Fund Capital Injection Bodes Well For Chromadex Corp (NASDAQ:CDXC)

Chromadex Corp (NASDAQ:CDXC) is an end of the week runner this week, with the company trading up on the back of its latest announcement. At the start of the week, Chromadex shares went for around $2.30 a piece. By the close on Thursday, this had risen to $2.96, and pre market on Friday, a couple more percentage points have brought Chromadex to open above the $3 mark.That's a more than 30% run across a couple of sessions.We've highlighted this one a couple of times in the past, but it dipped below our radar of late. In light of the recent uptick in activity, however, we think it's well worth taking another look and dusting off our longer term thesis on the company.So, here goes.For those new to the company, it's a health and wellness stock that's focused on the commercial sale of a portfolio of ingredients, both developed in-house and acquired through various licensing deals. The lead products right now are Niagen, pTeroPure, PureEnergy and Immulina. Basically, the company sells these ingredients to businesses for use in their own branded products in the space. If a company wants to create an energy boosting tablet, it can pay Chromadex for one of its ingredients, add the ingredient to a branded pill, and sell it to customers.It's a pretty neat model, and it allows the company to serve as a sort of consulting entity in the space as satellite to its primary lab and ingredient operations, which brings with it its own benefits. Health and wellness is growing, and growing fast, and Chromadex is well positioned to take advantage of it. The latest number support this statement – revenues for 2016 hit $26.8 million, record highs, and the final quarter of the year brought in $5.6 million of these revenues. Both numbers mark double digit growth on the comparable periods a year earlier.The real value in this one lies in the above mentioned Niagen product – at least near term. It's a product that the company is trying to sell as an anti aging vitamin, and there is a range of trials ongoing that are attempting to reinforce its use in this way. Opinion is mixed as to the real value, but if the trials prove the hypothesis, and Chromadex can sell the ingredient as scientifically proved to slow aging, or something a little more catchy, the negative opinions won't matter.Which brings us to the latest news – a venture capital firm called Horizon Ventures, based in Hong Kong, seems to have picked up on the potential of Niagen, and has taken a stake in it and Chromadex's future. As per this announcement, and through Horizon, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has agreed to pick up to $25 million worth of the company's shares as part of a private placement. Li Ka-shing is one of Asia's richest men and has a phenomenal track record. He invested (through Horizon) in the likes of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Spotify and DeepMind, and that a guy like this is interested in Chromadex is a strong plus point from our perspective.These firms don’t pick up $25 million worth of shares without due diligence, and if their due diligence suggests promise, it's well worth us using it to inform our opinion. Individual due diligence is still important, of course, but every little helps.So what's next?Earnings are set to hit press in a couple of weeks (May 10-15), and we're going to be watching these numbers closely to try and pick up any insight into how Niagen is performing. If the company can get some traction on Niagen, and boost product specific revenues, it's a strong indicator that there's some long term strength on the cards.The Li Ka-shing investment should also serve to alleviate any immediate dilution risks, which is a bonus at this end of the market.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on CDXC, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in CDXC and have not been compensated for this article.