Imagine being able to take a few million dollars in start-up capital and turn it into $193 million in just 6 months.

Well, that’s what a small Canadian investment company is about to do.

And in the process, it’s made a big success of its business strategy.

The company is Scythian Biosciences Corp. (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF), a Toronto-based investment firm building a global cannabis network.

Unlike most investment companies in the medical cannabis market, Scythian Biosciences set out to quickly forge strategic alliances with research teams, governmental entities and producers in key markets overseas.

The big players now interested

This foresight and planning appear to be paying off in spades – and is attracting a lot of attention.

In July, Aphria, the third largest cannabis producer in the world, with a market cap of $3 billion, announced its intention to purchase several of Scythian Biosciences’ acquisition targets for $193 million.

Understandably, people are impressed.

In one fell swoop, Aphria will acquire control of a Colombian medical cannabis producer owned by Scythian Biosciences, an Argentine pharmaceutical import and distribution company and a Jamaican company with licenses to cultivate and conditional licenses to process, sell and provide therapeutic or spa services using cannabis products in Jamaica.

As for Scythian Biosciences, this single sale represents more than twice the market of the entire company!

Forging strategic partnerships

The recently announced sale to Aphria reflects what appears to be Scythian Biosciences’ business model: to combine ground-breaking R&D programs with strategic partnerships all over the world. Its global “first mover approach” allows the company to develop the infrastructure and on-site services required to support and grow an industry.

A specialist in emerging markets, Scythian Biosciences enters territories with untapped opportunities during the earliest stages of a domestic industry, acquiring the necessary licenses and infrastructure for rapid expansion.

An enviable portfolio of licenses and deals

In the process, Scythian Biosciences (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) is in the process of acquiring an enviable portfolio of licenses and partnership deals with market leaders in Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and the Caribbean.

It also has deals in the works in the UK and Ireland, Portugal and Macedonia.

For example, Scythian Biosciences partnered with the University of Miami and its neuroscientific team to conduct pre-clinical and clinical trials of its cannabinoid-based combination drug therapy for concussion.

At the same time, the company arranged with the Argentine distribution firm APB to provide research teams in Argentina with high-quality CBD oil for a clinical study on treating epilepsy in children.

This innovative, multi-faceted approach revealed to the major cannabis producers that Scythian Biosciences could open doors to international markets and broker deals in countries with restrictions in imports of cannabis products.

For example, Aphria, equipped with a vast network of expert cannabis cultivators and industrial-scale production facilities, is uniquely qualified to build upon the infrastructure and licenses that Scythian Biosciences’ acquisition targets (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) were able to achieve in the Latin American and Caribbean markets.

The rapidly expanding global market for medical cannabis

While recreational use of cannabis is legal in nine U.S. states and soon in Canada, the legal picture outside of North America is more complex.

While cannabis use is widely tolerated in many European countries, the laws regarding importation and distribution, even of medical products, are strict and vary from country to county.

For this reason, most analysts agree that overseas markets will follow the same pattern as in North America with initial sales geared primarily to the medical cannabis market.

A legal cannabis market seeing 1,000% growth

And it’s a market that could see the same explosive growth as in North America.

Much of that growth could be in Europe where Scythian Biosciences (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) already has significant partnerships in what is, in effect, virgin territory.

With twice as many citizens as the United States and Canada combined, Europe could become the world’s largest legal cannabis market over the next five years, according to a new report.

The London-based advisory group Prohibition Partners suggests in its recent analysis that 12% of the continent’s 739 million people are “intensive” cannabis consumers.

In the short-term, that would translate into a medical marijuana market that could hit $42.8 billion and a potential recreational market worth $24 billion.

Plus, according to a new analysis by the European investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co., the legal cannabis market worldwide is poised for growth of more than 1,000% over the next decade -- and could reach $140 billion dollars by 2027.

Identifying and Profiting from Early Stage Opportunities

Scythian Biosciences (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) appears to be uniquely positioned, along with its bigger partners, to capitalize on this relatively untapped market.

The substantial liquidity provided by the Aphria sale will enable Scythian Biosciences to identify many more early-stage opportunities in the rapidly expanding global cannabis market.

And backed by established conglomerates such as Aphria -- with commercial greenhouse capabilities and pharmaceutical quality standards – Scythian Biosciences could play a key role in meeting the growing global demand for research-backed cannabis treatments.

Management team uniquely qualified for expansion

The company certainly has the necessary brain power. Scythian Biosciences’ (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) chief medical officer is Professor Michael Barnes, M.D., a clinical neurologist and a renowned advocate for research into the medical use of cannabis to treat disease.

Past president of the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine Professor, Barnes was the first doctor licensed to treat certain types of childhood ailments with cannabis-based prescriptions.

In addition, Barnes has been engaged by the British government to help administer its program for the use of medical cannabis in the UK.

Scythian Biosciences CEO Rob Reid, who was the founder of research think tank Prohibition Partners in the UK, is also uniquely qualified to expand the market for legal medical cannabis products in Europe and Latin America.

For one, he helped organize the very first cannabis investment show in Europe, called Cannabis Europa.

Reid is also a partner of European Cannabis Holdings, a private investment firm focused on building out ancillary assets across the region. He has also served as managing director at Advertising M&A, a global M&A consultancy for the digital and creative sectors.

And Scythian Biosciences’ chief science officer is Maghsoud Dariani, a founding team member and Vice President of the Celgene Corporation, responsible for Celgene’s manufacturing strategy and chiral pharmaceutical Business.

Before joining Celgene, Dariani was CEO of Semorex Cancer Therapy and president of Focus Pharmaceuticals.

A unique opportunity for rapid growth

Thus, Scythian Biosciences (TSXV: SCYB.V; OTC:SCCYF) represents a unique opportunity for a chance in the global medical marijuana market.

In effect, the company is leveraging its research know-how, contacts and “boots on the ground” knowledge of local markets to develop properties for sale to the big producers.

For the expected global medical cannabis boom, Scythian Biosciences may offer significant opportunities going forward.

Other companies joining the marijuana race:

The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (TSXV:FIRE): Supreme Cannabis is engaged in production and sale of medical marijuana. The company is a cultivator and distributor of sun-grown cannabis through its wholly-owned subsidiary 7ACRES. The Company is focused on the wholesale sector of the medical cannabis market in Canada and operates an approximately 342,000 square foot greenhouse facility located in Kincardine, Ontario.

Aphria Inc (TSX:APH): Aphria Inc is engaged in the production and selling of medicinal marijuana, and while the stock has trended downward since April, the constant profits here suggest there is a lot of upside. The recent pro-marijuana legislation from the Canadian government is sure to boost companies with the reputation of Aphria Inc.

OrganiGram Holdings. (TSXV:OGI): Organigram Inc. is a licensed medical marijuana producer in Canada, while it managed to maintain its production license this year, the company saw its stock price fall somewhat Year-To-Date, but we see strong upside for this stock as the changing Canadian cannabis legislation could give a massive boost to the market.

OrganiGram Holdings is a customer-first organization with a wide variety of products from which patients can choose. The company specializes in both organic and minerally grown cannabis, and is sure to satisfy the customers’ needs.

CanniMed Therapeutics: CanniMed Therapeutics has been cultivating pharmaceutical cannabis for 15 years, and with this experience is it sure to be near the front of the pack when Canada’s cannabis boom comes into force.

On top of this, CanniMed has exposure to Australian markets and has recently signed a supply deal in South Africa, evidence of not only the company’s ambition, but also the quality of its contacts and product.

Microbix Biosystems Inc (TSX:MBX) is a Canadian company which is ahead of the game. Producing biological products and technologies, Microbix primarily focuses on the manufacturing of viral and bacterial antigens and reagents for the diagnostics sector. The company’s core values reflect their goals. Microbix is committed to people, including its shareholders, patients, and business partners. Additionally, the company thrives on innovation, embracing its unique and ambitious approach in order to set itself apart from the competition.