What are cannabis startups?

Cannabis startups are working on creative solutions related to the manufacturing, growth, sales, automation, and research related to the cannabis industry, with to goal to increase cannabis consumption and finding additional uses for cannabis.

Ardent

Founded in 2013, Ardent designed a simple electric device that automates decarboxylation. It looks like a thermos – just put your cannabis inside and touch a button. Ardent designed a simple electric device that automates decarboxylation. It looks like a thermos, just put your cannabis inside and touch a button. The Ardent precisely heats the cannabis for the perfect amount of time.

Ardent’s goal is to allow people to harness the full benefits of cannabis compounds easily at home. Their technology handles the complicated decarboxylation process with the touch of a button.

Dutchie

Dutchie operates an e-commerce platform streamlining how consumers discover and order from cannabis dispensaries online. Via web and mobile applications, Dutchie connects shoppers to local dispensaries and statewide delivery services to browse real-time store menus and facilitate same-day pickup or on-demand delivery.

For the dispensaries themselves, Dutchie provides point-of-sale software and a business management suite to simplify in-store sales, compliance reporting, supply ordering, and customer retention. By powering seamless integration between consumer-facing online cannabis marketplaces and back-end dispensary operations, Dutchie enables enhanced accessibility and convenience for procuring legal cannabis while helping dispensary partners enhance operations, save costs, and extend their brand reach.

Green Thumb

Founded in 2014, Green Thumb’s strategy intertwines business expansion and corporate citizenship to progress the cannabis industry responsibly. They partner with local non-profits while providing equitable employment opportunities and sustainability leadership in the space.

By setting higher standards around ethical growth, Green Thumb aims to uphold cannabis’s health and societal potential against lingering controversy. Backed by leading institutions like Charles Koch Ventures, Green Thumb proves it’s possible to balance profitability and public service when rebuilding communities in a post-prohibition era.

Jushi

Founded in 2018, Jushi has rapidly grown into one of the leading US cannabis operators supporting licensed brands and stores across medical and adult-use markets. Their portfolio spans cultivation, processing, and retail dispensaries.

Jushi provides a range of services to affiliated businesses including funding, financial planning, supply chain management, compliance, store buildouts, marketing, and operations oversight. This full-service approach enables their brands to scale smoothly and successfully.

Cresco

Founded in 2013, Cresco operates in over 10 states, distributing their house of cannabis brands to hundreds of dispensaries as well as operating dispensaries themselves. Their footprint spans cultivation, production, wholesale distribution, retail stores, and delivery.

By controlling operations across the value chain, Cresco can optimize for quality, efficiency, and consistency in their products as cannabis market share keeps increasing nationwide. Their growth reflects maturing cannabis industry practices.

Springbig

Founded in 2017, Springbig’s solutions empower cannabis companies to increase sales and build customer relationships through SMS marketing, email campaigns, customer loyalty programs, and analytics.

By providing the digital marketing tools needed in the highly-regulated cannabis space, Springbig helps retailers and brands drive traffic, boost repeat purchases, and track results. Their platform is designed around industry nuances.

Ascend Wellness Holdings

Founded in 2018, Ascend spans regulated adult-use and medical markets, producing a variety of branded cannabis products sold through company-owned stores and wholesale networks.

By managing cannabis operations end-to-end, Ascend aims to optimize for product quality, consistent consumer experiences, and scalability as they expand into new states.

Jane Technologies

Founded in 2015, Jane offers dispensaries turnkey webstores, real-time analytics, SEO, customer engagement tools, and integrated loyalty programs to boost online sales and visibility. Their goal is simplifying digital for cannabis.

Jane’s platform optimizes the consumer purchase experience while providing actionable data insights for retailers. This aims to drive new customers and higher transaction sizes as cannabis purchasing moves online.

Holistic Industries

Founded in 2018, Holistic Industries brings a values-driven approach cementing cannabis as a mainstream wellness product and engine for positive economic and social change. With operations in five states and Canada, they demonstrate scalable best practices.

Skymint dispensaries cater specifically to high-expectation consumers and medical patients requiring knowledgeable guidance. Holistic aims to convey the new face of cannabis focusing on demystifying wellness applications through trust and transparency.

Connected Cannabis Co.

Founded in 2009, Connected Cannabis Co. has grown from a licensed medical operator to now serving California’s broader adult market following legalization. Their expansion demonstrates scaling best practices in compliance, manufacturing and brand experience.

Connected’s in-house genetics program develops strains catering to evolving consumer preferences across effects, flavors and formats. As legalization progresses, their infrastructure and capabilities enable meeting demand growth reliably.

Stealth Monitoring

Founded in 2015, Stealth Monitoring recognized the complex security needs of the emerging legal cannabis industry. Their specialized solutions aim to establish enterprise-class security standards for an industry long dependent on informal approaches.

Stealth now secures hundreds of licensed operators across multiple states. As the cannabis industry matures into an attractive target, their offerings safeguard owner and customer interests against criminal threats.

Cann

Founded in 2019, Cann fulfills an underserved market thirsting for cannabis social elixirs. Their microdosed beverages apply culinary and dosing techniques perfecting cannabis for unwinding and connecting much like a glass of wine.

Now sold in over 250 California dispensaries, Cann is mainstreaming cannabis through beverages appealing to influential health-conscious millennials and beyond. As tastes mature, Cann elevates cannabis to its rightful place alongside wine and craft beer.

3Chi

Founded in 2019, 3Chi saw unique potential in the emerging discovery of hemp-derived Delta-8 THC for enjoyable, functional cannabis products. Their success signals growing appetite for cannabis’ benefits in accessible new forms.

Rapid growth led by word-of-mouth sales validates 3Chi’s vision for Delta-8 THC as the logical next chapter in cannabis. By innovating production and applications, 3Chi unlocks prosperity through hemp.

Wurk

Founded in 2017, Wurk provides a suite of HR tools tailored to the unique needs of the cannabis industry. Their platform handles compliance, payroll, benefits and more for THC companies.

By centralizing HR solutions designed around cannabis workforce challenges, Wurk aims to save clients time, minimize risks, and support growth. Their vertical focus provides tailored optimization.

Olla

Founded in 2019, Olla offers white label e-commerce solutions tailored for cannabis dispensaries and delivery services. Their platform provides the backend tools to quickly launch branded storefronts.

By providing DIY customization, Olla empowers merchants to own their entire digital presence and customer experience. This aims to drive greater engagement and conversions compared to generic templates.

Delta Extrax

Founded in 2019, Delta Extrax manufactures and distributes hemp-derived Delta-8 products in permitted markets. Their offerings provide legal alternatives to Delta-9 THC used recreationally.

By developing specialty extraction and infusion processes for Delta-8, Delta Extrax makes potential wellness applications more accessible to consumers where approved. Their capabilities and compliance suit the evolving cannabis marketplace.

Fyllo

Founded in 2019, Fyllo provides technology solutions to manage regulatory workflows around cannabis marketing and operations. Their platform remains updated as rules evolve across jurisdictions.

By centralizing compliance tools and data, Fyllo keeps companies abreast of complex legal requirements involving digital ads, keywords, targeting, and more. This aims to reduce compliance risk and maximize marketing impact.

Confident Cannabis

Founded in 2015, Confident Cannabis provides a platform connecting testing labs, producers, and regulators to centralized, validated cannabis data. Their tools facilitate sample tracking, COAs, and recall management.

By standardizing data reporting processes, Confident Cannabis aims to bring consistency and confidence to the evolving cannabis testing landscape. Reliable market insights empower stakeholders to advance safely.

New Frontier Data

Founded in 2014, New Frontier Data offers market intelligence reports, federal and state policy analysis, and data-driven consulting services to help cannabis businesses, investors, and policymakers navigate the complex emerging landscape.

Key offerings include data on consumer demand, product preferences, demographics, purchasing trends, supply dynamics, regulatory changes, and regional market sizes. This market transparency helps customers identify risks and opportunities.

Headset

Founded in 2015, Headset offers a retail data analytics platform providing real-time market intelligence on cannabis sales, shopper insights, and product trends. Their dashboards help retailers and brands optimize assortments, promotions, and innovation.

Key data dimensions cover sales, product attributes, consumer segments, pricing, and market share down to the zipcode. Users gain visibility into leading indicators and opportunities not available elsewhere.

Petalfast

Founded in 2018, Petalfast offers cannabis brands an outsourced sales and marketing team to accelerate growth. Their expertise spans branding, sales, marketing, and distribution across dispensaries and wholesale channels nationwide.

Key capabilities include commercial strategy, product launch management, digital marketing, and a team of sales reps specializing in cannabis. This enables brands to quickly gain traction and scale without staffing up internally.

Cannalytics

Founded in 2019, Cannalytics has built technology to optimize inventory and supply chain decisions for cannabis retailers and distributors. Their algorithms forecast demand and product availability accounting for unique industry constraints.

Key platforms include PULSE for dispensary planning and ENVOY for distribution planning. Users gain insights to adjust assortment, steer production, and set competitive pricing – all backed by data science.

Conclusion

The future of cannabis entrepreneurship lies not just in making the most of the market growth, but in building sustainable, professional operations that can thrive in an increasingly sophisticated and quite competitive industry. Those who can balance these elements while maintaining agility and compliance will be best positioned to capture the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead.

What are neuroscience startups?

Earable

Founded in 2018, Earable has created a smart ear-worn device that can track important health data. It is designed to be worn comfortably inside the ear all day and night, continuously monitoring metrics like body temperature, heart rate, and breathing rate.

The motivation behind Earable was to have a less obtrusive wearable sensor that could catch emerging health issues early. By locating sensors in the ear, a very central point of the body, Earable can get accurate core readings of temperature, pulse rate, and respiration. Even small changes can signify oncoming illness, fatigue, stress, or fitness improvements.

Kernel

Kernel is pioneering safe, non-invasive methods to decode brain activity for advancing neuroscience discoveries and medical treatments. Bringing together experts across engineering, neuroscience, and physics, the company is developing innovative technologies to capture brain signals without surgery.

Kernel’s core offering, Kernel Flow, uses light-based sensors to measure blood flow dynamics related to neural activity at high speeds and resolution. By applying new sensing techniques for imaging brain function, Kernel aims to unlock capacities to diagnose disorders earlier and open new frontiers in therapies tailored to individual brains. With versatile, wearable scanning of neural signals, Kernel strives to make reading and responding to the brain’s shifting needs widely accessible to both researchers mapping cognition and doctors enhancing care.

AviadoBio

Founded in 2020, AviadoBio is pioneering precision gene therapies that target root causes of neuron death in the brain. Using AAV gene delivery, their treatments aim to rescue function, restore lost connections, and regenerate dying cells.

Initial programs show promise in reversing motor and cognitive decline in preclinical models. AviadoBio’s viral vector and delivery platform enables therapies to cross the blood-brain barrier at scale.

Flow Neuroscience

Flow Neuroscience’s products enable research-backed brain stimulation treatments conveniently at home as part of an affordable subscription plan. Their goal is providing drug-free depression relief and tools for emotional wellbeing.

Verge Genomics

Verge Genomics uses computational approaches to uncover novel therapeutic targets and viable lead treatments for hitherto untreatable nervous system diseases. Their AI solutions enhance R&D capabilities.

BrainCo

By making therapeutic neurotechnology accessible, BrainCo aims to enhance cognitive capabilities and overall wellbeing. Their innovations blend ancient wisdom around mental states with modern biofeedback.

Brain.fm

Brain.fm aims to harness the brain’s neuroplasticity through engineered sound environments that entrain neural oscillations. Their technology leverages music’s effects on cognition and mood.

Neuralink

Potential applications include restoring motor function, treating neurological conditions, and merging artificial and human intelligence. Neuralink’s neurotechnology promises a future where disabilities are remedied and human potential is expanded.

Motorica

By closing the loop between intent and action, Motorica aims to revolutionize prosthetics with bionic limbs that emulate natural feel and dexterity for improved quality of life. Their advances help amputees seamlessly regain abilities.

Cala Health

Cala’s wrist-worn stimulator called Cala Trio can override nerve signals causing involuntary muscle contractions to control essential tremor with personalized neurostimulation algorithms. Further target indications are in their pipeline.

Arctop

Backed by investors like Google Ventures, Arctop is scaling scientific brain decoding for mainstream applications. Their solution leads commercial neuromonitoring into an ethical new era focused on elevating end-user experiences versus manipulation.

Neurotrack

With clinical trials validating capability to detect pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s, Neurotrack is partnering with providers, Medicare networks and pharma to make state-of-the-art pre-screening widely accessible. Early cognitive intervention is now possible.

Hippoc

Early adopters spanning major consumer brands, ad agencies, and platform partners validate demand for media effectiveness measured by actual human responses versus proxies like clicks or surveys. Hippoc leads design into a new data-centered era.

HRL Laboratories

Major past inventions include chemical gas lasers, atomic clocks, night vision systems and advanced sensors. Ongoing research spans materials, energy, neurotech, microchip fabrication, AI and more. Their discoveries build the technological edge of their parent companies.

Neurofenix

With continued refinements towards commercialization, the Neurofenix system heralds a new generation of rehabilitation where technology doesn’t just assist recovery but accelerates it by optimally engaging neuroplasticity. Their breakthroughs restore real hope for the future.

Braingineers International

CoMind aims to first enable new independence for patients through their research-grade platform, then bring their innovations to mass-market devices enabling brain-based interactions. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Meta.

CoMind

Early clients spanning major consumer brands to ad agencies validate the competitive advantage gained from optimizing based on customers’ true biological responses rather than superficial proxies. Braingineers leads experience design into the future.

Imaginostics

Backed by GE Healthcare and AI chipmaker Kneron, Imaginostics pairs clinical expertise with engineering excellence to drive a new era of diagnostic and predictive imaging. Their innovations unlock an untapped wealth of biomedical intelligence contained within routine scans.

Alpha Fiber

By providing real-time detection, Alpha Fiber aims to improve concussion screening across youth, school, and professional sports. Their unobtrusive system promises more comprehensive monitoring during games and practices.

Brainovative Labs

Current offerings include speech generation devices, switch interfaces, and eye gaze technologies. By creatively applying technology, Brainovative enables simpler navigation of smartphones, computers, and more based on each user’s abilities.

Connecta Therapeutics

By applying new scientific insights around neural pathways, Connecta aims to translate emerging biology into transformative medicines that improve treatment outcomes.

Axorus

By creating a channel for bidirectional communication with nerves, Axorus’ implants hold potential to restore lost function and modulate disease signals. Their disruptive approach promises new options for unmet needs.

emoty.AI

By automating emotion analytics, emoty.AI aims to help companies extract insights from customer behavior effortlessly. The data promises to aid creative development, design iteration, and campaign optimization.

Conclusion

What are identity and access management (IAM) startups?

Identity and Access Management (IAM) startups create modern security tools to protect digital identities and control who can access what in an organization. They focus on making sure the right people can reach the resources they need while keeping unauthorized users out. Think of them as digital security guards who check IDs, manage permissions, and protect sensitive information, but with smarter, automated systems that work better.

Top identity and access management (IAM) startups

Complete list of the most identity and access management (IAM) startups that are worth knowing:

Okta

Founded in 2009, Okta provides cloud software that helps companies manage and secure user identities and access across many apps, websites, and databases. Their solutions make it simple to authenticate employees and customers while protecting corporate information and systems.

The Okta platform gives IT teams one centralized interface to add and configure multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and access permissions for a company’s various digital tools and assets. This saves time while enforcing consistent security policies everywhere.

Auth0

Founded in 2013, Auth0 offers identity and access management platforms that allow organizations to securely manage employee and customer identities. Their product is an enterprise-level system for user authentication and authorization to applications.

The Auth0 platform enables passwordless login so users can easily access accounts without remembering countless passwords. It centralizes identity management across an organization’s apps and devices with a unified dashboard.

RSA

Founded in 1982, RSA provides cloud-based governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software to help enterprises manage their information security. Their solutions empower companies to identify and respond to cybersecurity threats while also adhering to industry regulations.

RSA’s platforms streamline processes like consumer identity verification, access controls, encryption key management, and security monitoring. This helps clients apply appropriate safeguards across their digital environments using automation. Core focus areas span fraud prevention, data protection, user access controls, and compliance readiness.

Imprivata

Founded in 2002, Imprivata provides secure access and communication platforms for healthcare, finance, and other regulated enterprises that handle sensitive data. Their cloud-based solutions manage user and device authentication across company networks along with encryption to protect confidential information flows.

By consolidating identity management and security workflows, Imprivata simplifies compliance with privacy rules like HIPAA and PCI DSS. Their OneSign platform offers single sign-on convenience while still enforcing multifactor authentication to meet verification requirements. Detailed audit logging also supports mandated reporting needs.

IDnow

Founded in 2014, IDnow is a company that provides identity verification and anti-fraud services to banks, financial institutions, and other businesses. Their platforms use AI and automation to securely confirm real users during digital transactions.

IDnow offers a range of verification tools including automated ID checks, biometric facial recognition, and video-calling services. These let clients screen customers to prevent money laundering, meet KYC regulations, and reduce transaction risks.

Cerby

Founded in 2020, Cerby offers a secure access service that solves “shadow IT” challenges for companies. Shadow IT refers to apps and software that employees use without official approval, often exposing security risks.

Cerby allows workers to safely access websites and tools they need, even if not formally sanctioned. At the same time, Cerby checks that unsanctioned apps meet security standards to prevent potential data leakage or threats. This balances flexibility for employees with oversight for IT departments.

Apono

Founded in 2021, Apono offers cloud security solutions that help companies manage user access and identities across their systems and applications. Their platforms bridge the gap between security teams, IT staff, and developers to reduce access risks.

Many organizations struggle with too many manual processes to govern identities and privileges as they move business operations to the cloud. Apono provides automation to enforce policies across cloud environments using one centralized platform. This saves security and IT teams significant time while optimizing access controls.

Permit.io

Founded in 2021, Permit.io is a company that builds cloud infrastructure for managing permissions and access controls. Their full-stack authorization framework simplifies how products and services handle user identities and data access.

Permit.io’s solutions make it easier for organizations to assign roles and rights across their systems and workforce. Granular policies automate who can access what resources under specific contexts. These guardrails streamline compliance.

Right-hand cybersecurity

Founded in 2019, Right-Hand Cybersecurity provides software to help businesses manage cybersecurity and compliance risks caused by employees. Their AI-powered platform does real-time monitoring to identify unsafe behavior or policy violations before data breaches occur.

The Right-Hand system tracks all employee digital activity across devices, apps, and networks. Using behavioral analysis, it flags risky actions that indicate potential threats. Security teams also get risk severity assessments and mitigation recommendations customized to their infrastructure.

P0 Security

Founded in 2022, P0 Security is a cloud cybersecurity company that offers solutions for managing access in cloud environments. Their services give full visibility into user identities and privileges. They also automate access control so users only get temporary permissions when needed to reduce risk. A key P0 Security feature is a Slackbot that enables teams to quickly request, approve and revoke cloud entitlements within their collaboration platform.

This brings easy control of privileges into daily workflows. Along with the Slackbot, P0 provides single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and zero-standing privileges to secure the cloud. Their just-in-time access tools remove persistent credentials that attackers often steal. Activity monitoring detects unusual behavior, while robust access controls lower risk.

Hydden

Founded in 2022, Hydden is a cybersecurity company that helps organizations find and fix overlooked identity risks that make them vulnerable to attacks. Their platform focuses on detecting accounts that get around security controls, managing employees and systems with excessive access rights, and reducing the impact when breaches do occur.

By analyzing complex employee and service account relationships across an organization’s entire digital ecosystem, Hydden exposes hidden threats stemming from risky identities and permissions. Their attack surface management brings visibility to decrease the blast radius if a hacker gains entry.

ZTX

Founded in 2022, ZTX is a blockchain project building on the success of ZEPETO, one of Asia’s largest metaverse platforms with over 430 million users. ZEPETO is a virtual world where users can create avatars, explore environments, and connect with others.

ZTX aims to take ZEPETO’s user-generated content ecosystem to the next level by incorporating blockchain technology. This would allow users to truly own their virtual creations, trade them freely, and monetize their contributions to the metaverse.

Axiom security

Founded in 2021, Axiom Security offers a platform that helps organizations properly manage user identities and access permissions across cloud services and SaaS applications. Their IAMOps solution coordinates teams working on identity management, like developers, security, and IT operations.

The Axiom platform automatically detects configuration risks and access issues across cloud tools. It enforces correct policies and privileges to prevent breaches due to misconfigurations. Reporting also helps demonstrate security and compliance.

Stack Identity

Founded in 2020, Stack Identity is a cloud security company that focuses on identity and access management (IAM) solutions. Their technology detects “shadow access”, unauthorized, unmonitored, or invisible access paths that represent security risks.

Stack Identity’s patent-pending Breach Prediction Index algorithm analyzes activity to uncover potential breach points. Combined with data insights and machine learning, it can reveal shadow access pathways created by misconfigurations or access policy gaps.

Azure Active Directory

Founded in 2000, Azure Active Directory is a cloud service from Microsoft that handles identity and access management (IAM) for organizations. It is fully integrated with Microsoft 365 apps like Office 365.

Azure AD allows employees to use one login for all Microsoft business apps. It handles password authentication along with more secure forms like multi-factor and biometric verification.

Ping Identity

Founded in 2002, Ping Identity is a company that provides identity and access management (IAM) services to organizations. Their solutions help IT teams control and secure access to applications and resources across on-premises data centers and cloud environments.

Some of Ping Identity’s core offerings include single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), access controls, and data governance capabilities. Employees can conveniently access authorized apps and accounts without constantly re-entering passwords. Admins get centralized visibility and policy control across hybrid infrastructure.

SailPoint

Founded in 2005, SailPoint is an identity and access management (IAM) technology company. Their IAM solutions secure enterprise access and governance of confidential company data in both structured and unstructured form.

SailPoint helps organizations govern user access across sensitive systems that store data files, formatting to either text-based documents or databases that map specific data points to pre-defined fields and tables. Their security tools control who has permission to view, edit, and share data stored across both these structured repositories as well as document files or emails that have unstructured data formats.

Conclusion

Looking at these IAM startups, one thing’s clear, protecting digital identities is changing fast. These companies aren’t just patching up old systems, they’re building new ones that actually make sense for how we work today. Whether it’s making logins smoother or spotting fishy behavior before it causes trouble, they’re showing us that better security doesn’t have to be more complicated.