The legal weed market is a boomin'. Along with it, a burgeoning tech sector has sprouted up around the fast-growing cannabis economy.
From Colorado to Massachusetts and the more than two dozen states in between where weed has been legalized in some form, there's a dank cornucopia of innovative tech companies and startups reimagining how the weed industry does business and engaging its swelling base of regular consumers.
North American legal marijuana sales totaled $6.7 billion in 2016 and more than $10 billion last year. Cannabis market research firm New Frontier Data projects the industry will top 255,000 jobs by 2019 and reach $24.5 billion in sales by 2025. In that broader context, cannabis is just another kind of product, surrounded by every kind of ancillary business of which you can think, and wrapped in an ecosystem of apps, services, and software.
Consumers expect to buy their preferred strains, edibles, or oils as conveniently as possible, either through online shopping on-demand delivery, or in dispensaries at the point of sale. Budtenders and ganjapreneurs need customer relationship management and marketing automation platforms to keep track of their product catalogs, manage the books, and keep customers coming back through deals, promotions, and loyalty programs. Growers and manufacturers need seed-to-sale systems to oversee compliance and make sure every plant and product is accounted for. This only scratches the surface of all the apps and technology flooding the market.
The joyous 4/20 holiday is a ripe opportunity to highlight some of the most innovative tech companies and successful startups in the industry right now. They are tackling everything from social media and business intelligence to vaporizer tech, strain DNA mapping, and DIY growing for cannabusinesses and THC lovers alike.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.
Eaze and GreenRush
Baker
Flowhub
MassRoots
MassRoots is the go-to social network for the cannabis community. One of the few publicly traded companies in the space, the one-million-plus users on MassRoots can log in to their desktop or mobile apps to search for strains or dispensaries, find smoking buddies, and post content.
The platform also gives dispensaries a simple way to connect with customers and post updates. MassRoots isn't the only weed-focused social networking and marketing platform (other networks such as 4TwentyToday also boast large social followings) but it's the biggest and most well-known. On top of all that, MassRoots has also launched a dispensary-focused platform that manages automatic menu updates and online ordering.
Eyechronic
New Frontier Data
CannaKorp
PotBotics
Headset
LeafLink
Seedo
MTRAC
Ehave
Steep Hill Labs
Convectium
Ardent
Tokr
Gateway
Snaphash
DaVinci
Medicinal Genomics