Cannabinoid Capital (Podcast)

Summary

• The CBD market has recently seen a multi-billion dollar deal and HempFusion going public.
• Co-Founder/CEO Dr. Jason Mitchell and CCO Danny Brody join the show to discuss radical transparency, methodical growth and becoming more efficient during Covid.
• We also cover the opportunity in probiotics and hemp. Doing things right as opposed to Right Away and why expansion is absolute.

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HempFusion (OTCQX:CBDHF) is a retail-driven, leading health and wellness CBD company that went public a week ago. HempFusion's Chief Corporate Officer, Danny Brody, and HempFusion Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Jason Mitchell, N.D., join us today to discuss how HempFusion stands out in the market, being compliant from the get-go, and their strategies for the near future. Dr. Jason Mitchell is also Founder and CEO of probiotics company, Probulin, a wholly owned subsidiary of HempFusion and the former Chief Scientific Officer for Country Life Vitamins which was acquired by Kikkoman Corporation.

Topics include:

• Danny comes from finance, capital raising side. What drew him to HempFusion was Dr. Jason - foundation was already laid - in over 3,000 stores, 30 products on the shelves with an incredible story. Just needed capital to scale. Put in $42 million in 2019 and raised another $17 million in the recent IPO so ready to scale. Jason got started after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, board certified Naturopathic doctor and no conventional western medicine really helped without debilitating side effects. Didn't know about the endocannabinoid system, learning about it is what inspired Dr. Jason to start HempFusion and radically changed his mind about cannabis. First started Probulin for physical and emotional well-being, now one of the top selling brands in natural products space.
• Built their company on compliance, which was a very different approach than everyone else, which has served them well as the space continues to mature and become more regulated, they're now ahead of the game by already being compliant. Following the spirit of the law.
• Being involved with the US Hemp Roundtable - advocating for change and accountability to themselves and the industry to manage itself. Easier to build regulations around trust-worthy companies, but HempFusion is one of only 3 companies that have completed all FDA Redbook toxicology guidelines, including on topicals, which no other company has done. Ola Lessard, now first women President of US Hemp Roundtable and first two-term President.
• Sympathetic to FDA's lack of clarity because there's not much data. Some of the data that exists showed potential of toxicology so made sense to be hesitant and thorough. But refraining from comment at this point is also irresponsible. The industry is waiting for more clarity in order to move forward - it's going to happen - just not clear when.
• HempFusion has no debt. International presence. Largest US CBD company IPO to date on TSX. Very well capitalized - second in the industry in cash position, with about $30 million. Now it comes down to scaling.
• Accessing the convenience market - a lot of the chains have said what they've done until now isn't working for them, so they're working on convenience store products, specifically gummies. Biggest investment will be in e-commerce because it's the biggest opportunity. More than half of CBD purchases are online. Only 6% of HempFusion's products come from online, so there's huge opportunity there. Have attracted one of the most amazing digital teams (who left as a group to join HempFusion because of what they've built to date.). Just launched in Ireland as fully compliant and will use that to jump into the UK, the largest CBD market in Europe.
• GW Pharma (GWPH) Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) deal of $7.6 billion is a huge kickstarter for the industry. HempFusion also has patented products and proprietary delivery methods - a completely science backed company - a lot of similarities and the big fish are now circling.