Roto-Gro shares soar 10% as it seeks listing on Canadian Stock Exchange

Roto-Gro will seek a listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) as it continues its growth in North America.

Advanced agritech company Roto-Gro International (ASX:RGI) today announced plans for a dual listing on the CSE and the ASX, in a bid to further boost growth opportunities in the Canadian and US agricultural technology sector.

With its operational headquarters located in Canada, Roto-Gro is hopeful the CSE listing will provide growth opportunities in the technology and life sciences sectors for both perishable foods and lawful cannabis.

North America’s indoor farming space is burgeoning and Roto-Gro expects the CSE listing will bolster its market position alongside its industry peers.

The listing is expected to facilitate comparative valuations and result in enhanced exposure to prospective investors and customers, driving further shareholder value.

Life sciences and technology key sectors on CSE

The life sciences sector is the leading weight holder in percentages for the CSE, conducive to the Roto-Gro’s focus. Furthermore, the CSE has put a huge focus on attracting and supporting growing technology companies.

The CSE is marketing itself as the stock exchange for “new adaptive technology companies to list within an environment that encourages aggressive innovation, research, and development,” all of which are consistent with Roto-Gro’s business model.

As RotoGro seeks to join the North American capital market it will potentially result in a revaluation of the company’s market position alongside its North American peers in the perishable food and lawful cannabis agricultural technology space.

The CSE listing will provide Roto-Go with greater access to capital, an enhanced North American presence, and a larger potential customer pool in both the perishable food and lawful cannabis markets.

Agitech is attracting strong investment interest in North America. As of late-August 2021, ~US$5.6bn of venture capital had been invested into start-ups in the sector, with indoor farming deals up 15.5% YoY.

Capital invested skyrocketed 403.4% YoY to US$2.71bn specific to perishable foods. Revenue generated from the market for closed environment agriculture is expected to exceed US$170B in 2025, up from approximately US$74.5B in 2020.

As the industry begins to shift drastically to accommodate food supply chain issues and accompanying risks to the global food system, Roto-Gro aims to capitalise on this shift with its patented and proprietary agricultural cultivation technology.

Furthermore, the company is primed to promote competitive advantages of its technology as consumers prioritise food traceability with an emphasis on locally grown foods, crop quality, and crop yield.

A need for sustainable farming practices owing to risks associated with climate change, loss of agricultural land, and a rising global demand for fresh food presents challenges which the Roto-Gro technology aims to help overcome.

Dual ASX and CSE a key element of growth plans

Roto-Gro CEO Michael Di Tommaso said the strategic decision to seek a listing on the CSE will positively affect the company’s market position well into the future.

“A CSE listing will deepen Roto-Gro’s North American presence, potentially opening doors to new business development opportunities, something that is essential for the company to execute its existing business plan,” he said.

“We look forward to executing on a number of strategic operational developments that have taken place over the last few months and believe that a listing with a North American exchange will assist in the revaluation of the company if and when those developments come to fruition.”

Roto-Gro has been looking to broaden its depth of management and commercial experience as it pursues growth verticals.

Earlier this week Roto-Gro announced the appointment as a non-executive board director of Leighton Richards, CEO of WelleCo, an Australian-born company pioneering the premium greens and ingestible beauty movement globally.

2021 a significant year of advancement for Roto-Gro

Roto-Gro’s footprint on Earth and beyond has continued to expand throughout 2021. The company has received an initial order from Canniberia LDA for the first phase of its Roto-Gro technology orders.

Canniberia is building out its facility for the cultivation of medicinal cannabis after receiving pre-approval for its cannabis cultivation licence in Portugal.

Roto-Gro believes that Portugal could serve as its strategic entry point to the European lawful cannabis market, as the market is projected to experience significant growth.

Roto-Gro also secured a deal and deposit from Wolf Island Cannabis, an Ontario based lawful cannabis cultivator. On the perishable food side of the business, Roto-Gro executed an MOU with Fresh Leaf Limited, a leading Australian cultivator and distributor of fresh herbs.

Looking beyond Earth for growth opportunities, Roto-Gro World Wide (Canada), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Roto-Gro International, has applied to the Deep Space Food Challenge as part of its first step into the space agriculture sector.

Administered under an international collaboration between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, the international competition aims to incentivise development of novel food production technologies needed for long-development space missions and terrestrial applications.

The Roto-Gro share price was up 10% today to .033 cents.