Start-up Stories Canada’s cannabis sector is innovative, high tech and ready to compete globally. Here are a few of the visionaries:
Namaste Technologies Sean Dollinger, CEO
Tell us about Namaste Technologies, and what it brings to market. NamasteMD is changing the way Canadians can acquire prescriptions and access medical cannabis. We are the first Canadian company to digitize patient acquisition of cannabis. While most Canadian cannabis companies rely on physical clinics and doctors to reach patients, our online marketplace offers patients the chance to access the largest selection of medical cannabis sourced from both domestic and international cultivators. This gives patients the broadest selection of cannabis to best support their wellness. This is different than existing online platforms for medical cannabis, which tend to make it very difficult for patients to switch between providers and access different types of medicines. Namaste offers everything from one location. We are also using machine learning to improve conversion rates, and most of all, to optimize our users’ buying experience. 14
PA P E R S
Tell us about your start-up story; when and how did you get into the cannabis sector? Namaste Technologies began as an e-commerce start-up selling vaporizers and accessories through international markets. We established a presence in over 20 countries and quickly became the largest online retailer globally. From there, we identified the opportunity to leverage our database of vaporizer consumers and acquire medical cannabis patients and we launched NamasteMD, Canada’s first fully-integrated patient acquisition portal, which is approved and available on iPhones and Android devices as well as on PC. This strategy will eventually be rolled out in every country where we operate and which has a form of legalized cannabis. If we could take away one lesson from the experience of going from small start-up to public company it would be to always focus on customers first. In today’s world of global e-commerce, your online reputation and consumer feedback are critical to growth. We’re lucky to now have both vaporizer customers and medical cannabis patients and we are committed to staying ahead of the curve on consumer experiences. For instance, we are integrating machine learning algorithms to personalize a consumer’s buying experience by providing them with more relevant content that suits their needs.
