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Codebase Ventures takes aim at investing in early-stage technology, cannabis companies

Last updated: 20:00 23 Sep 2019 BST, First published: 15:00 23 Sep 2019 BST

Snapshot

Portfolio includes blockchain firm Arcology, Pressland, which is dedicated to fighting fake news, and Code Cannabis Investments targeting the CBD market

code
  • Venture capital company investing in early-stage technology and cannabis companies
  • Has invested in companies such as blockchain company Arcology and fake news misinformation platform Pressland
  • Newest subsidiary, Code Cannabis Investments focused on the expanding CBD market in North America and Europe

What Codebase Ventures does:

Codebase Ventures Inc (CSE:CODE) (OTCMKTS:BKLLF) (FSE:C5B) is a tech-centric investment firm. The venture capital company invests in early-stage technology and cannabis companies and is made up of a team of financial and technology experts. 

The company aims to take stakes in fledgling companies with a focus on investing in companies with "outstanding talent, teams and technology," according to the firm's website. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York but team members are based globally from Belgrade to Vancouver.

Codebase has a number of companies within its portfolio including stakes in the blockchain company Arcology, as well as investments in ICO Ranker, the standard for reviews and analysis of token sales, and Blockchain Ranker, a business-to-business directory of blockchain software, service providers and platforms.

Arcology, in which it owns a 30% stake, runs a hierarchical blockchain that uses proprietary algorithms and artificial intelligence to eliminate inefficiencies that hinder rival blockchain platforms. ICO Ranker is a collaborative platform for the rating of ICOs and blockchain projects. 

Codebase's wholly-owned subsidiary Pressland is an enterprise platform dedicated to fighting false news and misinformation. Pressland uses artificial intelligence tools and natural language processing to analyze around-the-clock global news output and publish comprehensive, dynamic production data that can be used to identify misinformation before it spreads online.

The company recently started targeting early-stage assets and startups in the emerging and promising cannabis sector by launching its newest subsidiary, Code Cannabis Investments. For now, the company is focused on the expanding market for CBD products in North America and Europe.

How is it doing:

Codebase has had an active 2019 so far and is positioning itself for busy times ahead having closed in September on the second tranche of a non-brokered private placement that raised about $1.5 million.

In February 2019, the firm announced it was changing its name from 360 Blockchain Inc to signal its move to widen its investments beyond blockchain-focused companies. 

Its shares were then eligible to be traded through the Depository Trust Company, which will increase overall visibility with investors in the US and will allow the company's stock to be traded to a wider group of brokerage firms.

Arcology recently ushered in the era of Blockchain 3.0 with a new platform that integrates third-party technologies such as Ethereum Virtual Machines. The proprietary blockchain technology allows developers to seamlessly transfer their existing apps and assets to Arcology’s platform.

Arcology announced that its network speed was up over 16%, with transaction speeds increasing to just over 46,400 per second from the previous 40,000 benchmark.

Meanwhile, Codebase's Pressland subsidiary has been ramping up its efforts to tackle the threat of fake news and misinformation. To date, Pressland has indexed and analyzed over 10 million articles, 2 million keywords and 200,000 writers. 

It launched a new publication called News-to-Table, covering media trust and transparency. It also extended its partnership with Study Hall, an online community of over 2,000 journalists contributing resources, news, analysis and original reporting for its members.

Pressland rolled out its Universal News Identifier, or UNID, to help publishers, journalists and news organizations achieve greater transparency across the digital platform. UNID works like a flight-data recorder of published news articles. 

To further its efforts to restore the public's faith in the news media, Pressland entered into a development partnership with All Tech Is Human, a startup organization that acts as a catalyst and connector for tech change. 

Pressland also has signed a partnership deal with iO Ventures, which is developing a personal consumer device that provides customized news and wellness information. The company was founded earlier this year by award-winning journalist Daniel Sieberg, a veteran of Google who helped build the tech giant’s Google News Lab and Google for Media programs.

The subsidiary's management recently expanded as well, with the hirings of former United Nations Communications Chief Gordon Weiss to oversee its global affairs and digital expert Anthony Duignan-Cabrera to develop the business.

Codebase's cannabis subsidiary, which is headed by recently appointed named CEO Zach Stadnyk, has been quick to invest in the fast-growing CBD market.  

Over the summer, the company acquired 45 acres of certified organic land in upstate New York to grow hemp to use for CBD extraction and plans to infuse up to $4 million into World High Life Plc (LON:LIFE), an investment company focused on CBD and medicinal cannabis in the UK and Europe.

World Life recently announced it is acquiring Love Hemp Ltd, the top CBD and hemp product supplier in the UK. 

Inflection points:

  • Explore more opportunities in the UK and European CBD and medicinal-cannabis markets
  • Achieve 100,000 transactions per second in Arcology's next integration test, expected in fall 2019
  • Expanded focus will allow team to identify openings before anyone else

What the boss says:

“As hands-on investors looking for the greatest returns, it made sense to expand our focus beyond blockchain so our team can identify these openings before anyone else,” Cobdebase Ventures CEO George Tsafalas said earlier this year.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham

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