December 23, 2020

Greetings CEM friends and Happy Holidays to all, we hope this finds you safe and well during these extraordinary times! 

Needless to say this year has been a challenge for many as we have all had to adjust to the new normal, severely curtailing our travel and live interactions that were the cornerstones of relationship building in the pre-COVID era. As we have all had to adjust to the new realities of working remotely and utilizing Zoom and other apps to connect virtually, we’ve come to appreciate what was taken for granted previously and look forward to the days where we can again meet face to face to build our businesses.

At CEM we have pivoted into the virtual arena, offering one on one Zoom calls between issuers and our vast network of investors active in small and micro-cap Canadian stocks. The next best thing to in person meeting, our virtual series offers the intimate one-on-one approach which allows for interaction and builds a base for ongoing dialogue and relationship building. Now we can tap into our investor network and create ongoing meetings beyond a once or twice a year live in person appearance. Our Virtual Meeting series is here to stay!

On the live event front, we successfully hosted 2 smaller scale, 50 gathering maximum events in September in BC and Ontario. Both conferences went very well with no issues and showed that smaller scale events conducted under strict health protocols could operate under the current COVID environment.

Going forward we have our 2021 schedule set and are optimistic we will be back to live events commencing with our annual Whistler Capital Conference Feb. 12-14 at the Chateau Whistler. As 2021 progresses and the vaccine rollout accelerates, we know we will be getting back to full field live events and continue to operate our virtual series, offering further opportunity to connect capital with opportunity!

Our partners fund, CEM Capital, has been extremely active in the markets as well as we continue to review new opportunities and assist companies in reaching a retail audience. Thankfully for all of us involved in the Canadian junior markets, 2020 has proven to be a positive gain year for many stocks as the small cap sector has gained significant ground since the initial and dramatic post-covid crash in mid-March.

Ryan Iverson, our Portfolio Manager and head of CEM Capital has been trading, monitoring, meeting, analyzing, and assessing opportunities across the board in all sectors. We will finish this off with some profiles of select companies we have been involved with this year, at live events, virtually, and in the markets, that have seen tremendous gains in 2020.

As we leave you to enjoy the holiday break with (immediate family members only!), please accept from all of us at CEM holiday wishes and all the best for 2021! 

Please see below group photo for 2020 issuer highlights. Note pic taken Dec 2019 and excludes Marcus van der Made 🙁

These issuers and CEM clients from across all sectors in the Canadian junior markets had breakthrough years with milestone developments, discoveries, and growth rewarding early investors many times over. 2021 will undoubtedly feature many more success stories in the small cap market!

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By Mariah McKnight, Market One Media

The Whistler Capital Conference recently took place between February 12-14 at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. The event marked the 10th anniversary of this conference.

Whistler was all about a weekend of one-on-one “speed dating” style meetings, networking, skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling to connect growth-stage companies in the resources, technology, biotech as well as special situations sectors with active top-level capital finance individuals.

The three-day conference fosters the perfect environment for public and private companies with experienced capital market professionals to connect over targeted one-on-one meetings.

 2017  Q3 Review

Connecting capital with opportunity

By Caitlin Cheadle

It’s been a busy Q3 for the team here at CEM. Firstly we held two shows: the Okanagan Capital Conference in July and the Muskoka Capital Conference in September – each event showcased a fresh crop of quality small- to mid-cap companies in the Tech, Biotech, Healthcare, Mining, Oil & Gas, Cannabis and Special Situations sectors.

Q3 also saw the launch of our on-camera issuer interviews in partnership with Market One Media. During the Okanagan and Muskoka conferences I had the chance to sit down with company executives to discuss their story and ongoing developments – you can watch these interviews on our new Media Gallery.

Blockchain was of course a hot topic throughout Q3 – we’ve certainly noticed a lot of interest in all things Blockchain-related from investors applying to attend our AlphaNorth Capital Conference taking place January 12 – 14 in the Bahamas, in partnership with AlphaNorth Asset Management. This is our largest show of the year and will feature 50 issuers with a focus on the Tech, Biotech, Healthcare and Special Situations sectors. If you’re an investor and you’d like to apply to attend, you can contact me at caitlin@capitalevent.ca, or by visiting our website. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s take a minute to reflect on a few highlights from our Q3 shows.

Okanagan Capital Conference: July 13 – 15, 2017

The onset of summer typically means a slowdown in market activity, but you wouldn’t have guessed it from the atmosphere at this year’s Okanagan Capital Conference. Held at the lakeside Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in downtown Kelowna, the show saw 36 issuers and a select group of small-cap investors mingle over a weekend of one-on-one meetings, golfing at the championship Tower Ridge golf club, wine-tasting in the Naramata Bench, and boating on Kelowna’s pristine Okanagan Lake.

Developments since the day of meetings have proven fruitful: NetCents Technology Inc, which launched its new cryptocurrency shortly after attending the Okanagan show, has seen gains of (+180%*) since. I caught up with Netcents’ Rob Meister, who told me that a proactive approach is key when establishing investor interest: “When our main founder Clayton saw an opportunity to develop a network of banks and platforms for digital currencies in 2006, people didn’t really get it,” he says. “We did the Whistler Capital Conference two years ago, right before we went public. Now, investment banks and retail investors are much more accepting of what we’re doing. The conferences allow for that one-on-one question and answer opportunity with investors – it’s about building relationships and developing your branding in anticipation of changes in the market, so you can be a leader rather than a follower.”

Shone Anstey, President & Co-Founder of Blockchain Intelligence Group, reflected on the importance of familiarizing investors with your company’s story early in the lead-up to listing publicly: “We were able to create a lot of early awareness about the company, and the Okanagan show was really the kick-off to our buzz,” he says. “We also had the chance to meet with the CSE, which was a real eye-opener as I’d never done a listing and it helped us understand what the process was and how it would impact us.”

And although Blockchain was the buzzword of the Okanagan show, Resource companies were certainly not overlooked. Millennial Lithium Corp is up  (+80%) since the show, Centenera Mining Corp has gained (+44%) and Trilogy Metals Inc has seen gains of (+37%). Meanwhile in the Cannabis sector, Lexaria Bioscience Corp is up (+50%) since attending the Okanagan show, while Supreme Pharmaceuticals Inc has gained (+26%).

You can check each issuer’s performance since the Okanagan show by clicking on the Performance tracker below:

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

Muskoka Capital Conference: Sept 29 – Oct 1, 2017

The Muskoka Capital Conference is an intimate event that positions issuers from across Canada in front of a select group of East Coast financiers, giving companies direct exposure to the Bay Street crowd. A total of 37 issuers travelled to the beautiful JW Marriott The Rosseau Resort in Ontario’s upscale Muskoka lake district for a weekend of one-on-one meetings with quality small-cap investors – not to mention fishing on Lake Rosseau and a legendary round of golf at the award-winning The Rock Golf Course. Just over a month after the conference, LeoNovus Inc, a provider of Blockchain hardened data storage and security software, has seen gains of (+209%) since their day of meetings on Sept 30th.

Northern Graphite Corp, which is well positioned to benefit from an increasing demand for Graphite, has seen gains of (+100%) since appearing at the Muskoka conference. CEO Greg Bowes tells me his strategy is to always be thinking ahead: “Generally I find investors don’t really ‘get’ Graphite,” he says. “It’s a little more complex than gold and other metals – the valuations are all over the place. The reason for doing these conferences is that when Graphite starts to get more cachet in the market, the investors we met with at the conference will already be aware of our story.”

Patrick Whibley at Pacific Rim Cobalt Corp, which has gone public since attending our Muskoka show (CSE: BOLT), told me he shares a similar strategy: “We went to the Okanagan show to get our story perfected and to get our CEO comfortable sharing that story before listing,” he says. “The reason we attended the Muskoka show was because we didn’t recognize the names of the investors attending – it was important to us to get onto their radar early on, because if we need financing down the road we can circle back to them.”

BetterU Education Corp, which is currently halted pending an announcement from management, was also with us in Muskoka – their third Capital Event Conference since attending our Bahamas show in 2017. President and CEO Brad Loiselle reflected on what he’s learned from attending multiple shows: “We have secured several million dollars as a direct result of the relationships we have developed at Capital Events,” he says. “It didn’t happen on the first event, but by the third event, it did. Investors want to see you again and again to make sure you are the real deal. Capital Event conferences are the real deal. Their investors are the real deal.”

Check out how the rest of our Muskoka issuers performed via our Performance Tracker:

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

All in all, it’s been an exciting Q3. Both of our Q3 conferences had a record number of private and pre-IPO companies in attendance: investors had the chance to speak directly with management from Blockchain Intelligence Group, Compass Cannabis Clinic, Golden Ridge Resources Ltd, Pacific Rim Cobalt Corp, Permex Petroleum Corp, CannaPay Financial Inc, Emmetros Ltd, Idaho Champion Resources, Phivida Holdings Inc, Venzee Inc, and NextLeaf Solutions Ltd. You’ll no doubt want to keep an eye on these prospects as they complete their listings in the coming months – you can also learn more about them by checking out their interviews on our Media Gallery. And before I bid you farewell, a big thank-you goes out to all of our sponsors: AlphaNorth Asset Management, the Canadian Securities Exchange, Market One Media, O&M Partners, Financial Buzz Media, MNP and Manning Elliott LLP.

Until next Quarter, many happy returns from all of us here at CEM.

* All reported gains are subject to fluctuations after publication

 

 

 2017  Q2 Review

Connecting capital with opportunity

By Caitlin Cheadle

Here we are, two quarters down in 2017 and anticipating some great returns over the remainder of Q3. What’s happened since our last newsletter? For starters, we had two very successful conferences during Q2 – Scottsdale and Montreal. Those of you who came to our Okanagan show 3 weeks ago know what a great time was had by all – and how productive it was, especially considering July marks the start of the slower summer markets. This was the first time I attended one of these conferences and I can honestly say that the Okanagan show was a fantastic event from start to finish. I had the pleasure of interviewing the issuers on camera with Market One Media and there were some great stories – stay tuned, we’ll be releasing the clips soon. One of our founding partners Howard Fitch was interviewed by SmallCap Power at our Montreal show – watch him discuss the strengthening of the junior mining and cannabis sectors here.

We’ve seen sizeable gains from some of our Q2 issuers, so I was eager to follow up with them to find out what they achieved at each conference. Investors will want to read on for updates on who they did – or didn’t – invest in. If you attended one of our shows and didn’t immediately add your top picks to your portfolio, you can monitor each company’s progress on our website with our performance tracker.

Scottsdale Capital Conference

April 21 – 23, 2017

The Scottsdale conference is always a big hit with our network of American investors, who travelled from near and far to the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa to check out a promising lineup of Canadian small-caps. Since attending our Scottsdale conference, Trilogy Metals Inc Inc has gained an impressive 32.65% as of market close July 31st. “Our stock is up quite a bit since Scottsdale and we had a couple of large buyers coming out of the US,” said Trilogy’s CFO Elaine Sanders. ”After the conference we also had quite a good meeting with one of the banks in the US.” Her advice to other issuers? “The dinner after the meetings is a great way to re-cap everything – it’s all about following up. There were some investors we met at the Whistler conference and followed up with in Scottsdale. Sometimes it takes them a while to make a decision and they want to meet you a few times. We are running a lean ship here – we don’t have an IR team, so this is a very efficient way to meet investors.”

Excelsior Mining Corp is currently up 30.5% since attending this show. I spoke with Excelsior’s JJ Jennex who told me, “Scottsdale has been very good for us. We got several shareholders out of it. This whole business is about meeting people – about investor relations. Being in one place, meeting with quality people, building relationships, is what it’s all about.”

Siyata Mobile Inc, a long-time attendee of our shows and a standout performer over Q2, has seen strong gains since attending the Scottsdale show, standing at + 29% as of market close July 31st. Siyata’s Arlen Hansen told me that persistence pays off: “It helps to have 18 meetings with 18 investors in one day, for sure. It’s important to see existing shareholders, to update them on your story and developments, and to see the new guys. But what really matters is following up. That first meeting is important, but the follow-up is just as important.”

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

Montreal F1 Capital Conference

June 9 – 11, 2017

Taking place over the Formula One Grand Prix weekend at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Montreal, investors and issuers attending this conference followed up their day of one-on-one meetings with a private dinner at French bistro Decca 77, before taking in the F1 the following day. I’ll start with one of our private exhibitors, organic cannabis producer The Green Organic Dutchman. TGOD’s Danny Brody spoke with me about his experience in Montreal as a pre-IPO company. “We already have a lot of contacts in Vancouver and Calgary – this show was really helpful for meeting new faces we hadn’t talked to before. We had about 2,400 shareholders already and this conference was really helpful for getting retail brokers to know and understand our story as a private company. This event helped get us closer to our goal of 4,000 retail shareholders by the time we go public at the end of this year. I got so much more than just my 21 meetings. I walked away from the conference with about 73 leads I plan on following up with in the lead-up to our IPO.”

Tim McCutcheon, President of Wealth Minerals, echoed Danny’s sentiments when he explained to me the reason he signed up for the Montreal conference: “Out here on the West Coast, Vancouver is great for that $1m – $3m equity raise for companies with a sub-$50 million market cap, but once you do that and you get off the ground, you can outgrow this city very quickly. The real money is in the East coast, and in Canada that means Toronto and Montreal. Being in Montreal, you get a different set of eyeballs. We got to see people we wouldn’t normally get to see.”

One of our more unique exhibitors at the Montreal conference was Peekaboo Beans, a direct-sales children’s clothing manufacturer and retailer. Peekaboo’s Terri Anne Welyki also highlighted the importance of the follow-up when she discussed the financing they closed after the Montreal show: “The conferences in both the Bahamas and Montreal led to successful financings. We are now poised for profitability and that’s because of the massive increase in our margins. These investors get deal flow after deal flow crossing their desk daily. If you’re not chasing them and reminding them of who you are, you won’t raise the money. If you want to grow the business, if you want your stock to sell, you have to follow up.”

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

So there you have it folks: getting those meetings is vital, but following up is what leads to deals being closed. One thing I noticed at the Okanagan Capital Conference is that these events are really a meeting of like-minded people who live and breathe the unique small-cap space. Aside from the one-on-one meetings, there are often many personal investments made by both investors and company execs as a result of connections made at these shows. As they say, it’s all about who you know.

Until next Quarter, many happy returns from all of us here at CEM.

 2017  Q1 Review

Connecting capital with opportunity

By Caitlin Cheadle

Wow, 2017 is flying by – and what a year it’s been so far. While the junior markets have cooled a little in recent months, as we all know it’s times like these that are ideal for seeking out new opportunities. So without further ado here is our Q1 In Review newsletter.

As you may know, here at CEM we hold two conferences over Q1: the AlphaNorth Capital Conference, our annual non-resource show that takes place in the Bahamas every January, and the Whistler Capital Conference, held every February at the world-renowned Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. Both events were a huge success this year, and we are still getting positive feedback on the beneficial relationships that were forged at each show – you can read the testimonials here. Whether you attended one of our Q1 shows as an issuer or an investor, it is so important to follow up on the meetings you had. Read on to educate yourself on how our attending issuers are performing.

AlphaNorth Capital Conference

The AlphaNorth Capital Conference was a great success this year. As always, a big thank-you goes out to Steve Palmer of AlphaNorth Asset Management, without whom this event would not be possible, as well as our sponsors MNP LLP and Financial Buzz Media. This year we had an outstanding turnout: a total of 46 investors and 46 issuers travelled from all over the world to attend. First up we’d like to congratulate the team at BetterU, who successfully raised $1.7million at the show, allowing them to go through with their planned RTO. BetterU listed on the TSXV on March 8, 2017 and shares had gained 94% as of market close May 9th, outperforming the S&P TSX by 570% during the last year. Pyrogenesis Canada Inc also exceeded expectations – as of May 9th it was up 192%, with no roll-backs to date. Another highlight from AlphaNorth is Theralase, which has seen shares gain 41% since presenting at our Bahamas show on January 20th.

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

Whistler Capital Conference

Next up on our Q1 roster is the Whistler Capital Conference, sponsored by the Canadian Securities Exchange, Manning Elliott LLP, and the Yukon Mining Alliance. Held at the gorgeous Fairmont Chateau Whistler, this year we had 36 issuers and 36 investors joining us from across Canada and the US for a weekend of fresh powder and fresh opportunities. We’ll start with Drone Delivery Canada. After appearing at our show on February 10th, Drone Delivery’s shares are up an impressive 41%. Another one to watch is Trilogy Metals Inc, which has seen gains of 33% since presenting at our show.

VIEW PERFORMANCE TRACKER

Here at CEM headquarters the team has just returned from our 7th annual Scottsdale Capital Conference – we’ll be updating you on the results from that show in our Q2 Newsletter. For anyone who’s interested in attending our upcoming conferences in Montreal, the Okanagan, or Muskoka, check out our website or feel free to get in touch with us directly.

Until next Quarter, many happy returns from all of us at CEM.