China connects with cannabis

Thalys Medical Technology and iCan: Israel-Cannabis sign MOU for co-investment in cannabis and hemp related startups

Mel J. Yeates
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TEL AVIV, Israel—Chinese healthcare conglomerate Thalys Medical Technology has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with iCAN Israel-Cannabis, a leading medical cannabis incubator in Israel. Thalys and iCAN plan to create a partnership to advance the development of early stage incubated companies that focus on the creation of medical technology, agricultural technology and general intellectual property focusing on the medical hemp industry.
 
“Thalys and iCAN each bring unique strengths to this partnership, which is strategic in every sense. Thalys will help iCAN’s portfolio companies enter the world’s most populous consumer market. Thalys, which plans to co-invest in iCAN’s portfolio investments that address Chinese market needs, will have exclusive cooperation rights on iCAN’s incubated start-ups and we will have matching stakes in new investments. I am honored, humbled and proud to work cooperatively with one of China’s leading medical technology companies,” said Saul Kaye, CEO of iCAN.
 
According to the MOU, Thalys will have access to all early stage companies that iCAN is evaluating for investment, funding for co-investment and access to the Israeli market. Thalys will have the ability to negotiate exclusive rights with any and all of the incubated companies for the Chinese market.
 
Thalys’ board member Yicheng Wen stated, “By pairing with a leading medical, agricultural, and technology incubator from Israel, known by many as the ‘Start-Up Nation,’ Thalys advances its mission to serve the Chinese domestic healthcare market through innovation. We are excited to deepen the relationship between Chinese and Israeli entrepreneurs to accelerate the development of China’s new medical hemp industry.”
 
iCAN Israel-Cannabis also announced at the beginning of April that it has issued a secured convertible loan in the amount of CAD $4 million to a group of investors led by Plaza Capital.
 
“We are excited at the opportunities this financing round will create for iCAN and proud to have Plaza Capital join our solid investor base,” Kaye stated in a press release. “With the success of CannaTech Davos and Panama so far in 2019, we are now well positioned to take our premier events to even more countries and continue to push the medicalization of cannabis around the world, with Cape Town already planned for late 2019. iCAN’s unique position at the forefront of this exploding industry creates a wave of opportunities and this strategic financing will grow our iCAN:Serve and iCAN:Incubate portfolios.”
 
The investment funds will be used to acquire and incubate cannabis-related businesses and anchor iCAN Incubate with a broad portfolio of new cannabis technologies. The funds will also provide an injection into iCAN’s conference platform CannaTech to continue to expand the pipeline of opportunities and extend the global cannabis footprint.
 
“We were hugely impressed with iCAN’s performance and leadership at the recent CannaTech Panama event and see immense opportunity in their global positioning and pipeline of new technologies,” added Jesse Kaplan and Sruli Weinreb, managing partners at Plaza Capital. “Saul Kaye is front and center of the global cannabis economy and we are thrilled to support him and iCAN.”

Mel J. Yeates

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