Valens Secures Exclusive Rights For IP & Beverage Brands With Tarukino Holdings Inc.

KELOWNA, BC, Oct. 1, 2018 /CNW/ – Valens GroWorks Corp. (CSE: VGW) (the “Company” or “Valens“), a multi-licensed, vertically integrated provider of cannabis products and services utilizing proprietary extraction processes is pleased to announce that it has signed a two-part, multi-year agreement with Tarukino Holdings, Inc. (“Tarukino”). The agreement allows Valens to further expand on its product and service offerings to compliment the extraction market while also securing a strong foothold in the developing Canadian cannabis-infused beverage, edible and topical categories.

Canadian Rights to Leading Proprietary Emulsion Technology SōRSE™

Under the agreement, Tarukino grants Valens the exclusive Canadian rights to the production and distribution of its proprietary emulsion technology that transforms cannabis oil and oil-based terpenes into water-soluble forms for use in beverages, edibles, topicals and other consumer products. This technology, better known in the industry as SōRSE™, allows cannabis infused products to maintain potency when heated, chilled or frozen, and removes all cannabis taste and smell, enabling Valens to develop their own innovative self branded products while making SōRSE™ directly available to the Canadian market.

“One of the many key benefits of utilizing “SōRSE™ technology in edibles and infused beverages includes being able to dramatically decrease the time for onset and how long it lasts after consumption. This will improve the experience for our consumers and ultimately paves the path for how we believe cannabis will be consumed in the future” said Tyler Robson, CEO, Valens GroWorks.

Canadian Rights to Top Performing Cannabis-Infused Beverage Brands

This multi-year agreement also provides Valens with the exclusive rights to produce, sell and distribute, in Canada, when and where permitted, Tarukino branded products including Happy Apple™, a cannabis-infused sparkling cider, recognized as the number one selling cannabis beverage in Washington state, and Pearl₂0™, a cannabis infused food and beverage mixer, the first and currently only product of its kind on the market, which is easily incorporated into a wide variety of edible and topical products, revolutionizing the practical application of medical cannabis and medical product development.

In exchange for these exclusive Canadian rights, the Company has agreed to grant Tarukino 4,300,000 shares of the Company on signing the agreement, 1,000,000 warrants that vest based on certain future milestones and a decreasing royalty on revenue related to the associated products and technologies over the term of the agreement.  The warrants are exercisable at prices ranging from $3.50 to $4.00 per share for a five year term from the date of issuance.

“Tarukino has been able to develop and successfully demonstrate through scalable commercial application one of the only proven water-soluble cannabis products in the industry, with a confirmed consumer market uptake through its highly successful brands including Happy Apple™ and Pearl₂0™”, said Tyler Robson, CEO, Valens GroWorks.  “In addition to holding the exclusive rights for Tarukino’s beverage brands in the Canadian market, this partnership gives Valens access to the proprietary technology of SōRSE™, which will enable Valens to expand on its offerings across numerous sectors of the cannabis space, particularly edibles and beverages which the Company believes will be one of the next categories addressed by Health Canada in relation to the legalization of recreational cannabis in the Canadian market. Tarukino’s team consists of some of the world’s top scientists, and we are pleased to have access to their knowledge and expertise over the coming years.”

“Our team at Tarukino is made up of innovators who thrive on the science of the cannabis plant. When given the opportunity to work with Valens, a team who shares the same passion and knowledge-base for cannabis extraction techniques and applications, we were thrilled,” said Howard Lee, CEO of Tarukino Holdings, Inc. “SōRSE™ is the first and leading technology that produces, near perfect doses, entirely taste and odor free cannabis emulsions for infusion of medical and recreational products, and we are pleased to offer this technology, and our brands, to the Canadian market through our partnership with Valens.”

Valens and Tarukino will work closely together over the coming months to manufacture SōRSE™ from Valens’ Canadian-based operations, which we target to be available for commercial use in 2019, subject to Health Canada permitting the sale of cannabis infused edibles and beverages.