Cheddar's CannaBiz explores the latest trends, and news in this expanding market of recreational, and medicinal marijuana. Cheddar's Hope King and Baker Machado speak with start-up founders about how they are capitalizing on cannabis.
Legal technology platform CannaRegs is on a mission to make sense of the legal landscape of marijuana for stakeholders in this growing space. The company's founder and CEO Amanda Ostrowitz explains the regulatory landscape for marijuana, and why she was inspired to launch this start-up.
"I realized the only solution to my problem was to build it," says Ostrowitz. "It's actually kind of influencing the way law is being made because we've been able to track it to such a level where the first time a city government even talks about cannabis--we've tracked it."
Colorado Marijuana sales hit $1.5 Billion in 2017, generating nearly $250 million in taxes and fees for the state. The Cannabist's Marijuana Policy and Business Reporter Alicia Wallace explains why the state sales could face a plateau, and lessons other states could learn from Colorado.
"In Colorado the slowing growth is more of an indicator of a mature market," says Wallace. "We're the guinea pig on this, and we've been able to learn a lot of lessons really quick as this industry came out of nowhere here."
Sensi Products recently underwent a complete redesign to make the transition to solely medical marijuana edibles to consumer products for recreational use. The company's co-founder Lisa Tollner explains how her company made this switch, and her outlook for this expanding market in California.
"For the most part it was a pretty straight forward maneuver for us," explains Tollner. "We saw this coming. I would say as early as five or six years ago we felt it was just a matter of time."
Cheddar's CannaBiz airs every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:00 p.m.
Kyle Jaeger, senior editor for Marijuana Moment, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why a stigma still exists for the cannabis industry in advertising and social media after NBC rejected Weedmaps' ad for the big game even though more states across the country are legalizing cannabis.
A bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) aims to tackle the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, as well as the addictive nature of the sites and negative mental health impacts they have on users. The 'Nudge Act' would require studies to find and compile potential interventions that platforms could use to encourage people to think before they share a post, or log off after spending too much time on an app. The FTC would create rules based on these findings, and hold the platforms accountable. But will it work? Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, joins Closing Bell to discuss the bill, whether real results and regulations could come from it, and more.
We know that the Los Angeles Rams emerged as Super Bowl champions, but the crypto industry also came out a winner on Sunday with several notable companies getting airtime in primetime. However, Richard Smith, author of the Risk Rituals Newsletter, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the campaigns were a 'disappointment' and adds that crypto companies would be wiser spending their resources on creating value.
A.I.-based entertainment company, Deedub, recently raised
$20 million in a Series A round, led by Insight Partners. Deepdub uses A.I. technology to automate the dubbing process for foreign-language movies or TV shows, while using actors' original voices. The company says it can take just two to three minutes of data from an actor's voice and transform the voice into a different language. The funding comes as foreign-language films and shows like Netflix's 'Squid Game' have recently become more popular with audiences in the U.S. and around the world. Oz Krakowski, Chief Revenue Officer at Deepdub, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II. Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to disucss.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
Alyson Wilson, VP of Brand Innovation at Alo Yoga, joins Cheddar News to discuss the yoga apparel company entering the metaverse and teaming up with Spring Studios for New York Fashion Week.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
