Meet The Founders is a series of interviews with our Fall 2017 class founders. Each team is working to bring a product or service to the cannabis industry through the Canopy accelerator (and in some cases, are currently operating in the space), helping to alleviate the pain points in this growing industry. Want to know more about how to launch a cannabis business? Canopy's JumpStart Conference for Entrepreneurs & Startups is on October 19th in Denver, CO. This FREE half-day conference is packed with panels on brand trends, the regulatory environment, cultivation best practices, dispensary operations and more. Space is limited - register now!
Matt Cooke, CEO & Founder (Ann Arbor, MI)
Matt Cooke is a Fall 2017 founder in Canopy's accelerator program. Matt joined Canopy for the 16-week bootcamp program to launch his review management platform, Dispensarly. Matt is obviously a big believer in data, and saw an opportunity for dispensaries to optimize their review process to gain insight they can actually use to improve retail operations.
What is Dispensarly?
Dispensarly provides Voice of Customer data for the cannabis industry using artificial intelligence to analyze reviews and provide actionable insights. The problem we solve is that there are a lot of reviews for dispensaries but there's no easy way for dispensary owners to understand what their customers are saying in these reviews. What do they love? What do they not like? We help dispensaries easily understand what their customers are saying and provide actionable insights.
What is your background? Do you have cannabis industry experience, or is this your first venture in the industry?
This is my first venture into the cannabis industry. My previous experience is in reputation management, digital advertising and crowd funding.
How did you end up at Canopy?
I found Canopy through a Google search and I applied right away. I knew Canopy could help me make industry connections and help me refine my business idea.
In which area do you foresee the most growth in the cannabis industry?
I am a little biased, but I think data will play an important role in the coming years. I think data will help the industry discover new product ideas and understand emerging challenges as the industry matures.