10 technological breakthroughs that could change how cannabis entrepreneurs do business

Just Released! Get realistic market forecasts, state-by-state insights and benchmarks with the new 2024 MJBiz Factbook member program, now with quarterly updates. Make informed decisions.


marijuana technology, 10 technological breakthroughs that could change how cannabis entrepreneurs do business

(This is an abridged version of a story that appears in the February issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)

Technological advances are revolutionizing every sector of the marijuana industry, transforming a market that largely is seen as an agricultural industry.

With that in mind, Marijuana Business Magazine decided to look at “10 Killer Technologies” that have recently entered the marijuana space.

This is not a list of the 10 best cannabis-related technologies but, rather, engineering feats that represent the innovation, high-level science and entrepreneurship that’s sweeping the industry.

“Cannabis is still a new industry that’s just getting out of the shadows, so people see there’s huge potential to develop all sorts of new technologies,” said Meghan Larson, co-founder of Adistry, one of the companies featured on Marijuana Business Magazine’s list.

The selections were made with the main cannabis sectors – from cultivation and extraction to manufacturing and retail – in mind.

Some of these businesses are established and growing; others are upstarts.

Some of the technologies were created by marijuana industry veterans; others were fashioned by non-cannabis companies.

Indeed, the cannabis industry is drawing a growing number of Ph.D.-carrying professionals who have worked at places such as NASA and MIT and now are lending their expertise to an industry that, from scientific and technological standpoints, remains largely unexplored.

Click on the links below to read more about Marijuana Business Magazine’s sampling of the innovative technologies that are transforming the cannabis sector:

  1. Upgraded rosin production
  2. Efficient cooling and heating
  3. Faster removal of waxes from MJ-extracted oils
  4. New product for your shelves
  5. More efficient water use and greater plant yields
  6. Improved marketing effectiveness
  7. Determining whether goods are authentic or counterfeit
  8. Rolling pre-rolls faster and more effectively
  9. Enhanced lighting that improves plant flowering and yield
  10. A compliant vending machine that also provides customer analytics