5 BU Teams Will Compete for $10k in the Cannabis Startup Competition
On November 7, five BU-led startup teams will compete for $10,000 and mentoring to help grow their ancillary cannabis business idea.
For the third year in a row, the competition is sponsored by Green Lion Partners, a business strategy firm focused on early-stage development in the regulated cannabis industry, led by Jeff Zucker (Questrom’10) and Mike Bologna (Questrom’10).
Over 25 applications were received from current students and alumni with cannabis startup ideas that support the industry but do not come directly in contact with the plant (software, services, agricultural products, etc.), and incorporate social impact into their mission.
Previous winners include:
- Cannabis Care and Community Network (C3RN), founded by Marion McNabb (SPH’13), a B-corp that provides contract research, analytics, education, and strategic advising services for the cannabis, academic, and healthcare industry in the area of cannabis.
- Mary’s List, founded by Taylor Aldredge (COM’10), a professional marketplace for the cannabis industry that connects businesses of all sizes with freelancers and service providers.
The five finalists competing for the 2019 grand prize are:
- Boundless Robotics (Carl Palmer, ENG’04, Questrom’12) –Boundless Robotics’ marketplace will enable anyone to easily grow and sell cannabis legally and safely so more people can have access to a low cost, high quality, and safe product.
- PhenoXpress (Wendell Orphe MET’19) – PhenoXpress is a cannabis genetic testing company that provides sex testing, chemotype determination, and plant-pathogen screening.
- SMART (Mariah Brooks CAS’21) – SMART is a national college cannabis network that provides education and industry opportunities for the next generation.
- Trella Technologies (Angela Pitter, ENG’86) – TrellaGro LST ™ is an automated horizontal plant-training system, enabling indoor farmers to grow what they want, where they want.
- Waev (Kendall Humphrey, COM’19 and Nicholas Lai, ENG’21) – Wave is a device that cuts the amount of product needed by 75% and contains a filtration system to eliminate odors and second-hand smoke.
The BU community and public are invited to the 2019 Cannabis Startup Competition Finale on Thursday, November 7, 6-9pm at the Questrom School of Business.
