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About

 

International Star Inc. (“ILST”) operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Budding Equity Inc. (“BEi”); BEi owns and licenses intellectual property through contracts with movie studios and celebrities. We structure licensing deals with third parties for cannabis-related products. The company also has joint venture partnerships with affiliates of Ice Cube and Kevin Smith for licensing and branding cannabis products. A core focus of ILST remains acquiring and developing innovative businesses with high growth potential in the cannabis space and beyond.

Meet Our Team

Todd Masse

Todd Masse

CEO

Mr. Masse has over 25 years of extensive experience managing and operating businesses across various industries, including startups, consumer-packaged goods, technology, and real estate. Since 2015, Mr. Masse has been a key figure in the cannabis industry, serving as both an entrepreneur and operator. His visionary leadership and innovative approach have driven growth and success in this rapidly evolving sector. Mr. Masse's achievements include serving as President of Cannabis Compliance Inc., leading the company to become a frontrunner in compliance solutions. Under his leadership, the company was acquired by Deloitte.
Additionally, as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Thrive Cannabis, Mr. Masse successfully introduced the Greybeard cannabis brand, pioneering Canada's first BHO and Live Resin products. His efforts significantly contributed to the company's acquisition by Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ:ACB)(TSX:ACB) for thirty-eight million dollars ($38,000,000).

Nochum Greenberg

Nochum Greenberg

Chairman

A director Since July 2022, Nochum is an accomplished innovator with years of experience cultivating organizational resources, having founded and managed multiple businesses over the last decade.

Zvi Raskin

Zvi Raskin

Counsel

Zvi is a seasoned corporate attorney with nearly 30 years of broad-based legal experience, including over 20 years as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of public and private tech and manufacturing companies, directing company legal affairs. In those capacities, Zvi handled all facets of legal strategy and has significant subject matter expertise in a wide array of legal matters, including contract negotiation and drafting, litigation, corporate governance, SEC filings, stock transfers, equity financing, IPOs, ESOP plans, SOX compliance, mergers & acquisitions, corp. financing, FDA clearance, HR, and managing legal departments and external counsel. Zvi received his law degree (J.D.) from Yale Law School in 1987.

Avi Minkowitz

Avi Minkowitz

Board Member

A long-time entrepreneur passionate about business development, Mr. Minkowitz began working with Leonite Capital in 2021 after a successful tenure at Parkit Enterprise Inc., a publicly held Leonite portfolio company. Avi’s experience includes real estate financing and acquisition, management, debt, and business development at publicly held and private companies. Prior to his career in finance, Avi co-founded two companies that were sold in 2012 and 2018. Avi serves in an advisory role for various start-ups, real estate financing firms and other businesses.

Dan Rubin

Dan Rubin

CEO of Budding Equity

Dan’s expertise in identifying emerging markets and investment opportunities, combined with his deep knowledge of creating corporate and product identities, generating marketing channels, and stimulating corporate growth has provided him with a unique perspective on emerging consumer markets – a perspective that he has leveraged to build a forward-thinking company specializing in licensing and channel development. Prior to founding Budding Equity, Dan was a prominent marketing executive within the investment management sector, leading the marketing and business development function at several leading Canadian investment firms. Over the length of his tenure in the financial management space, Dan raised over $9 billion in assets and was the recipient of numerous awards, including Morningstar’s ETF Initiative of the Year.

Robert Klein

Robert Klein

Partner Budding Equity

Robert Klein has significant experience in raising assets for Alternative investment vehicles and has developed first-class products for the past 13 years. He has led global distribution efforts and product development initiatives. Robert’s main efforts have concentrated on raising assets for family offices, pensions, endowments, and investment advisors.

Dale Mercer

Dale Mercer

Consultant to ILST

With 15 years of experience at HBI International, Dale was instrumental in growing their brands, particularly RAW rolling paper. He managed all aspects of marketing and social media for the RAW brand. In addition, Dale coordinated all trade shows and handled product development and purchasing, clothing design and merchandising. All of this contributed to HBI International’s 300% growth in both sales and gross profit over the last 10 years. International Star Inc. and Budding Equity intend to harness his expertise for our business development. We are confident that this partnership will lead to long-term growth and success for our company.

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