CannaTech: How Technology is Disrupting the Cannabis Sector

Authored by Rashad Evans and Casper Xiao

Happy 420! 🎉🌿

Cannabis is a booming industry, with more and more countries and US states legalizing its medical and recreational use. According to a recent report by Grand View Research, the global legal cannabis market size is expected to reach $USD 84 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3%. As you can see, it is an exciting time for cannabis and marijuana related start-ups to aim high and further their ambitions. If you are interested in raising capital for your cannabis or marijuana related start-up, read more here.

We at Biztech Lawyers are committed to standing at the forefront of new technologies, especially those that have the ability to disrupt and create innovation amongst fast-growing industries. We aim to share our insights on some of the most innovative solutions out there in the Cannabis industry. We strive to be trusted advisors for tech companies operating in the cannabis space, and are also capable of performing due diligence for investors hoping to take advantage of this exciting opportunity and time to invest in the rapidly growing cannabis industry.

What is CannaTech?

CannaTech or WeedTech refers to the intersection of cannabis and technology, where budding tech companies are entering the space to provide innovative services and solutions that will enhance customer experiences, improve and make compliance easier at both federal and state levels, through leveraging innovative solutions and tech such as Big Data and AI.

CannaTech’s impact

What’s exciting for the Cannabis industry, is the potential of CannaTech to uplift and improve the Cannabis industry in all areas such as clarifying and improving clinical trialling of medical cannabis and streamlining and improving compliance with regulators, improving the efficiency and reducing red tape around the distribution channels of cannabis, as well as helping to build better understanding of consumer trends and habits around recreational use.

Big Data and AI: A new era of cannabis medical research

Big data and AI can help medical researchers and regulators gather information about cannabis use cases and medical benefits by analyzing large amounts of data from various sources such as clinical trials, patient records, and social media. This can help identify patterns and correlations between cannabis use and health outcomes. Researchers can use big data analytics with AI to identify which strains of cannabis are most effective for treating specific medical conditions, and AI can be used to analyze clinical trial data to identify common side effects, trends and health benefits of users. For example, Citizen Green Technology by GCAC collects clinical data using AI and blockchain directly from cannabis users and PotBotics is powered by AI to help patients find the right strain of cannabis for their specific medical conditions.

The leveraging of AI and big data seems to be thawing the deep void and large knowledge gaps and fearfulness and lack of understanding and data around cannabis’s deeply rooted history of prohibition and illegality, allowing regulators and other stakeholders and the general public to understand and make better-informed decisions about the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based treatments.

Regtech and CannaTech: Compliance up to date

Regtech has become an essential tool for businesses in complexly regulated industries such as cannabis. Regtech solutions help businesses stay up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations by providing real-time updates on changes to cannabis laws at the state and local level. An example of a CannaTech and RegTech company is CannaRegs, which has built a regulatory compliance platform that helps cannabis businesses stay up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations. Their platform provides real-time updates on changes to cannabis laws at the state and local level.

CannaTech's uplift of distribution channels

The cannabis industry is booming and growing at an unprecedented rate. With more transparency and data on customer demands and expectations, there comes the need for the Cannabis industry to improve its distribution channels. Key CannaTech companies like MJ Freeway and Eaze are leading the way with their innovative seed-to-sale tracking system and cannabis delivery platform respectively. MJ Freeway's software provides real-time data on inventory levels, seed-to-sale tracking systems, sales, and compliance issues while Eaze uses data analytics to optimize delivery routes. Flowhub is another point-of-sale and inventory management system designed specifically for cannabis dispensary start-ups and businesses to manage inventory, track sales and has a compliance checking function that checks state regulations.

CannaTech in enhancing consumer trends and marketing strategies

The cannabis industry has a growing consumer population, which is demanding better and more tailored products to meet their needs. Companies like Headset and Baker Technologies are leading the way with their innovative data analytics and CRM platforms respectively. Headset uses machine learning algorithms to analyze sales data and provide actionable insights to cannabis businesses while Baker Technologies helps dispensaries manage customer relationships, track sales, and automate marketing campaigns. These technologies are helping cannabis businesses better understand consumer trends and preferences, allowing them to tailor their marketing strategies to better meet the needs of their customers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the intersection of cannabis and technology, known as CannaTech, is providing innovative solutions to enhance the cannabis industry. By leveraging big data and AI, CannaTech is enabling medical researchers to better understand the benefits and side effects of cannabis-based treatments. Additionally, Regtech solutions are helping businesses comply with the ever-changing and complex cannabis laws and regulations. Furthermore, CannaTech is improving the efficiency of distribution channels, and companies are using innovative data analytics to tailor their marketing strategies to better meet the needs of their customers. With the strong growth and continual acceptance of cannabis both legally and ethically in more countries and states around the world, the CannaTech industry is poised for rapid growth and innovation.

How can we help?

We are a global law firm with presence in the UK, US and Australia, who are well placed to help tech companies in the cannabis space with tailored legal advice based on an understanding of their unique business needs. We also see it as an exciting time for investors to invest in CannaTech companies, and we have the capabilities of performing the due diligence.

Some examples of our service offerings include:

• Setting up business structure and governance
• Drafting term sheets, NDAs, share sale agreements, ESS and ESOP plans and other legal documents required for capital raises
• Drafting and negotiating contracts with suppliers, customers, partners and investors
• Protecting intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks, designs and trade secrets
• Complying with data protection laws and regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other foreign and domestic laws of certain jurisdictions
• Managing cybersecurity risks and incidents
• Resolving disputes and litigation with regulators or competitors
• Performing due diligence on potential target companies for acquisition & mergers, and other M&A related work

In need of legal support from a tech startup lawyer? Biztech Lawyers is a multi-award-winning law firm, known for fuelling and protecting tech innovation worldwide. Get in touch now to see how we can help.