Hello to all Tenet shareholders, and a special thank you to those who submitted questions for our second quarter, 2024 financial results. My name is Cathy Hume from CHF Capital Markets, and I will be asking Tenet CEO, Johnson Joseph, your questions related to the Q2 2024 results. Please keep in mind that we can only address items that were discussed in the MD&A and financial statements. So unfortunately, not all questions submitted will be covered during this interview. We have only six questions today, so I think it'll be rather quick Q&A. Hi, Johnson. Thanks for taking the time. Are you ready to start?
Hi, Cathy. Yes, I am.
Okay, well, let's get to the first question. When will Cubeler's final pillars be completed?
That's an easy one. I would say end of September. Now, before I go too far, end of September, we should have the networking and advertising pillars finally launched, but what we're planning on doing is we're probably gonna have a soft launch, and what I mean by that is we're probably going to release them to just the existing members of the platform and kind of, like, have them test drive the modules first before we really launch the full-fledged marketing campaign to invite new members to join and take advantage of the new features, so end of September, new modules should be launched, and then we'll probably wait another week of test driving before we open it up to new members.
Okay, that sounds like a very sensible solution, actually. So good, good on you. Okay, question number two: When will ie-Pulse data products be ready for sale?
That one's a little bit trickier.
Mm-hmm.
I would say, well, I can't give such a precise date as with the modules, because the modules are near completion right now. But I think it's safe to say this fourth quarter. So
Mm-hmm.
At some point during the fourth quarter, I think, the ie-Pulse platform will be launched.
Great! Good stuff. So tell us if China is still in the company's future plans?
Yes, I know that, quite a few people are concerned about China, especially we're talking about the second quarter revenue, and they see the revenues are not scaling back up to where they were at. But yes, China does pretty much still figure in the company's plans. We spent quite a few years developing, a network in China, distribution, shipping, and so on and so forth. We announced a partnership agreement with, Able View Global, about a month, month and a half ago. And, we really do wanna leverage that partnership to open the Chinese market to, small and medium-sized businesses here in Canada and eventually in the US. But in order for us to do that, we have to have better visibility into how the networking module is going to work.
Because, again, we're talking about connecting small businesses here, potentially leveraging, partly leveraging, I should say, the Able View relationship, to get businesses to sell their products in China. So China is going to figure prominently in the company's future for that reason. And on the other side, we've also been accumulating quite a bit of data, right, on the businesses that are already using the platform in China. So from a, call it, ie-Pulse standpoint, China, again, is gonna be critical, because what happens in China is not only important to the Chinese, but because of manufacturing, because of various industries, what happens in China is important to the rest of the world. So yes, China will continue to be a key asset for us going forward.
Great. That's good news. So, Johnson, the company's been going through some financial struggles in the last year, but now it appears you're getting back on track. So how do you feel about where the company is financially right now?
I think the company's financial situation is getting better and better. Obviously, like, I mean, we're not there yet, where you know we can you know spend money like we would want to to be able to scale up quickly, expand, and so on and so forth. But I really feel good about where we are right now. The last private placement financing that we did was an opportunity for some new investors to get into, to get to know the company and take an equity position and an interest in the company. So we're gonna continue to work with these new investors. We have plans essentially to go to conferences, both here in Canada and eventually in the U.S., to connect with capital markets folks there and give us more the ability basically to scale quicker.
So to answer that question, I feel good about where we are right now, but there's still a little bit of work for us to do.
Okay, good. So, the company has been talking about connecting with U.S. capital markets, and getting back on the OTCQB. That's been mentioned a few times lately. Can you let us know any news on that front, and can you give us an update on where we stand, to relist on the NASDAQ? Is it possibly still the first quarter of 2025 ?
Okay, yeah. So, talking first about the OTCQB, we did put out that press release. I think it was... I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was maybe about a month ago, I believe, in August, that we put out that press release. We had started the process then, and we didn't complete the process because, at the time, we knew that we were gonna make changes to our board of directors, which by the way, we announced recently the arrival of George Kaousias on our board. So, after the arrival of George, we continued the process. We have now submitted our application, and we are waiting right now for a response from the OTCQB to get our listing back.
So as soon as that's done, then we will obviously, like, put out a press release, let people know, that, you know, we've gotten back on the OTCQB. Crossing our fingers, we don't anticipate having any issues, so hopefully, that gets done sooner rather than later. Now, when it comes to the NASDAQ... Well, the OTCQB, before I move on to the NASDAQ, the OTCQB should allow us to connect back with our U.S. investors, because right now, being on the Pink Sheets, it's still extremely difficult for our U.S. shareholders to trade our stock. So hopefully, getting back on the OTCQB will make it a little bit easier for our U.S. investors to trade the stock.
Now, as far as the NASDAQ is concerned, we see the listing as the on the OTCQB as kind of like being a first step for us to reconnecting with U.S. investors. Obviously, getting back on the NASDAQ is something that we are still striving for. We don't have a timeline yet for that, but whether the first quarter of 2025 is still a possibility, we think so. Like, I mean, we're gonna do everything we can, basically. There are obviously certain things that are not in our control. We have to re-engage with the securities regulators in the U.S. and kind of like pick up where we left off. But yeah, we're still shooting for having that happen before the end of the first quarter of 2025 .
Okay, that sounds very encouraging. So, is expanding the business hub to the US by the end of this year still a possibility?
Oof! You know what? Yes. I would say yes, because at the end of the day, when you look at the business hub, it is still just a website, right?
Mm-hmm.
If you look at the financing pillar, I would say the financing pillar is probably the pillar or the module that is kind of like preventing us from getting to the US, because we have to make sure that the financings that we're gonna be facilitating through the platform abide by the banking and the financial rules of the US, right? So the good thing about the US and Canada is that the financial systems are very similar, right? So you have banks, in the US you have we have credit unions here. I believe they have credit unions in the US or something else. They have regional banks and so on and so forth.
So we're gonna have to do our homework a little bit, just to make sure that the financing pillar complies with U.S. lending regulations. But other than that, there would be a few tweaks. I actually spoke to my chief technology officer on that topic last week. There are a few tweaks to be done, but you know, it's still a possibility for us to open this up to U.S. small and medium-sized businesses before the end of this year.
Well, that would be great, because the way the economies in North America are going, I think it'll be very helpful for small businesses to have alternative ways to get financed, and, that's what Cubeler provides, that and so many more features. So, great!
Yeah, yeah. Obviously, yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely, Kathy.
Yeah.
Like, I mean, the networking capabilities, I think, are gonna be very beneficial as well, along with, again, free advertising, right? Like, I mean-
Yeah
... small businesses that are kind of like on a budget, in terms of like, you know, their ad spends, will be able to take advantage of showcasing their products and services, obviously for free, on the platform. So yeah, you know, it would be good for the small businesses, and it would be good for us as well. So we're looking-
Mm-hmm
... forward to getting that done sooner, sooner rather than later.
That's great. Well, keep up the good work. It's been a very interesting Q&A. Thank you for your time, and best of luck for the balance of 2024 , and see you soon.
Okay. Thank you, Cathy.
You're welcome. Thank you.