10 Innovative Cannabis Companies You Need To Check Out In 2024

Due to the nature of the plant, companies that work with cannabis have always had to innovate and think outside the box. However, this is the first time so many companies have covered every facet of the industry. With legalisation spreading and acceptance becoming commonplace, many startups are now appearing, revolutionising the sector.

However, whether this is good or bad news depends on your own take on the world of weed—and the world at large. While this opens the door to rapid innovation, it also makes what was once a specific subculture significantly more competitive and commercialised. Still, there’s no doubt that many of these companies are improving the lives of cannabis users worldwide, and that’s something we can get on board with.

10 interesting cannabis companies for 2024

This year, at the Mary Jane Berlin Cannabis Expo Germany, we spoke to ten startup companies to find out what they're up to. What we discovered is that cannabis is becoming pretty normalised. The days of underground grows and genetics being shared on the international black market are long gone. Instead, we have dozens of companies all trying to change the world of weed. Here are ten of the most exciting!

Cannabis Akademie

Cannabis Akademie is a German company that, as the name suggests, offers training in a range of cannabis-related subjects. From growing to legality, they offer courses to help growers specialise or, if taken together, give individuals a solid overview of how to cultivate cannabis professionally.

Courses include:

• Cannabis base course
• Laws and regulations
• Cannabis medicine
• Budtender/cannabis sommelier
• Business
• Further processing of cannabis
• Cultivation and breeding
• Cultivation technology
• Cannabis clubs

Individual courses cost between 400 and 500 euros and are conducted online as live lectures. At the time of writing, all courses can be taken together as a Master's course, which costs €1729 and can be completed in 3–24 months.

Fachhochschule Erfurt

*Fachhochschule Erfurt

If you fancy becoming even more institutionalised, Fachhochschule Erfurt—a university in Erfurt, Germany, now includes cannabis cultivation and breeding as part of its general horticulture degree. The modules use experts from the industry and wider horticultural/agricultural industry to explore cannabis as a crop. Currently, this course does not focus on the business or consumption side of cannabis, but looks in depth at how to breed and grow cannabis at a high level.

PURPL

PURPL is bringing cannabinoid analysis to your smartphone! Previously, if you wanted to properly test the cannabinoid content of your bud, you would need a medical-grade unit, which could cost up to €12,000 (including database access for analysis). Not only is this a steep cost, but the devices are hefty and must be connected to a computer.

But no more! PURPL has designed a portable, palm-sized device that is FDA-approved to test for THC/CBD content alongside moisture levels. All you need to do is place a sample of your bud on the reader, which will analyse the bud using infrared light in ten seconds. The device then compares the results with an online database through the app and gives you your results.

One of these units costs around €2500, so it's still quite pricey. However, their target market is not so much individual users, but cannabis clubs and the dispensary industry. As cannabis consumption becomes more legalised, it's imperative that sellers have accurate and easy ways to test the quality of their flower.

M.G. Oil & Research

These guys make specific oil concoctions designed for various ailments. All products are non-psychoactive, and use non-psychoactive cannabinoids and terpenes to achieve their desired goals.

Currently, they have around fifteen products designed for conditions such as insomnia, pain, inflammation and more. We can't speak for whether their products work, but it's fair to say the people behind M.G. Oil & Research have put a lot of love and care into their specialist oils.

Cannerald

Cannerald is a commercial cultivation company based in Switzerland. To put their operation in perspective, they produce around 32,500 cannabis plants per year! Servicing a range of medical clients, they produce high-quality, medical-grade cannabis for the European pharmaceutical industry.

We spoke to their head grower, who described their careful, vertical farming methods and how they strive to produce highly consistent products. When selling on the pharmaceutical market, it's crucial that all of their products are consistent. We asked him his main advice for new growers, and he said, "Check the pH!"

GrowGroup PLC

*Grow Group PLC

It doesn't get much more corporate than GrowGroup PLC. So, if you still imagine the cannabis industry as an array of underground operations, prepare to be disappointed! This organisation invests in and owns many companies, all of which focus solely on cannabis. Covering the entire supply chain, growing, production and sale of cannabis products, GrowGroup PLC has its fingers in many pies.

Their goals and operations are global, although currently, they mainly distribute to European patients. When we spoke to them, they were pretty confident that the cannabis industry will keep growing and that there is a lot of investment to come.

Cannadusa

Cannadusa described themselves as the "Amazon for cannabis". An online marketplace selling all kinds of cannabis products, they've only just launched and hope to become the go-to place for people searching for cannabis-related goods, whether for consumption or growing.

They don't produce any of their own products; rather, they operate exclusively as a marketplace for other businesses, helping smaller companies reach a larger audience and customers find a wider array of products to suit their needs. It remains to be seen whether their platform will be successful, but if they are, you might find yourself browsing Cannadusa one day.

Ebyna

*Ebyna

Ebyna is a wellness brand focusing on terpene-based infusions and drinks, including custom blends. They delve into the scientific effects of cannabis terpenes and then try to mimic the different ratios using non-cannabis products so that their products are easier to sell globally.

So, for instance, they look at strains with a particularly energising effect and analyse the terpene ratios within them. Then, they'll turn to the rest of nature to find plants that contain the necessary terpenes, and they'll mix them together to reproduce the desired effects.

Synbiotic

Synbiotic is another firm focusing on investment. However, rather than honing their sights on the medical cannabis industry, they are looking at the consumer side of business. Their portfolio includes wellness hemp products, hemp farms, medical cannabis facilities, recreational cannabis products and more. They are relying on the continuing growth of all parts of the cannabis sector. So far, business seems to be going well for them!

CannaMedical

*CannaMedical

This company is a medical cannabis wholesaler which focuses on importing top-quality medical cannabis into Europe. It works with grow ops worldwide and then sells the products to pharmacies and clinical institutions. While it doesn't directly own or manage any of the cultivation projects, it rigorously vets them to ensure the highest quality of production methods and final products so that its clients can rest easy. Ultimately, they strive to provide medical cannabis users with consistent, high-quality weed.

CannaMedical told us that once they identify a potential grower, it takes about a year of vetting until they are satisfied that they are up to scratch. They then facilitate the logistical side of transporting regulated products around the world and ultimately make sure that they arrive on time.

Innovation in the cannabis sector: Business is booming

As you can see, the cannabis industry is a booming sector that operates much like any other. For some, this provides significant investment opportunities and cutting-edge innovation. For others, pharmaceutical companies and investment firms seem like unfortunate developments in a world that was born from a unique and often rebellious subculture.

What's clear is that the marriage of pharmaceuticals with recreational and lifestyle products opens the doors for people interested in careers or a cannabis-related business of their own. Let's see where the future leads us!

Max Sargent

Max has been writing for over a decade, and has come into cannabis and psychedelic journalism in the last few years. Writing for companies such as Zamnesia, Royal Queen Seeds, Cannaconnection, Gorilla Seeds, MushMagic and more, he has experience in a broad spectrum of the industry.

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