Spotlite360 Technologies (CSE:LITE) Inc. said it has entered into a software license agreement with Apollo Sciences, a vertically integrated producer and distributor of hemp in Aurora, Colorado.
Under the license agreement, Apollo will have the right to utilize Spotlite360’s suite of blockchain and Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies which can provide unprecedented visibility to all participants in a supply chain and ensure optimal product and service quality.
The parties have explored several potential applications of the Spotlite360 Technologies (CSE:LITE) to Apollo’s business activities, which include biomass storage, pharmaceutical-grade extraction, post-processing, and white-label production of hemp-derived products.
Moreover, the Spotlite360 Technologies could enable legal-aged purchasers of hemp products produced and/or distributed by Apollo to trace the origin and verify the authenticity of the product through matrix barcodes - commonly referred to as “Quick Response” or “QR” codes - printed on product packaging, which can match individual product units to their respective provenance records in seconds using a smartphone camera.
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In a statement, Spotlite360 president James Greenwell commented: “As the hemp category becomes more sophisticated with each passing year, consumers and industry stakeholders have become more discerning when it comes to the origin of their products and the accuracy of tracking mechanisms throughout the supply chain.
"Moreover, given the stringent regulations relating to hemp, as well as to agriculture at a macro level, manufacturers such as Apollo are now held to very high standards in terms of how diligent they must be in the management and supervision of their supply chains. The Spotlite360 Technologies are designed for easy integration, reducing the burden of adding blockchain capabilities to existing systems. We look forward to working with Apollo to make the Spotlite360 Technologies a key part of how they do business.”
Apollo is fully licensed with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and leverages a network of more than 200 contract farmers and greenhouses to procure top-shelf hemp flower and biomass which it uses to fill orders. To improve its overall efficiency and provide greater value, Apollo has identified opportunities to integrate blockchain and IoT technologies into its supply chain to enhance visibility and traceability of each and every unit throughout its journey.
For instance, if a customer prefers to use hemp oil extracted from plants grown in a specific region or of a particular genetic strain, the immutable records of the plant’s origin stored on a decentralized blockchain network can easily allow attributes such as region of origin or strain type to be identified.
Numerous opportunities exist for clients of Apollo to directly or indirectly benefit from the firm’s use of Spotlite360 Technologies. Apollo’s services are offered on an “a-la-carte” basis to the hemp ecosystem as part of its business model to offer flexibility to the many entities in the rapidly evolving hemp industry.
The National Industrial Hemp Council values the 2019 market at U$4 billion and is projected to grow to around US$16 billion by 20271. Spotlite360 Technologies believes this use-case could be instrumental in demonstrating the value of its technologies, which can also be utilized in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
Spotlite360’s team will work closely with Apollo to integrate the Spotlite360 Technologies into its day-to-day workflows, while making observations to identify areas for potential improvement as the company prepares to launch the Spotlite360 Technologies on a broader scale.
Spotlite360 is a logistics technologies solutions provider unlocking value, opportunities, and efficiencies for all participants in a supply chain. Building upon existing applications of IoT technologies, distributed ledgers, and machine learning, the company endeavors to set new standards of transparency, integrity, and sustainability in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and agriculture industries.
Spotlite360’s flagship Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution has been engineered to seamlessly track the movement of a product by integrating with systems of all major stakeholders in a supply chain ranging from the raw materials to the hands of the end consumer. With a primary objective of onboarding new clients in 2021, Spotlite360 plans to explore innovative use cases for its proprietary stack of technologies which could transform logistics workflows in some of the world’s largest industries.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com