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PainChek has secured what looks less like a standard customer contract and more like a new distribution model for the US and Canadian aged care markets. The company has signed a master services agreement with Sabra Health Care REIT, a Nasdaq-listed healthcare property owner with a market value of about US$5 billion, under which Sabra will fund PainChek’s pain assessment platform across as many as 20,000 beds in its network of skilled nursing, long-term care and senior housing facilities.

For investors, that matters because Sabra is not merely another operator signing up for software. It is the landlord, capital provider and introducer. Sabra owns a broad healthcare real estate portfolio across North America and is obliged under the agreement to introduce PainChek to all current and future operators within its portfolio. That shifts the sales pitch from a site-by-site slog to a top-down endorsement by a major asset owner.

PainChek has long talked about scaling internationally after securing regulatory clearances. This deal suggests the company may finally have found a practical way to do that in North America without burning through an outsized sales budget.

The numbers are meaningful, even before full rollout

The headline commercial range is US$55 to US$75 per bed per year. On a fully deployed 20,000-bed base, that implies annualised revenue of about US$1.1 million to US$1.5 million. That is not pocket change for a company of PainChek’s size, particularly given the agreement is structured to reduce friction at the operator level.

The lower end of the pricing range applies to longer-term agreements of two to three years or where customers participate in collaborative research or outcomes publications with PainChek. That detail is important. It tells investors the company is not simply discounting to win volume. It is using pricing to encourage stickier contracts and potentially generate clinical and economic evidence that could support wider adoption.

There is, however, a dose of realism required. The 20,000-bed figure is a target, not day-one revenue. Management says rollout will occur in stages, with local agreements currently being finalised with an initial five operators and a further ten operators in the queue. So while the contract materially improves PainChek’s North American commercial prospects, investors should not assume an overnight revenue flood.

Why the Sabra structure could be the bigger prize

The more interesting angle is the model itself. Sabra is effectively underwriting access to the platform on behalf of its operating partners. That means PainChek can bypass one of healthcare software’s most persistent headaches: getting individual facilities to commit budget, navigate procurement and then justify implementation costs.

If the owner of the real estate is prepared to fund the technology and encourage adoption across its network, the sales cycle should shorten and customer acquisition costs should fall. For a smaller ASX-listed healthtech, that is gold. Scaling offshore often destroys margins before it builds revenue. PainChek is arguing the opposite can happen here.

Management is also clearly signalling that this arrangement is intended as a blueprint for other healthcare REITs and institutional asset owners in North America. That is a bold claim, but not an unreasonable one. The aged care and senior housing sectors are heavily influenced by owners, operators and compliance demands. If PainChek can show improved care processes, better documentation and smoother pain monitoring, other landlords may decide it is cheaper to sponsor adoption than leave operators to muddle through with inconsistent practices.

FDA approval is now being turned into commercial traction

Last year’s FDA clearance was strategically important, but regulatory approval alone does not pay the bills. This Sabra agreement is the first clear sign that PainChek is converting that regulatory milestone into a market entry strategy.

That makes this development more valuable than a plain-vanilla customer win. It gives investors a line of sight on how the company intends to commercialise in a massive but fragmented market. North America is full of healthcare facilities, but it is also full of gatekeepers, procurement layers and painfully slow enterprise sales cycles. PainChek appears to be attacking that complexity through the owners of the assets rather than waiting for every operator to make an individual decision.

What investors should watch next

The next test is execution. Investors will want evidence that the initial operator cohort converts into live deployments, that utilisation follows, and that the queue of additional operators turns into contracted beds rather than polite expressions of interest. They will also want to know where within the US$55 to US$75 range most deals settle, because that will shape the economics of the rollout.

Attention should also turn to whether this arrangement helps PainChek win similar agreements with other North American REITs. That is where the real leverage sits. One landlord-backed deal is promising. Two or three would begin to look like a repeatable market entry channel.

For now, the Sabra deal looks like a genuine commercial inflection point. It offers credible revenue potential, validation from a sizeable North American healthcare property owner, and a capital-light route to expansion that many small healthtechs can only dream about. PainChek still has to prove rollout velocity and conversion, but this is the sort of agreement that gives investors permission to believe the North American story may be moving from theory to practice.

Pointerra has won a three-year contract from Western Power to provide, implement and support its Pointerra3D platform as the enterprise 3D visualisation solution for Western Power’s transmission substation network. The minimum value is A$413,442 ex-GST, covering software licensing, implementation, integration with Western Power’s corporate systems, plus ongoing support and maintenance. The work was secured through a competitive tender process, which gives the deal extra weight from a credibility standpoint.

On the face of it, A$413,442 over three years is not the sort of number that sends calculators into overdrive. Investors should also note that revenue will be recognised over the contract term, which means the near-term earnings effect is likely to be measured rather than dramatic. But small contracts can still carry outsized importance when they come with the right customer, the right use case and the right expansion pathway. That seems to be the nub of this one.

Why Western Power matters

Western Power is no minor logo to add to the sales deck. It owns and operates Western Australia’s electricity transmission and distribution network, and Pointerra’s platform is being used for the transmission substation network across the South-West Interconnected System. Under the initial rollout, Pointerra3D will cover 50 sites over the contract term, with the platform designed to scale to Western Power’s full network of about 155 substations.

That matters because utility customers are typically sticky, operationally demanding and conservative in their procurement. If a software platform is trusted in a critical infrastructure setting, it tends to say something about both product capability and vendor resilience. Western Power’s network also presents a practical case for digital twins: many substations are located well away from operational depots, so being able to store, visualise and interact with high-resolution lidar, photogrammetry and other reality data can reduce the need for repeated site visits for planning, maintenance and inspections.

More than just a visualisation job

Pointerra is positioning the contract as more than a one-off visualisation deployment. The company says the broader opportunity lies in future analytics and digital twin functions such as condition monitoring, asset tagging and change detection across Western Power’s broader transmission and distribution network. In plain English, this is the classic land-and-expand story: win the first piece of work, embed the platform, then build additional recurring work on top of it.

That does not make the follow-on revenue certain, and investors should be careful not to count chickens before the substations are scanned. But the logic is clear enough. Once a utility has its data hosted in a web-based system and has integrated that system into internal workflows, the barrier to widening the scope can come down materially - especially if the platform improves planning efficiency and field productivity. Pointerra’s own wording points to a “material annual recurring revenue growth opportunity” if the platform is scaled more broadly.

Domestic validation alongside offshore traction

Another noteworthy aspect is geography. Pointerra already says its platform is used daily by more than a dozen large utilities globally, and it highlighted its established position in the US energy utility market, including Department of Energy programs. Against that backdrop, the Western Power contract gives the company a stronger domestic reference point in a sector where local proof points can be worth their weight in copper.

For Australian investors, that domestic validation may be as interesting as the contract value itself. Enterprise software stories often hinge on whether a company can turn technical capability into repeatable sales within a target vertical. Here, the target vertical is clearly energy and critical infrastructure. Winning a recognised Australian utility customer helps support the case that Pointerra is not just exporting a niche product into the US, but building a broader utility technology franchise that can travel both ways.

What investors should watch next

The immediate milestone is speed of execution. Western Power expects implementation and go-live within two weeks of the contract award, which suggests the project is intended to move quickly from paper to practical use. Fast deployment should help Pointerra demonstrate value early, and early value is often the mother’s milk of contract expansion.

The more meaningful questions now are whether the initial 50-site rollout proceeds smoothly, whether scope broadens toward the full 155-substation network, and whether added services like analytics or monitoring modules begin to attach. So while the headline number is modest, the strategic implications are more substantial. For Pointerra, this looks less like a jackpot and more like a beachhead - and in utility software, beachheads can be very useful things indeed.

Metallium’s March quarter was the sort of update growth investors like to see - busy, well-funded and increasingly commercial. The company is pushing hard to turn its Texas-based Gator Point Technology Campus into more than a science project, with the site evolving into a demonstration and processing hub for its Flash Joule Heating, or FJH, platform. More than 40 FJH processing campaigns were completed during the quarter across printed circuit boards and catalytic converter scrap, giving management a thicker set of operating data around throughput, recoveries, process control and system stability.

That matters because Metallium is no longer judged simply on whether the technology works in a controlled setting. The market now wants proof it can be repeated, scaled and integrated into a proper industrial flowsheet. Management has made that plain, nominating multi-reactor operation as the next key milestone, with three units running in parallel to demonstrate scalability and operational confidence during the June quarter. In small-cap land, that is where the rubber hits the road - and where many stories either graduate or wobble.

The commercial flank is starting to fill out

Just as importantly, Metallium has started stitching together both ends of the value chain. During the quarter it locked in a multi-year e-scrap supply agreement with Glencore for up to 2,400 tonnes a year, giving the company contracted feedstock for commissioning and initial operations. On the sales side, it signed a 10-year offtake agreement with Indium Corporation covering gallium, germanium and other recovered metals including gold, copper, tin and indium, with pricing linked to commodity-based formulas.

For investors, these deals are more than headline candy. A recycling and recovery business needs secure feed and credible product placement, otherwise even clever metallurgy can end up stranded in the middle. Metallium is trying to avoid that trap by building a more integrated commercial model early, while also keeping discussions alive for additional PCB supply and potential further offtake arrangements. The company says several counterparties are already in structured testwork and evaluation phases across e-scrap, catalytic converter material, defence-related production scrap and mineral processing opportunities.

Cash is strong, but so is the spend

The balance sheet gives Metallium breathing room to chase those ambitions. After completing a A$75 million capital raise in January, the company finished March with cash and equivalents of about A$82.14 million. That is a sharp jump from A$29.8 million at the start of the quarter and, on the Appendix 5B numbers, implies roughly 14.3 quarters of funding at the current rate of relevant outgoings.

Still, this is not a cheap march toward commercialisation. Net operating cash outflow for the quarter was A$5.74 million, while investing outflows came in at A$15.19 million. Of that investing spend, A$11.76 million went to property, plant and equipment and A$3.31 million to other non-current assets, underlining that Gator Point is being built with real capital rather than PowerPoint. The company also reported no customer receipts for the period, so investors should keep viewing Metallium as a pre-revenue industrial technology play rather than an operating metals producer.

De-risking by engineering, licensing and government links

Metallium also moved to strengthen execution. Hunt, Guillot & Associates has been expanded into a site-wide owner’s engineer EPCM role, covering project management, utilities completion, commissioning support and operational readiness. In plain English, Metallium is bolting in experienced external muscle as the project gets more complex. That usually beats trying to wing it with a lean internal team and a can-do attitude.

The intellectual property side also got a leg-up through an expanded Rice University licence, extending FJH applications into antimony recovery, platinum group metals and solar cell recycling. Separately, the company said it completed Phase I of a US government SBIR program focused on recovering gallium from semiconductor and electronic waste streams, with all technical milestones achieved or exceeded. That does not guarantee future revenue, but it does help validate the technology in a federal setting and keeps the door open for Phase II funding and broader agency engagement.

What investors should watch next

The March quarter paints Metallium as a company moving from promising chemistry to industrial choreography. It now has capital, a more developed plant, contracted feedstock, an offtake partner and expanding policy relevance in the US critical minerals ecosystem. That is the good news.

The harder question is whether it can convert all of that into sustained, repeatable operation. The near-term marker is clear: successful parallel reactor running, continued commissioning across the full flowsheet and movement toward an 8,000-tonne-per-annum run-rate demonstration. Until then, Metallium remains a well-financed commercialisation story with encouraging momentum - but one still awaiting its most important proof point.

Pacific Edge has delivered a modest but important improvement in fourth quarter test volumes, with total laboratory throughput rising 2.7% from the previous quarter to 5,582 tests. That is hardly champagne-cork territory, but it does matter because the gain came while the company was juggling a transition away from Cxbladder Detect, selling into a US market where Medicare still does not reimburse key products, and running with a leaner sales team after cost-saving measures.

The mix of growth was also telling. US volumes rose 1.0% to 4,064 tests, with Kaiser Permanente Southern California doing much of the heavy lifting, while Asia Pacific volumes climbed 7.7% to 1,518. Even so, the broader picture remains one of a business still rebuilding from the setback of Medicare non-coverage. Volumes are improving sequentially, but they remain well below the levels Pacific Edge was reporting a year earlier. For investors, that underlines a central point - the immediate story is less about booming sales and more about whether reimbursement and policy settings are finally turning in the company’s favour.

Medicare could be the circuit breaker

That is where the latest progress with Novitas becomes crucial. Pacific Edge says the February Contractor Advisory Committee hearing delivered strong support from expert clinicians for urine-based biomarkers in hematuria assessment, including the role of Cxbladder Triage and Triage Plus. The company believes Novitas now has the information needed to produce a draft local coverage determination by the end of September 2026, with final effective coverage potentially following about six months later.

Investors should not confuse that with money in the bank just yet. Draft policy is not final policy, and final policy is not the same as instant revenue acceleration. Still, this is the clearest sign yet that the Medicare door may be reopening. Chief executive Dr Peter Meintjes described the company as being "on the cusp of a major commercial inflection point", which is management shorthand for saying the next big swing factor is no longer test performance, but payment.

If Pacific Edge can secure positive Medicare coverage, the effect could stretch well beyond the federal payer system. Medicare recognition often acts as a quality stamp for the broader market, particularly in diagnostics, where clinicians, hospitals and private insurers tend to take their cues from formal coverage decisions.

Commercial payers are starting to move

That read-through is already emerging in the private market. Cxbladder Triage has now won coverage from Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and South Carolina, representing about 4.2 million covered lives combined, while Highmark has adopted policy for Cxbladder Monitor across its 7 million covered lives. Together, those wins take Pacific Edge’s newly addressed commercial population to 11.2 million people.

The significance is not just the numbers. These policies mirror language published by Avalon Healthcare Systems, suggesting third-party policy support can influence insurer adoption. That matters because Pacific Edge is effectively building a commercial reimbursement template one payer at a time. The company has also been explicit that policy adoption is the first step, with contracting and pricing still needed before the full revenue benefit shows through. In plain English, policy wins are encouraging, but investors should watch average selling prices and reimbursement receipts before declaring victory.

Encouragingly, the company says these commercial payers cover more than twice the patient population reached through Kaiser Permanente Southern California. That suggests the addressable market is widening, even if the revenue conversion will take time.

APAC progress adds another string to the bow

Pacific Edge also notched meaningful wins closer to home. Singapore General Hospital will incorporate Triage, Triage Plus and Monitor into patient care, while Townsville University Hospital has begun clinical use of Triage Plus and Monitor. These are strategically useful additions because they show the products gaining traction in real clinical pathways, not just in trial settings or sales decks.

The Townsville adoption is particularly interesting operationally, with nurses leading test ordering under a consultant-backed protocol. That hints at workflow advantages that could support broader adoption, especially in regional settings where specialist access is more limited.

Meanwhile, Pacific Edge has filed a Patent Cooperation Treaty application for Triage Plus, covering its multi-modal approach combining DNA single nucleotide variants with existing mRNA biomarkers and algorithmic analysis. That does not create immediate earnings, but it helps reinforce the moat around the next generation of the platform.

What investors should watch now

The next chapter is fairly clear. Investors should track three things: whether Novitas publishes a positive draft Medicare policy by September, whether commercial payer wins translate into better pricing and reimbursement, and whether clinical evidence continues to strengthen adoption. On that last point, the AUSSIE study’s preliminary data won Best Oncology Presentation at the USANZ conference, giving Pacific Edge another credibility tick with clinicians.

For now, Pacific Edge remains a policy-driven diagnostics story rather than a straight volume-growth tale. The fourth quarter numbers suggest the business is steadying. The real test is whether reimbursement momentum finally turns scientific promise into commercial traction.

InFocus Group Holdings has given investors their clearest look yet at what it is trying to build in iGaming, unveiling a global technical preview of its in-house sweepstakes casino platform, Codexa. For a company better known for data analytics and software services, the move is more than a product launch - it is an attempt to show the market that Codexa is real, working and potentially valuable as either a licensing business or an asset that could attract a buyer.

The preview, accessible through a white-label deployment called Gold Ante, is now live and publicly viewable for the first time. That matters because IFG is no longer asking investors to back a concept on trust alone. It is putting the platform in front of prospective clients, acquirers and the broader market as proof that the technology exists and can be demonstrated in a live setting.

What has actually launched - and what has not

The key nuance is that this is still a preview rather than a full commercial roll-out. Full platform functionality is available in the United States as a showcase environment, while international users can access selected game content depending on geographic restrictions imposed by third-party providers. Commercial sweepstakes features such as Gold Coin purchasing and prize redemption are not yet active, with a limited US commercial launch slated for later this month.

That distinction is important for investors. A live demo is useful, but it is not the same as proven monetisation. IFG is effectively at the stage of demonstrating technical readiness and product breadth, while commercial validation is still ahead. The company also says the preview contains only about 20% of the full game catalogue planned for launch, with more content and provider integrations to follow.

In other words, the market now has evidence that Codexa is built. What it does not yet have is evidence of material customer uptake, recurring revenue or operating metrics.

Why Codexa could matter

Management is pitching Codexa as an institutional-grade platform built for scale, with features including blockchain-verified fairness, AI-driven player personalisation, a proprietary random number generator and cloud-native microservices architecture. In plain English, IFG is arguing that this is not a cut-price gaming website stitched together from off-the-shelf parts, but a serious platform designed to handle high traffic and to be deployed quickly for other operators.

That claim sits at the heart of the investment case. If Codexa can be licensed to third parties under a white-label and managed services model, IFG could build a higher-margin, recurring revenue stream than investors might expect from a typical small-cap software contractor. The company is also keeping a second option on the table - an outright sale of the platform or even the IFG iGaming business unit.

That dual-track strategy gives the story some speculative appeal. A licensing model offers the promise of ongoing annuity-style income, while a sale would be a cleaner and potentially quicker route to crystallising value. Of course, both paths depend on outside parties seeing enough merit in the platform to sign a contract or write a cheque.

The market opportunity sounds large - but execution is everything

IFG is targeting the US sweepstakes casino market, which it says generated about US$3.4 billion in net operator revenue in 2024, based on KPMG data. It also cites more than US$10 billion in player spend, framing the sector as a rapidly growing corner of online gaming.

Those are hefty numbers for a company of IFG’s size, and they help explain why management has made this strategic pivot. Even a modest foothold in that market could be meaningful relative to IFG’s existing base. The company also argues that there are limited global platforms offering comparable technology, suggesting a supply gap for proven, compliant and scalable sweepstakes infrastructure.

Still, large addressable markets have lured many hopefuls before. Investors should keep in mind that being present in an attractive sector is not the same thing as capturing share. The real test will be whether Codexa can win operators, convert interest into revenue and navigate the compliance and content-partner hurdles that come with serving the North American market.

What management is signalling

Chief executive Ken Tovich described the preview as a significant milestone and said the launch allows prospective clients and acquirers to experience the platform firsthand. That wording is worth noting. Management is not talking only about attracting players - it is clearly talking to counterparties that might licence or buy the technology.

That is probably the most investor-relevant takeaway from the release. IFG wants the market to view Codexa not merely as a speculative gaming venture, but as a potentially saleable software asset. The limited US commercial launch planned for later this month appears designed not only to test revenue generation, but also to help prove the platform’s commercial potential to would-be partners and buyers.

The bottom line for shareholders

This is a meaningful step forward because IFG has moved from promise to prototype in public view. Codexa is live, management has outlined two commercial pathways, and the company is aiming at a market that is undeniably large. Yet the leap from technical preview to shareholder value remains just that - a leap.

For now, Codexa gives IFG a more interesting story and possibly a more valuable strategic asset. Whether it becomes a genuine earnings driver, or simply a well-dressed demo, will depend on what happens next in the US launch and in discussions with clients and potential acquirers. For investors, the platform is now on the table. The harder part is seeing whether anyone else wants to play.