• Planting Hope engaged 3^rd party IP valuation experts Metis Partners to conduct a review and assessment of the value of the Company's extensive intellectual property ("IP") assets which span proprietary ingredients, formulations, trade secrets, and brand assets.
• Metis Partners awarded the Company IP Scores that both rate and rank the quality of its IP in the aggregate and in individual asset classes: Planting Hope ranked at #32 overall across the top 100 companies tracked on the global IP100 Index, with a Top 20 rating in three core asset classes.
• Metis Partners valued Planting Hope's overall IP Portfolio at a range of $50.2M-$54.9M USD ($68.8M-$75.2M CAD).
• The Company will be holding a webinar on Wednesday, October 18^th.

CHICAGO, IL and VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 11, 2023 / The Planting Hope Company Inc. (TSXV:MYLK)(OTCQB:MYLKF)(FRA:J94), a dynamic FoodTech innovation company dedicated to creating sustainable food and beverage solutions through advanced ingredient, formulation, and packaging technology, today announced the results of its recent third-party intellectual property ("IP") valuation and ranked IP score, and an exclusive investor webinar.

HIGHLIGHTS

• IP Valuation: An independent desktop valuation of Planting Hope's intellectual property assets by Metis Partners determined a valuation range of $50.2M - $54.9M USD ($68.8M-$75.2M CAD), with a midpoint valuation at $52.5M USD ($72M CAD), as of August 2, 2023.
• IP Score: Metis Partners awarded Planting Hope an IP Score ranking the Company's IP at #32 overall on its Intellectual Property League IP100 global index, and in the top 20 in three of the four categories where its IP was rated, reflecting the strong quality of the Company's IP.
• Investor Webinar: An exclusive "Investing in Sustainable Food Innovation with The Planting Hope Company" webinar is scheduled for October 18, 2023, at 9:00 AM PT / 11:00 AM CT / 12:00 PM EST
• Private Placement Opportunity: A convertible note unit private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $5M USD (~$6.7M CAD) has been announced.

IP Valuation Overview

The Planting Hope Company, a pioneer in the sustainable food technology sector, is excited to unveil the findings from its recent intellectual property ("IP") valuation conducted by Metis Partners, Inc., third-party global IP valuation experts.

Using its esteemed Metisology® approach, Metis Partners undertook a comprehensive analysis that rated Planting Hope's extensive IP assets across areas including Brand and Reputation, Trade Secrets, Critical Customer Relationships, Software, Data & Analytics, and Formal Intellectual Property.

The Company's groundbreaking brands, including Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk, the world's first commercialized sesame milk (and the only upcycled-certified plant milk globally), and RightRice® High-Protein Veggie Rice (reimagines rice with a combination of 10% rice flour and 90% lentils, peas, and chickpeas, delivering 3x the protein and a 30% lower glycemic index), are examples of breakthrough delicious, sustainability-focused innovations created by Planting Hope that are poised to disrupt some of the largest global multibillion dollar food categories.

In addition to having enormous commercial opportunities, Planting Hope's innovations provide deeply sustainable food solutions that deliver significant consumer nutrition from non-resource intensive, globally farmed cover crops that contribute to positive agricultural methods, including sesame and pulses. Planting Hope's scalable food solutions that have worldwide applications and are on-trend with menu trends and consumer demands, poising them for rapid scaling ahead.

Key Data and Rankings:

• IP100 Recognition: Planting Hope's focus on its IP strategy for growth was acknowledged through its inclusion on the Intellectual Property League IP100 platform - a significant benchmarking milestone.
• Impressive Overall IP100 Score - Top 1/3 of Companies Ranked: The Company's tenacious drive for to deliver meaningful breakthrough innovation earned it a noteworthy IP100 Score, ranking its IP in the top 1/3 of companies tracked in the global IP100 Index and securing an overall rank on the IP100 Index of #32.
• Top 20 Ranking in Four Critical Asset Classes: The IP Score process benchmarked Planting Hope's IP assets in four key essential asset classes, and the Company ranked in the Top 20 in three of these IP asset classes: Brand & Reputation, Data & Analytics, and Trade Secrets.
• Digital Imprint: The Company's digital presence is reinforced through its valuable trademarks and online domains, emphasizing the depth of Planting Hope's IP holdings.

"Planting Hope's products are specifically designed to perform effectively in foodservice operations as well as in its customers home kitchens, and as a result are on the menu at cafés like Argo Tea Cafés and fast-casual restaurants like CAVA Mediterranean Restaurants as well as leading U.S. retail grocery chains including Sprouts Farmers Markets, Publix, Whole Foods Market, and Kroger," states Planting Hope CEO and Co-founder Julia Stamberger.

"At its core, Planting Hope is a FoodTech innovation company, with an IP-focused strategy and culture embedded in the company and in the vast organizational knowledge we've nurtured and institutionalized at Planting Hope over the years. Our meticulously crafted proprietary strategies around product development and production, along with go-to-market strategies across brands, customers, and sales are not mere concepts but are protected, significant trade secrets. Since the inception of our company in 2016, we have invested more than $20M USD in R&D, resulting in proprietary strategies from ingredient and process technology to unique formulations and sourcing methods," Ms. Stamberger continues.

"Receiving these high marks for our IP quality and the valuation of the breadth, efficacy, and uniqueness of the IP we have developed validates our approach and the quality of the products we have created and their opportunities ahead. This holistic IP valuation, combined with our stellar rankings and recognitions, underlines our relentless commitment to pushing the boundaries of sustainable food technology. We are poised to continue our journey, delivering significant value to our investors and stakeholders, and remaining at the forefront of the FoodTech revolution that is delivering the future of food and changing the way the world eats. Our unique approach both delivers more nutrition through commonly consumed foods and is sustainable with the resources available on our planet to feed our continually scaling global population for decades to come.

"Since we announced that the company was undergoing an IP valuation on August 9, 2023, investors have asked ‘why, what's important about an IP valuation? There are several key reasons we embarked on this rigorous process: first, to get an independent assessment of what we knew was a significant and undervalued asset that the street had not yet baked into our company's valuation; secondly, to put a value on an asset that can be used as additional collateral and as security against debt and non-dilutive financings; third, to cement our firm position as an innovation-driven FoodTech company - not just a branded food company. It's highly unusual for a packaged food company to have more than a brand and a recipe behind its products, never mind a focused IP Strategy - Planting Hope is an IP-driven growth business and we're here to tell the street about it."

Stephen Robertson, founder and CEO of Metis Partners stated: "The Planting Hope Company is unique among most food and beverage companies of its size. It has focused since the beginning on developing, honing, and deploying an IP-focused strategy across its products, creating a strong IP moat around the business and its products. Warren Buffet often talks about economic moats and competitive advantages underpinned by IP assets as key elements of a successful business and in his words they ‘act like a moat surrounding a castle, keeping competitors at bay and preserving profitability.'"

Upcoming Investor Webinar

Interested parties are invited to join an in-depth webinar on October 18th. Attendees will get an inside look at how Planting Hope is leading the sustainable food revolution, its innovative IP-driven product lineup, and the significant opportunities its product portfolio and business execution strategy present for investors.

Register for the Webinar Here: Planting Hope October 18 Webinar Registration Link

Private Placement of Convertible Note Units

Accredited investors in the United States and internationally (outside of Canada) can find out more about the Company's private placement opportunity and make an investment (via the Issuance platform) at this direct link: invest.plantinghopecompany.com

About The Planting Hope Company Inc.

Planting Hope is a FoodTech-driven company at the forefront of sustainable consumer food and beverage evolution, transforming nutrient-dense, widely cultivated crops into innovative, nutrient-rich products that reimagine pantry staples in the largest, fastest growing global food categories. Our award-winning breakthrough brands, including Hope and Sesame® Sesamemilk, RightRice® High-Protein Veggie Rice, and Mozaics™ Real Veggie Chips, are not only disrupting global markets but also significantly reducing environmental footprints. Available across the US and Canada in grocery retailers (Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Markets), through foodservice operators (CAVA Mediterranean restaurants - NYSE: CAVA), and e-commerce and alternative retail channels (Amazon, QVC), our products blend culinary innovation with advanced technology, offering first-mover breakthrough products with a wide moat poised to make major disruptions in global food and beverage categories, making a positive impact on the world and providing valuable investment opportunities in the growing sustainable food market.

Our goal at The Planting Hope Company: is to develop the foods that we can effectively cultivate and feed the planet 50 years from now. This is the food that Gen Z is demanding and that Gen Alpha will grow up with.

Explore more at plantinghopecompany.com, sign up for Planting Hope news emails HERE and follow us on LinkedIn.

Contacts

Company Contact:
Julia Stamberger
CEO and Co-founder
(773) 492-2243
julia@plantinghopecompany.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Elyssia Patterson
VP of Investor Relations
(312) 675-4996
Elyssia@plantinghopecompany.com

Media Contact:
Alex Jessup, Jessup PR
(323) 529-3541
alex.jessup@jessuppr.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain disclosure in this news release, including disclosure regarding the terms, amount to be raised, closing(s), TSXV approval and other matters related to the Offering, the expected use of proceeds therefrom, and the goals, and strategy of the Company constitutes forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors outside of the Company's control that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. In preparing the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, the assumption that all conditions precedent (including TSXV approval) of the Offering will be satisfied in a timely manner; investor interest in the Offering; that general economic and business conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner; customer appeal of the Company's products; the effectiveness of the Company's proposed strategies; and that the Company will be able to raise additional funds on reasonable terms. Although the management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement herein will prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: The Planting Hope Company Inc.