EnWave Corp (CVE:ENW) (OTCMKTS:NWVCF) said Thursday that it has inked a royalty-bearing commercial license agreement that will see Electric Farms LLC use its proprietary Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) dehydration technology for drying industrial hemp.
Established in 2018, Electric Farms cultivates high-quality hemp flower in both indoor and outdoor facilities in Tennessee, US. It operates a 6,000 square feet indoor hydroponic growing facility and a 12-acre hemp farm.
Shares in Vancouver-based advanced tech company EnWave climbed 1.8% to C$2.31 on Thursday morning in Toronto.
READ: EnWave shares rise on news that Aurora will use its dehydration technology in South America
EnWave is developing commercial applications for its dehydration technology, in the cannabis, hemp, food and pharmaceutical industries. The company says it is faster and cheaper than freeze drying, with better product quality than air drying or spray drying.
The license will allow Electric Farms non-exclusive rights to use EnWave’s Radiant Energy Vacuum (REV) to dry its industrial hemp in Tennessee.
Significantly, the license marks the first extension of EnWave's REV technology for drying industrial hemp in the United States, said the company.
EnWave said the license “establishes a foothold” for expansion of EnWave’s technology for drying of hemp in the production of smokable hemp products and hemp oil extracts.
Large US opportunity
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp cultivation in America, presenting EnWave with a big market opportunity for its technology.
The Canadian company said its strategy revolves around securing royalty-bearing licenses with industrial hemp companies to propagate EnWave’s rapid drying technology in the recently legalized hemp sector.
Under the terms of the license, Electric Farms will pay EnWave a usage-based royalty dependent upon the weight of hemp plant material dried using the REV machine. Electric Farms has submitted a purchase order to EnWave for a 10-kilowatt small-scale machine to enable the rapid drying of industrial hemp at its Tennessee facilities.
Electric Farms produces over 10,000 pounds of dried organic hemp flower for smoking and extraction annually. The hemp is grown using aquaponics and organic techniques to bring pesticide-free products to the market.
In the cannabis and hemp world, time is money and EnWave's technology can reduce the time required to dry flowers from between five and seven days to less than an hour.
Multiple commercial platforms
The company says its low temperature drying retains cannabinoids and terpenes and its low-pressure drying prevents oxidation. The small machine footprint can help reduce the need for oversized drying rooms, with the drying time at an estimated 40 minutes from fresh to dry.
EnWave has multiple commercial platforms, including nutraREV, which is used in the food industry to dry food products quickly and at low-cost, while maintaining high levels of nutrition, taste, texture and colour; powderREV, used for dehydrating food cultures, probiotics and biochemicals, such as enzymes, below the freezing point. The company's quantaREV is used for continuous, high-volume low-temperature drying.
Contact Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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