New Cannabis Ventures hosted a webinar with RavenQuest BioMed (CSE: RQB) (OTC: RVVQF) CEO George Robinson on March 14th. RavenQuest provides ancillary products and services in the cannabis space; and the company is ramping up to become a licensed producer with 11,000 kilograms of production per year. Robinson spoke about his company’s four-pillar approach, recent business acquisitions, and revenue outlook.
RavenQuest’s four-pillar model focuses on offering solutions to indigenous people who want to enter the cannabis space, an investment division that includes Bloomera and Alberta Green Biotech, management services, and research and development initiatives. Robinson opened the webinar by explaining the company’s approach to market opportunities. The cannabis market is expected to reach a $7.8 billion value – $6 billion of that in the recreational space and $1.8 billion in the medical space – within the next few years. As an LP, RavenQuest will have opportunity in that market, but the company’s other offerings will take into an expected $22.6 billion ancillary market.
Bill Robinson, the manager of government and indigenous relations, leads the company’s First Nation partnerships. Robinson, no relation to the CEO, is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the former president and CEO of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. RavenQuest helps navigate indigenous people through the Health Canada application process and provides an end-to-end solution that includes land assessment, zoning, facility design, construction, security, plant genetics, and proprietary growing, drying, and monitoring technologies. The company’s first client in this space, Fort McMurray #468 First Nation, was announced last year. The company is guiding them through the application process and building a 24,000-square-foot production facility for them in northern Alberta.
Through its investment division, RQB Capital Corp., the company made its first acquisition: Alberta Green Biotech, a 35,500-square-foot facility with 7,000 kilograms in annual production capacity with a pending Health Canada application. RavenQuest also just acquired Bloomera, a 20,000-square-foot licensed production facility with 4,000 kilograms in annual production capacity. The company hopes to ramp up to 11,000 kilograms per year ($55 million in annual revenue) when fully operational.
Under its consulting and management services division, RavenQuest Technologies Inc., the company offers solutions, including facility design and construction and growing and drying technologies, to existing LPs and late-stage applicants. The company’s orbital gardening strategy is one of these key offerings. While the idea of orbital gardening is not new, the company has added a number of proprietary elements to create a rotating garden system that uses four 600-watt bulbs to result in eight pounds of yield per garden within eight weeks. This is 1,500 grams per square foot, compared to the industry average of 130 grams per square foot.
The orbital gardening is strategy is a part of what Robinson called “Cannabis 2.0”, an environmentally friendly and entirely sustainable approach to growing. The orbital gardens cost approximately $15,000 to $17,500 each, which means clients could expect to see ROI within one to one-and-a-half grow cycles. The company also has proprietary drying and monitoring systems designed to ensure compliance and maximize yield.
A highlight of the fourth pillar, R&D, is a recent research partnership with McGill University. The partnership focuses on cannabis identification through genetics, plant stabilization, and improvement in cultivation and yield. RavenQuest just announced that Dr. Simerjeet Kaur, PhD, has been appointed to lead its scientific research and development.
Robinson forecasts a $15 million revenue stream on the management services side alone for 2018 to 2019, which means the company will have a positive cash flow. Once its production facilities are up and running, he expects to see $55 million in annual revenue on that side of the business. He didn’t provide a detailed estimate, but its partnerships with First Nations will add revenue as well. The company is also in early conversations with potential international partners; Robinson told investors to keep an eye for more partnership announcements going forward.
To learn more about RavenQuest, a New Cannabis Ventures client, please visit the company’s Investor Dashboard that we host. Readers can download the presentation slides and also watch the full presentation below.
