Brand protector YPB Group has signed a master supply agreement with a Canadian business known as the “Amazon of the medical cannabis industry”.

YPB (ASX:YPB) signed a three-year deal with Namaste Technologies to deliver its serialised, forensic tracer-embedded QR codes and its YPB Connect cloud-based platform.

Investors applauded the move, sending the stock up 17 per cent to an intraday high of 2.7c.

Founded in 2014 in Vancouver, Namaste Technologies is a leading legal cannabis e-commerce hub with 32 sites in 20 countries selling all elements of medical cannabis consumption.

Namaste also owns Cannmart, a Canadian medical cannabis business that supplies vaporisers and medical cannabis from Toronto.

The three-year deal is YPB’s most significant to date and will see the company work with Namaste and its supplier base, using YPB technology so that consumers can be certain of the authenticity of products bought through Namaste’s channels.

The deal will also involve Namaste using Secure Supply Chain tracking so the company can track exactly where products are in its supply chain.

Sellers on Namaste’s platform would mark their products with a YPB “ProtectCode” aligned to YPB’s Connect platform (see below).

YPB's revolutionary ProtectCode app offers anti-counterfeiting protection for brands and consumers. Source: YPB
YPB’s revolutionary ProtectCode app offers anti-counterfeiting protection for brands and consumers. Source: YPB

Namaste is growing quickly — in Q4 of 2017 it booked $CAD4.9 million in revenue — up 133 per cent on the previous year.

Authenticity of products was paramount to cannabis consumers said Namaste chief executive Sean Dollinger.

“YPB’s technologies give Namaste and our consumers confidence in our broad portfolio of products.

“YPB’s Connect platform enables us to track our products globally and more importantly, to connect with our consumers wherever in the world they purchase our products,” he said.

For YPB chief executive John Houston, this deal was all about tapping into a sector primed for tremendous growth.

“This industry globally is undergoing a radical transformation with governments worldwide examining the use, and increasingly allowing the sale, of medical cannabis.

“It gives YPB an alliance with North America’s largest producer of medical cannabis and related products and is an important step into an industry where we see tremendous growth potential over the coming decade,” Mr Houston said.


This special report is brought to you by YPB Group.

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