With a trip to Entrepreneur's Elevator Pitch on the line, six cannabis-themed startups got together at Leafwire's Merry Cannabis Pitch Contest in Denver last night.
Startups in the competition ranged from biotech to advertising, coming from as far as South Africa, to just down the road in Boulder.
Leafwire, a cannabis-focused social networking site similar to LinkedIn, hosted the event, bringing judges from Denver's Wurk, MJ Freeway and Grasslands.
The winner of the contest, TraceTrust, earned a spot on Entrepreneur's Elevator Pitch, where founders pitch to a panel of investors...during a one minute elevator ride.
Let's check out the six companies that pitched at the event:
TraceTrust is developing 'A True Dose' to create an industry standard for dose accuracy in cannabis edible manufacturing, like a USDA organic stamp for food.
"Can you imagine taking a prescription medication without knowing how much you're supposed to take?" co-founder Merril Gilbert said.
TraceTrust is currently in beta testing, working with laboratories to launch in every state and country with access to legal cannabis in early 2019.
TraceTrust took home gold at Leafwire's pitch competition and will earn on a spot at Elevator Pitch.
Botanican
Traveling from South Africa, Botanican is an enterprise creating South Africa's largest market of cannabis growers. The startup is empowering South African growers to produce cannabis by providing quality strains, seedlings and business support.
The startup will export its products to Canada and Germany to start, before eventually transitioning to medical sales within South Africa.
"We're aiming to essentially use cannabis to bring people out of poverty," Joy Oliver of Botanican said.
Botanican took home second place in Leafwire's competition.
Lyfe is an online cannabis marketplace that uses experiences to match consumers with products. Want to watch a Thor on Netflix? Lyfe will provide you with a cannabis product to maximize that experience.
The platform allows consumers to preview, research and inform themselves on the latest cannabis products and connects them with dispensaries that offer them. Lyfe came in third place in Leafwire's competition.
Boulder-based GreenScreens is a digital signage startup that creates digital menu boards, in store announcements and advertising.
GreenScreens is currently in 120 dispensaries in 9 markets, generating 500,000 monthly views on their video screen content.
Levadura Biotech
Levadura Biotech is creating a biotech solution for the rising prices of CBD products. Levadura founder Jose Laplaza said the startup is creating a yeast product that will deliver the same effectiveness of current cannabis products, at one-tenth the cost.
L.A. Cannabis News is a media organization focused on telling local stories in the L.A. cannabis scene. The startup will also offer a job board, events listings and business directory focused exclusively on L.A.
