NCIA Member Profile: CannLabs, Inc.

About: CannLabs, Inc., is a solutions provider with intellectual property, proprietary cloud-based analytics, and scientific methods to serve the cannabis industry. Through Carbon Bond Holdings Inc., CannLabs provides laboratories with the necessary business intelligence technology and other solutions required to serve the cannabis industry, and these include the first state-licensed laboratory in Denver, Colorado.

Cannabis Industry Sector: Analytical Testing

NCIA Member Since: 2011

Membership Status: Sustaining

Led by: Genifer Murray

How has CannLabs evolved since you founded the business?
CannLabs has made leaps and bounds since we founded the company in April 2010. I started in a lab space that was 150 square feet with one instrument. We recently moved into our new lab space that is 4000 square feet with 2500 square feet of office space. We currently have 20 employees and continue to rapidly grow. We just signed a lease in Connecticut and we’re excited about expanding our services there. Testing in Colorado is mandatory for adult-use only, and we were the first state-certified lab in the country. The industry is changing fast and I’m extremely happy at the way CannLabs is positioned to support it.

Why did you choose to go into cannabis testing, and how does testing and analysis fit into the future of the cannabis industry?
It was literally started on a napkin in Arizona when I was visiting my Dad at the beginning of 2010. My first business partner had the idea and after returning to Colorado I did my due diligence and absolutely loved the idea. I have a B.S. in Microbiology and I love science. It seemed like a perfect fit for me as it allowed me to bring together my business brain and my natural desire to do something different.

CannLabs started as a lab offering a full range of testing services, but we have found that our expertise, experience, and quality of our service has allowed us to be heavily involved in other areas beyond testing.

For example, if a grower finds that the quality of the product is not good during testing, we can advise them on how best to deal with the issue. This allows for improved quality of the product all around which means a better and safer product for the consumer. We also have medicinal chemists who research deep into cannabis and look for ways to reformulate for better products. The science and technology behind cannabis is an area we excel in at CannLabs.

We also have a proprietary, cloud-based technology that feeds real-time data via our web portal. This allows clients to post their test results instantly on our ‘Product Finder’ or our other partner sites (MJ Freeway and WeedMaps) which allows consumers to find CannLabs-tested and -certified products fast and easy. This not only gives customers reassurance that the products they are finding are certified by CannLabs, but it also drives traffic to the dispensaries we test for as it is a fabulous location-finder. We also offer statistics so our clients can push one button and see trends. For example, the Colorado MED process requests a 3-month average for potency. Our clients do not need to take the time to do that. Instead they simply push a button and our system does it for them. Whatever our customers want to see, we can customize it.

What was the licensing process like?
Comprehensive. The CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) was at our lab for about nine hours going through methods, SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures), testing our lab director and lab staff, and thoroughly going through the lab. Heather Despres, our lab director, was very prepared, so we were able to get our license without many changes. We were very happy to finally get certified, as I have been waiting for the opportunity for four years.

Why did you get involved with NCIA?
Why wouldn’t CannLabs? I remember in the very beginning of 2011 when it started, I wanted to join so badly but I was barely making enough to keep afloat. Once I could, I joined immediately; I believe at the end of 2011. It is very important to support the industry not only locally but nationally. NCIA is the ONLY one out there working for us. NCIA has been so wonderful to be a part of and you meet some amazing people leading the industry in this group. If only the entire industry felt this way, we might have banking issues solved by now.