to $0.08 per share, according to Form 4 filings with the SEC. Additionally, Sabnani provided bridge financing to the company earlier this year of $270,000. These actions suggest that Mr. Sabnani remains confident in the company's future and believes that the current price of the stock may be undervalued.
To learn more, visit the company's website at www.crowdgather.com.
Read Full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cashing-cannabi...00557.html
