Pontus Files International Patent Application for Automated Vertical Farm Harvesting Robot

VANCOUVER, BC, June 9, 2021 /CNW/ - Pontus Protein Ltd. (TSXV: HULK) (OTCQB: HLKKF) (FSE: 8YC) ("Pontus" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has filed an international patent application through the Patent Coordination Treaty with the World Intellectual Property Organization for Pontus' proprietary Harvesting Automated Robotic Vehicle or "HARV" for short. HARV is a vertical farm rack system and automated plant tending and harvesting robot designed to work along side and assist Pontus' Closed Environment Vertical Aquaponics System or CEVAS system.

Pontus' initial crop, water lentils, is the fastest growing leafed plant.* Pontus' CEVAS helps accelerate the growth of Pontus' water lentils, requiring the plant to be harvested every 24 hours. Pontus developed the HARV technology to allow the crop to be automatically harvested daily. In addition, due to its low profile, HARV will enable Pontus to stack nine levels of vertical farming at its Surrey, British Columbia production facility.

Steve McArthur, Chief Technology Officer, Pontus, stated, "Talking with the experienced team at Automation Experts (an automation and innovation company based in Calgary, Canada), we were able to identify that there was no robot out there that handled everything we needed it to do. By harvesting the crop in situ, using HARV, we will reduce the space between the water beds and increase the number of levels, increasing efficiency and the yield. We are beyond excited about pairing HARV with our CEVAS system, as we see CEVAS as a greener, more ecologically sustainable way of producing high nutrition food products."

Stephen Bruce Wong, CEO, Automation Experts, added, "HARV is more than a mechanical tool for harvesting. It will manage the farm and give us critical insight and data regarding the optimization of the growing environment. The robotics in HARV will allow Pontus to eliminate moving parts from the structure thus lowering the cost to build Pontus' vertical farms as the water beds can be dumb and do not need the technology built into them. It also uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to support all aspects of the growing process."

The patent filing is part of the technology leadership in the aquaponic space that Pontus continues to secure.

About Pontus Protein Ltd.

Pontus Protein Ltd. is a Vancouver, B.C. based technology company that grows water lentil protein for commercial use. Pontus is reinventing agriculture with their proprietary Closed Environment Vertical Aquaponic System (CEVAS) ? the farming of the future. Pontus specializes in the indoor vertical farming of water lentils that use 95% less water than traditional agriculture and no pesticides or chemicals. Pontus is committed to solving the global food crisis by providing access to sustainable indoor biosecure pure plant based proteins. Pontus' water lentils can be harvested every 24 hours, exceed organic certification, and can be grown in any climate in a relatively small area. Our water lentil protein is filled with antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and all the amino acids, making a complete protein food source. Pontus aims to revolutionize the plant based sector as the entire sector is currently based on two main protein sources: soy and pea. Water lentil protein is far superior to pea and soy protein. It contains over 40% protein vs. 5-36% protein*, and Pontus aims to be the base protein for nutrition rich plant based food products and nutraceuticals to support the movement transitioning the world from meat based to plant based proteins.

To learn more, please visit pontuswaterlentils.com.

*https://www.infood.net/visitor/collection/75?portion_size=100

*https://www.zmescience.com/science/fastest-growing-plant-02022021/

On behalf of the Board of Directors 

"Connor Yuen"

Connor Yuen, CEO
Pontus Protein Ltd.

Contact Information

For more information, please contact:

Connor Yuen
Chief Executive Officer

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding the Company. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to Pontus' ability to revolutionize the plant based sector. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control of the Company. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following: the unknown magnitude and duration of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the failure of Pontus to receive the necessary approvals from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for its products and facilities, the inability to complete Pontus' Surrey-based production facility, as well as other general business, economic, or market related risks beyond the director control of the Company and which may affect the Company's business, operations, or products. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

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

SOURCE Pontus Protein Ltd.