Crucial Innovations Signals Major Growth Push with Investment Bank Partnership

LONDON, UK – December 18, 2025 – In a move signaling a significant strategic acceleration, international medical cannabis company Crucial Innovations Corp. (OTC: CINV) announced it has retained FOCUS Capital Partners, a global investment banking firm. The partnership is designed to guide CINV through its next phase of growth, focusing on institutional capital formation, mergers and acquisitions, and a potential public listing on a major U.S. exchange.

This engagement marks a critical step for CINV, a company aiming to solidify its position within the rapidly professionalizing European medical cannabis market. By aligning with a middle-market investment bank with stated expertise in regulated sectors, CINV is positioning itself to attract the kind of institutional capital that has been cautiously circling the cannabis industry. FOCUS will provide strategic advisory to support CINV's international expansion, corporate development, and long-term financial planning, effectively becoming the architectural advisor for the company's ambitious future.

A New Era of Institutional Cannabis

The partnership arrives as the global medical cannabis sector pivots towards mainstream healthcare legitimacy. The involvement of established financial advisory firms like FOCUS underscores a broader trend: the institutionalization of cannabis. As regulatory frameworks mature, investors are increasingly viewing the sector not as a speculative play, but as a legitimate component of the health and wellness industry with significant growth potential.

“Partnering with FOCUS is a pivotal milestone for CINV,” said CINV CEO JP Doran in the company's announcement. “FOCUS brings a rare combination of broad investment-banking expertise and deep, sector-specific knowledge of the global medical cannabis industry. Their experience...will materially enhance CINV’s capabilities across capital markets, corporate development, and long-term strategic planning.”

The sentiment reflects a demand for sophisticated financial guidance. For companies like CINV, navigating the complex web of international regulations, supply chain logistics, and capital markets requires more than just operational prowess. It requires the kind of strategic financial counsel that can unlock access to institutional investors and execute complex cross-border transactions.

Robert Adams, CEO of FOCUS Capital Partners, noted this industry-wide shift. “Medical cannabis is entering a new phase of institutional relevance, and CINV is building the kind of platform investors are increasingly looking for,” Adams stated. This suggests that investors are now prioritizing companies with strong governance, transparent operations, and scalable, vertically integrated models—all hallmarks of a mature industry.

Navigating Europe's Complex Green Market

At the heart of CINV's strategy is its “seed-to-heal” operating model, designed to control quality from cultivation to patient. The company’s operations are rooted in GMP-accredited cultivation facilities in Africa, including sites in South Africa and a pioneering license in Zimbabwe, which supply Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products (CBPMs) to the burgeoning markets in the United Kingdom and Europe.

This is a calculated focus on a region poised for explosive growth. The European medical cannabis market, estimated at over €779 million in 2024, is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of over 18% through the next decade. Germany stands as the continent's heavyweight, commanding the largest market share, while the private UK market is also experiencing rapid expansion. For CINV, success hinges on navigating this fragmented but lucrative landscape.

Operating in this environment requires adherence to stringent quality standards, such as Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, which is a prerequisite for supplying pharmaceutical-grade products. CINV’s emphasis on a vertically integrated supply chain is a strategic attempt to ensure this consistency and differentiate itself from a field crowded with Canadian and other European producers. By controlling its supply from its African cultivation sites, the company aims to deliver a reliable and high-quality product to a market where patient and physician trust is paramount.

The Audacious Road to a US Stock Exchange

Perhaps the most ambitious component of the company's strategy is its stated aspiration to pursue a listing on a major U.S. exchange, such as Nasdaq, by 2026. Such a move would provide CINV with access to the world's deepest capital markets, enhance its global visibility, and offer significant liquidity to its investors.

However, the path is fraught with challenges. While cannabis is legal for medical use in many countries, it remains a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level in the United States. This has historically created immense barriers for plant-touching companies seeking to list on senior U.S. exchanges. CINV's strategy—operating entirely outside of the U.S.—mirrors the path successfully taken by Canadian cannabis giants, which were able to list on Nasdaq and the NYSE because their core operations did not violate U.S. federal law.

Uplisting from its current position on the OTC markets to Nasdaq is a monumental undertaking that requires more than just a compliant operational footprint. The company will need to meet Nasdaq's rigorous financial, liquidity, and corporate governance standards. This journey will be closely watched, especially given CINV’s corporate history, which includes a 2022 reverse merger and a strategic pivot from an entirely different industry into the cannabis sector. This background will undoubtedly invite intense scrutiny from regulators and investors as the company works to establish the track record and transparency required for a major exchange listing.

The engagement of FOCUS Capital Partners is the foundational step in this demanding process, tasked with structuring the company for institutional investment and preparing it for the rigors of the public markets. As CINV embarks on this path, its journey will serve as a compelling case study for the evolution of the global medical cannabis industry and the corporate discipline required to bridge the gap between a pioneering venture and a publicly-traded healthcare institution.