Investor Hot Seat - May 20, 2021
Investor Pitch Competition - Investor Judges
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Investor Pitch Competition Moderator
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Moderator
Carol Ortega Algarra, Managing Director, Muisca Capital Group
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Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Ms. Ortega is the Managing Director and Founder of Muisca Capital Group. For over 20 years, Carol has continuously demonstrated the ability to successfully guide cross-functional teams and achieve strategic goals for a diverse group of organizations at the international arena.
In Colombia, as a professor for Xavierian University, Carol leaded various research and consultancy projects within the financial industry, taught classes and was the Director of postgraduate programs in accounting. Within the governmental sector, at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia she provided technical lead on all matters related to the process of convergence towards international standards of accounting (IAS – IFRS) for the country, under this role, Carol co-wrote the standards of accounting and financial information currently applicable in Colombia. Ms. Ortega has authorship on numerous accounting and business related academic publications worldwide. In the U.S., as the Director of Finance and Operations for Adelante Mujeres, Ms. Ortega leaded the research and implementation of the incubator, accelerator and micro-finance program, now the biggest one in the State of Oregon serving the Latino community. as the Deputy Executive Director for InStove, she established the organization strategy, resulting in the first place at the Portland Social Venture Society “Fast Pitch” competition among others, taking InStove from a start-up to a sophisticated, sustainable, growth-oriented, multinational organization.Ms. Ortega has provided business & financial consultancy services to legal cannabis start-ups in the U.S. since 2014, year when Recreational Cannabis was legalized in the State of Oregon and in Colombia since December 2015. Carol is the Founder & BOD Chair of the Colombian Cannabis Entrepreneurs Network (RECC), which foster and serves through its programs and services cannabis ventures in Colombia, founding entity of the first cannabis science event in the Americas called CannaCiencia, a state of the art event that promotes science, research, investment and good practices of the analytical laboratory of Medicinal Cannabis in the Americas. Carol earned a B.S. in Accounting & Finance a Master’s degree in Management Accounting, from Xavierian University in Bogota, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Canisius College. Buffalo, New York. About Muisca Capital Group Muisca Capital Group is the first Latin American investment management firm strategically targeting the emerging legal industry of medicinal cannabis. We establish investment and execution policies that allow us to generate an optimal allocation in diversified portfolios where profitability is maximized minimizing risk. Our due diligence process is traversal and covers the strategic, commercial, operational, financial, IT and corporate social responsibility aspects. Our team of financial consultants, risk managers and business developers combine decades of experience in the financial, pharmaceutical, governmental, academic and service industries in the Americas.
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Investor Judges
Claudia Mora, Managing Director & Co-founder, Black Legend Capital
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Investment Banking professional with financial advisory and M&A experience primarily in oil & gas, mining, gaming & lodging, consumer products, tech, and cannabis, with transactions ranging in size from $10 million to $6 billion.
Ms. Della Mora is the Co-founder of BLC, a financial advisory and investment firm based in Los Angeles with satellite offices in Houston, New York, London, Hong Kong, and Melbourne. During her tenure at BLC, she successfully invested, assisted in the capitalization, and helped business develop small cap oil companies in Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Colorado, California, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska. She has also structured oil & gas partnerships in several U.S. states, and in Ecuador, Central America. Ms. Della Mora has been involved in many LNG (Liquid to Natural Gas) projects in the U.S., as well as many commodity trades worldwide. She has personally advised also Chinese conglomerates in their U.S. oil & gas investments. Since 2015 she has advised and has structured financing for every vertical in the Cannabis Hemp space and different geographies from Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. Ms. Della Mora also served as a partner at OFS Capital Group, a financial advisory firm and merchant bank based in Hong Kong, where she was responsible for fundraising and taking public in the U.S. public market, coal & gold mines based in Indonesia and other parts of Asia. Prior to that, she was employed in the Gaming & Lodging Group at Bank of America Securities LLC/ Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles, where she successfully advised and funded companies such as MGM, Dubai World and Wynn Resorts. Ms. Della Mora also worked as an investment banker in the Consumer Products Group at Partnership Capital Growth Advisors in San Francisco and at Hadley Partners Inc. in Los Angeles, where she advised food & beverage companies and chains of retailers. She graduated with a BA in Economics and a minor in Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley. About Black Legend Capital Black Legend Capital (BLC) is a group of Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) investment bankers who also acts as principals in selected transactions. BLC works on M&A transactions, facilitates IPO’s (taking companies public), provides financing options, and structures equity and debt placement for private and public companies. BLC has facilitated several industry projects to generate leading returns while adding value to corporate clients, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Black Legend Capital’s partners have extensive advisory experience in structuring deals across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. BLC’s industry focus is predominantly in the Cannabis, Technology, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Product sectors. Most recent engagements have been private and public cannabis companies along with some technology and consumer product deals. Black Legend Capital was founded in 2011 by senior bankers formerly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Duff & Phelps. During their tenure with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Duff & Phelps, the senior members of the Black Legend Capital team completed transactions representing over $13 Billion in aggregate consideration.
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Clifford J. Perry, CEO, Consultant, Concepts Consulting 20/20
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Clifford J. Perry is a thought leader and early pioneer of plant-based care and remains on the leading edge of the changing health landscape. Cliff’s bold vision and global leadership in premium Hemp CBD products has been guided by over two decades of working in the emerging industrial hemp industry sectors. Cliff has been involved in Hemp biomass extraction & identifying sustainable building products while participating in the creation of global governmental legislation.
Cliff Perry was recruited in 2010 as EVP of business development of the first publicly traded company, (OTC: MJNA) in the Cannabis and Hemp sector. A year later Cliff went back into the private sector founding Cannabis Business University and remained in education and advocacy in the cannabis and hemp sector. In 2004 Cliff joined Richard C. Cowan, a renowned Cannabis and Hemp advocate and former Executive Director of NORML. The two Co-founded Freedom Leaf, Inc (OTCQB: FRLF) and Cliff led the company as Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO until he stepped down in 2019 to pursue new opportunities in the emerging industry. About Concepts Consulting 20/20 Concepts Consulting 20/20 and Clifford J. Perry has provided business consulting services and participated in diverse industries including Venture Capital, Private Equity, Public Company management and oversight, Real Estate Education, Internet & Social Media Marketing, Educational & Training Seminars, Publishing, Franchising, Licensing, Network Marketing, Trademark, Copyright & Patents, Print, Indoor/Outdoor/Digital Advertising, Telephony, Hotel, Resort, Restaurant, Hospitality, Nightclub, Event Production, Concert Promotion, Talent Management, Video & Film Production, Business Aviation, Luxury and High Performance Auto Restoration, Oil & Gas, Mining, Shipping, Counter Trade, Traditional, Alternative & Complementary Healthcare, Non-Profit Fundraising, Social & Affordable Housing Development domestic & abroad.
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Daniel Barnhard, Senior Advisor, JB Capital
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Daniel has spent 4 years managing commercial real estate for institutional investors, managing private client investment accounts for 23 years and now helping to raise capital from investors for capital lending purposes and private equity. Dan is advising private US companies primarily in AZ and CA in the areas of marketing, sales, capital raising,and c-suite advisory services.
About JB Capital JB Capital provides an opportunity for investors to participate in the profits of 5 lending activities of a private debt company that Provides debt capital to lower middle market private US companies in need of short term capital and capital advisory services About
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Dr. David Cunic, CEO, UCS Advisors
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David M. Cunic is an entrepreneur who specializes in Investor Relations Advisory services. "Dr. David", as most people know him as, has raised capital, expanded several companies, and has employed over 300+ people. He has been in the medical field for 18+ years, has been a business owner for 19+ years, and has been in the cannabis industry for 10+ years. Some people have called him the "triple headed dragon" due to his diversity and experience. Over the past 16 years, Dr. David has started over 10+ companies, in both the public and private sector, and has successfully sold many of them. His efforts in business operations and human resources won him the prestigious Alfred Sloan Award for Workplace Programs and Flexibility. David has assisted many companies in securing millions of dollars for his clients ranging from the cannabis, hemp, energy, medical, water, and the beverage industry. He has served on numerous boards as an advisor and trusted source of information. Dr. David also performs presentations and speaks at conferences on a variety of topics in both the medical sector and cannabis industry.
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David Traylor, Senior Managing Director
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David Traylor is Senior Managing Director at Golden Eagle Partners, a firm he founded in 2012 to advise life science companies. After advising on various transactions in the life science sector, he took an interest in the cannabis sector and started advising cannabis companies in 2013. In 2014, he joined Surna, Inc. (OTC:SRNA) as Chief Business Officer. After close to a year stint at Surna, Mr. Traylor re-founded Golden Eagle Partners to provide his knowledge to companies across the cannabis sector. Before Golden Eagle Partners, Mr. Traylor served at leading investment banking firms including Pacific Growth Equities (which later became Wedbush), Caris & Company and Headwaters MB (which later became Capstone Headwaters). During his banking tenures he has advised private and public biotechnology and medical device companies in various transactions including IPOs, public offerings, private offerings, mergers and acquisitions totaling over $500 million in value.
Before investment banking, Mr. Traylor spent fifteen years in diverse operational roles in biotechnology companies, from research and development to business development, manufacturing, program management and senior management. He began his career in biotechnology, with a position in bioprocess manufacturing at Synergen (acquired by Amgen), and then moved into R&D and process development positions at Somatogen, a company pursuing a recombinant blood substitute. After Somatogen (acquired by Baxter), he led the management of programs and development initiatives at Affymetrix (acquired by Thermo Fisher), the leading innovator in microarray technology. Mr. Traylor began his business development career at Deltagen then moved over the lead the U.S. operations for atugen AG (acquired by Silence Therapeutics), a Berlin-based functional genomics company. At Bioseek (acquired by Asterand), David led the business development efforts for one of the first systems biology companies. In 1988, Mr. Traylor was one of five Colorado players selected to play for the Denver Rifles in the American Lacrosse League (ALL) – the first U.S. professional field lacrosse league. Mr. Traylor is parlaying his athletic background and knowledge in cannabis as a valuable member of Athletes for Care. He received B.A. degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Biochemistry and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and an M.B.A. from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He is also the inventor on three issued U.S. patents. Mr. Traylor is a registered representative and has passed the FINRA Series 7, 63 and 66 examinations. David Traylor is registered in the following states: CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, MA, NV, NJ, NY, OR, PR, TX, WA. About Golden Eagle Partners A Trusted Advisor to Cannabis Leaders. Our combined experience in the early stages of the cannabis and life science sectors helps us confidently close strategic and financing transactions that match the near- and long-term goals of our clients. We specialize in mergers, acquisitions, reverse mergers, financings and incremental transactions such as licensing, joint ventures and co-development arrangements.
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Dr. Jon Thompson, Founder & CEO, extraktLAB
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Dr. Jon Thompson is a separations scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor. As a CEO that is also a scientist, he brings an analytical perspective to everything he does. Whether inventing new technology or building a business. He has a strong technical background in analytical instrumentation, biotech, mining, and homeland security markets. During his cannabis industry career, Dr. Thompson has a strong track record of helping companies set up Hemp, Adult Use, and Medical Cannabis extraction and processing facilities. Dr. Thompson has assisted hundreds of companies attain their goals in cannabis/hemp extraction and manufacturing, as well as market development, strategic marketing, and worldwide business-to-business alliance formation (including international markets). He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, Master of Science degree in Chemistry and a Doctor of Chemistry degree–all from the University of Minnesota.
About extraktLAB extraktLAB came into the cannabis industry as one of the first extraction machines used in the strict Minnesota medical cannabis market. The foundation of this company is rooted in the health of the consumer, the safety of the equipment operators and the ease of operation. We set companies up for success. extraktLAB machines can also be found in the pharmaceutical, food and bevarage industries as well. Company Name: extrakLAB Company Website: www.extraklab.com Email: jthompson@unitedscience.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jthomps1 LinkedIn Company: www.linkedin.com/company/extraktlab |
Princess Viray, Managing Director, Boustead Securities
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Princess joins Boustead Securities as a Managing Director. She began her career at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management after 15 years as an academic researcher and higher education leader at the University of Vermont.
Prior to acquiring her FINRA licenses at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, she developed and led a $15 million international Pre-Master’s program to recruit students from China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Korea. She is a published academic scholar and author of two books, and several articles. During her doctoral studies she was asked to be a global cultural bearer within the Ilokano ethnolinguistic indigenous hand-tap tattooing community. Her combination of interdisciplinary leadership and her knowledge of global communities and their markets positioned her to enter the financial industry as a trusted advisor to higher education faculty leadership and researchers, global cultural arts equity groups, and institutional business development consultant. Princess is a graduate from the University of Vermont with degrees in Social Work and Interdisciplinary Studies and has completed her doctoral studies in Education Leadership and Policy. Holds FINRA Series SIE, 7, 63 licenses About Boustead Securities Boustead Securities, LLC is a global investment banking firm that advises clients on IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, capital raises and restructuring assignments in a wide array of industries, geographies, and transactions. Our core value proposition is our ability to create opportunity through innovative solutions and tenacious execution. With experienced professionals in the United States and around the world, Boustead’s team moves quickly and provides a broad spectrum of sophisticated financial advice and services.
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Todd McKnight, VP of Investor Relations, RedChip Companies
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Todd McKnight, an entrepreneur by nature, appreciates a fundamental analytical macro approach to investing as a key to long term wealth creation. Upon attaining a degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech he learned the ins and outs of corporate finance and financial markets at American Express Financial Advisors and Northwestern Mutual moving on to manage and own a successful OSJ, with an asset management/investment banking focus in publicly traded oil & gas and mining companies.
About Red Chip Companies RedChip is the world leader in investor relations, financial media, and research for microcap and small-cap stocks. Founded in 1992, and headquartered in Orlando, Florida, with affiliates in New York, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, Paris, and Seoul, RedChip has helped hundreds of companies achieve their capital markets goals and has been ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held investor relations firms in the U.S. RedChip delivers concrete, measurable results for its clients through its extensive global network of institutional and retail stock brokers, RIA's, family offices, investment banks, hedge funds, and accredited investor groups. Our unique platform combines traditional investor relations services with multi-media marketing. Our weekly TV show, the RedChip Money Report™, airs on American Business Television on the Family Channel, reaching more than 100 million homes across the U.S. each week. The show also airs on Bloomberg International biweekly in 149 million homes. The show features interviews with CEOs of public and private companies, analysts, portfolio managers and other industry experts. Our targeted retail and institutional platform reaches hundreds of thousands of investors worldwide through company webinars, institutional and retail broker groups calls, newsletters and more. Our traditional investor relations platform includes retail and institutional road-shows in 10 U.S. cities, press-release writing, strategic counsel, management of quarterly conference call, script writing, power-point presentation development and more.
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