Cannabis U.S. Companies

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Technology companies play key role in new cannabis industry EPAZ

Legalization of marijuana has arrived in Canada, and technology is playing a big role in this new industry, everything from artificial intelligence in production, to software for supply chain management, to e-commerce sites for distribution and apps to help track usage.

With Bloomberg predicting $4.5 billion in sales by 2021, there is a lot to be gained from entering the new cannabis industry and companies across Canada are looking to cash in, from Canadian tech-giant Shopify, to local startups, these organizations are finding new ways to plant their seeds in the recreational cannabis market.

E-commerce key for sales
The main way Canadians will be able to purchase recreational cannabis is through e-commerce, through either provincially or privately-run online stores. While regulations vary between the provinces and territories, some offering brick and mortar stores, some not, on Wednesday each launched an e-commerce site to provide consumers access to marijuana.

More ‘weed tech’
There are ‘weed tech’ companies out there though, attempting to help producers get the most out of their yields, like Grow Ratio and MotorLeaf that are using technology to analyze how producers can increase their growth rates.

IT World Canada has previously reported, Grow Ratio uses a computer-controlled LED lighting systems to produce natural lighting needed for indoor plant growth, while driving down power consumption costs and reducing the cooling requirements.

Grow Ratio app, recording cannabis plant growth data. Source: Grow Ratio
According to its website, cannabis harvests are up to 25 per cent greater and is using only half of the electricity of traditional lights, “enabling growing operations to meet the increasing demands of the modern consumer.” The Toronto-based company also offers an app to allow users to view the data that is collected about its crop.

Then there’s Montreal-based MotorLeaf which is using artificial intelligence to predict the size of a producer’s yield. Its platform gathers data with sensors and cameras and uses computer vision algorithms to help make the predictions.

Outside of the production and distribution, there are many other tech companies getting in the ‘weed game’, apps like StrainPrint help educate users on the best cannabis strains and methods of consumption, and even dating apps for like-minded weed smokers.

And even more companies are interested in interested in applying blockchain technology to the cannabis industry, such as Blockstrain Technology, which is similar to seed-to-sale software, and is working to use blockchain in the cannabis supply chain.

Toronto even has its own, newly-founded cannabis startup accelerator, Leaf Forward, which will undoubtedly produce more ‘weed tech’ businesses in Canada.

It’s not often that a new industry is created, and Canada is only the second country in the world, after Uruguay in 2013, to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, and it’s evident that companies around the world, especially in technology will play a big role.