Staff
Cannabis and technology are becoming quite the pairing as apps like Weedmaps, Lift & Co, Leafly, and Strainprint are becoming popular companions to the cannabis experience.
Enter a new app, StrainConnect, a strain recommendation platform that helps cannabis consumers choose cannabis products based on the ailment, desired effect, and personality characteristics.
“I built StrainConnect out of a personal need when I was trying to find a solution to my back pain after having children,” explains CEO Rachael Maddison, “The information available was overwhelming and, eventually, it became expensive to try different products that I ultimately would never end up finishing,” she describes.
After journaling her experience with different cannabis products, she verified her process with the medical, scientific and cannabis community, putting a team together to create an app that utilizes machine learning AI to do what Maddison had done manually “but far quicker, cheaper and more accurately,” she says.
With the beta version now available, the app will begin first with CBD product recommendations in the U.S. during the private beta phase and will extend the use of the app across California by opening up THC product recommendations.
StrainConnect markets itself as “the only consumer resource on the market that connects individual patient profiles with cannabis product lab results to provide unbiased, user-specific product recommendations”.
Green Market Report has featured similar apps like Strainprint, the app that was designed to help medical cannabis users in the U.S. and Canada match symptoms with strains available from Licensed Producers. The app helps consumers “use cannabis better” by collecting data from one’s cannabis session into a “medical document” that can be shared with a prescribing practitioner to follow medical cannabis therapy progress.
StrainConnect works with the recreational and adult use markets by allowing users to gain recommendations for products that have been tested by third-party labs for cannabinoid content, terpenes, and pesticides, which ensures only clean, quality products are being recommended to users.
“[The app] only accept[s] products that have both the cannabinoid AND terpene profile lab results, in addition to asking pertinent questions of the patient,” says Kristen Yoder, a cannabis industry advisor, “This is a very unique approach to combine both lab data and personality preferences. The patient has all the information needed to make an informed purchasing decision, and can feel confident knowing the product has been completely vetted.”
After the StrainConnect app makes a handful of recommended strains and products based on ailments and desired effect, it provides guidance on dosing, detailed product information and where consumers can purchase that specific product.
StrainConnect was created in February 2018, and the company was invited to join the San Francisco Founder Institute tech incubator, where an initial investment was raised in June 2018. The company has now officially opened its pre-seed round for investors to help bring the plans for this app to full fruition. Interested investors may email connect@strainconnect.com for more information.
To sign up for the beta visit www.strainconnect.com.
