TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2019 /CNW/ - Toronto based CO2 GRO Inc. ("GROW") (TSXV:GROW, OTCQB:BLONF, Frankfurt: 4021) is pleased to provide a 2018 Review and 2019 Outlook:
2018 Grow Trials and 2019 Commercial Revenue
During 2018, GROW conducted scientific and commercial grow trials using CO2 Foliar Spray on high value plants including cannabis, flowers, lettuce, micro greens and peppers. All trials led to major value improvements in plant size, quality and growth speed.
GROW's accumulated positive data was sufficient for our first two customers to sign Commercial Agreements to install CO2 Foliar Spray equipment in mid-Q1, 2019. Data to August 2018 was filed to take a provisional PCT CO2 Foliar Spray patent to pending status.
Site technology leasing revenue is expected start in late Q1, 2019.
GROW's 2019 pipeline of companies and plant growers includes US hemp growers that can now grow unlimited acres as the US decriminalized US hemp growth in 2019.
Targeted geographic areas for CO2 Foliar Spray commercial development are primarily the Southwest, Southeast and Midwest US and Eastern Canada. In 2020, potential international CO2 Foliar Spray trials and commercial installations are being considered in the EU, South America and Africa.
Year-End 2019 Revenue and EBITDA Expectations
GROW is forecasting a site license lease revenue run rate of C$10M/year entering 2020 with EBITDA margins of 50%.
Use of Q4 2018 Equity Financing
In October 2018, $1.427M was raised from the exercise of 7.135M of GROW's $0.20 warrants. Proceeds are being used to:
|
1) |
Retire a $200,000 secured three-year note resulting in the Company having no debt outstanding. |
|
2) |
Hire key US and Canadian personnel to accelerate GROW's CO2 Foliar Spray technology leasing revenue growth and, |
|
3) |
General corporate purposes. |
Business Development and Scientific Staff Appointments
US Appointments
|
1) |
Michigan based US Midwest Representative with 35 years of flower and vegetable based grower and greenhouse experience. |
|
2) |
Florida based US Southeast and parts of Southwest Reperesentative with extensive hemp and medical cannabis market development expertise. |
|
3) |
California based Market Representative with a plant micronutrient background. |
|
4) |
Minnesota based Dr. Matt Julius who is a Biology Professor at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota – he will start as acting Chief Science Officer from April to December 2019 |
Canadian Appointments
|
5) |
Ontario based Representative for Ontario, Quebec and New York State with extensive greenhouse experience. |
|
6) |
Ontario based Manager of Project Engineering. |
John Archibald, CEO, commented "2018 was a pivotal year as we completed GROW's restructuring and reorganization, conducted successful scientific and commercial trials and signed our first two site license agreements. For 2019, we are now staffed to execute on our highest impact trials and provide CO2 Foliar Spray solutions to customers that want to proceed directly to installations as our first two customers did."
About CO2 GRO Inc.
GROW's mission is to accelerate all indoor and outdoor value plant growth naturally, safely, and economically using its patent pending CO2 Foliar Spray technology. GROW's global target retail plant markets are food at $8 trillion per year (Plunkett Mar 2017), non-food at an estimated $1.2 trillion per year with retail tobacco at $760 billion (BA Tobacco 2017), floriculture at $100 billion by 2022 (MarketResearch.Biz estimate). Legal cannabis at $52.5 billion per year by 2023 (Statista) and legal US hemp CBD at $22B per year by 2022 (the Brightfield Group).
GROW's CO2 technologies are commercially proven, scalable and easily adopted into existing irrigation systems.
The CO2 technologies work by transferring CO2 gas into water and foliar spraying water across the entire plant leaf surface which is a semi permeable membrane. The dissolved concentrated CO2 then penetrates a leaf's surface area naturally like nicotine dissolves through human skin from a soluble nicotine patch.
Foliar spraying of water, dissolved nutrients and chemicals on plant leaves has been used for over 60 years by millions of indoor and outdoor growers. To date, outdoor growers have not had any way to enhance plant CO2 gas uptake for faster growth.
Indoor CO2 gassing has enhanced plant yields for over 60 years but 60% of the CO2 gas used is typically lost from ventilation. Current greenhouse CO2 gassing levels of up to 1500 PPM are not ideal for worker health and safety. GROW's safer infused CO2 Foliar Spray can be used by both indoor and outdoor plant growers with minimal dissolved CO2 gas lost and much greater CO2 plant bioavailability resulting in higher plant yields than both CO2 gassing and no gassing plant yields.
Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on CO2GRO's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE CO2 GRO Inc.
For further information: please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact Sam Kanes, VP Business Development at 416-315-7477
