Canopy San Diego, Southern California's premier seed-stage accelerator program for technology and business infrastructure companies that support the legal cannabis industry, is pleased to announce the launch of the Spring 2017 class.

Canopy San Diego, Southern California's premier seed-stage accelerator program for technology and business infrastructure companies that support the legal cannabis industry, is pleased to announce the launch of the Spring 2017 class. Canopy San Diego invests capital, mentorship, and services to accelerate the development of their portfolio companies.

The Canopy San Diego business accelerator consists of a 16-week cannabis-specific program that is designed to spur development and prepare the portfolio companies to raise outside capital upon graduation in late July.

Each company participating in the accelerator program is given office space for up to four employees at the Canopy San Diego offices, and receives at least $20,000 in seed capital with the opportunity for up to an additional $50,000 in follow-on funding prior to graduation. Most importantly, the companies are given access to mentors in virtually every aspect of business development, as well as access to serious investors interested in technology companies targeting the cannabis market. The Canopy San Diego’s rigorous accelerator program and due diligence process helps potential investors make decisions about where to deploy larger amounts of capital.

Between Canopy San Diego and its partners at Canopy Boulder, the accelerator network has a combined portfolio of 64 companies.

The eight companies included in the Canopy San Diego spring cohort include:

Urban Labs is the first scalable cannabis laboratory to embrace the peer-to-peer economy. Turnkey technology and processes come together to de-skill a previously complex process into an affordable business opportunity for every entrepreneur. Founded by Tina Urban and Angel Stanz of San Diego, CA.

Traffic Roots is bringing digital display advertising to the cannabis industry. They help cannabis companies scale their digital advertising footprint by introducing a programmatic self-serve ad platform. Founded by Christian Valdez of San Diego, CA.

MJ Hybrid Solutions is a start-up training platform that fills the cannabis industry sales professional void to increase company profits and retain customer loyalty. Founded by Melissa Stapley of San Diego, CA.

EventHi is the world's first online ticketing and registration platform built for the cannabis industry. EventHi brings people together offline through a variety of events and social experiences in a cannabis-friendly online portal. Founded by Ali Fakhri, Kenneth Gabbara, and Samir Fakhri of San Diego, CA.

Verticann is the first turnkey vertical cannabis cultivation system developed for the commercial cannabis industry. VertiCann's innovative design reduces the cost of cannabis production by up to 50%, while increasing the canopy size by up to 500% when compared to traditional cultivation methods. Founded by Dominick Volpini and Seth Voiron of San Diego, CA.

Ripe Metrics is a Customer Experience Management system with analytics and marketing automation to help dispensaries maximize engagement and increase customer lifetime value. Founded by Aaron Davis and Ryan Friedrich of Oregon.

Collectif is a peer-to-peer social marketplace for cannabis-friendly accommodations and cannabis-inspired experiences. Their goal is to grow and strengthen the cannabis conscience community. Founded by Colton Cranston, Rachael Green, and Zac Blechman of San Diego, CA.

BudTendr is a mobile application that allows the purchase of medical marijuana from a mobile device through licensed dispensaries. Customers view dispensary menus and purchase products for pick up, skipping dispensary lines. Founded by Jake Crow and Darcy McQuaid of Toronto, Canada.

“We’re excited to have such a diverse cohort Spring class of startups, of companies in our second cohort that perfectly complements our Fall 2016 cohort, and gives our investors a balanced portfolio of early-stage cannabis tech companies,” said Jack Scatizzi, Managing Director of Canopy San Diego. “The founders come from a wide variety of backgrounds, each bringing their own experiences to what will be an incredibly dynamic class,” said Jack Scatizzi, Managing Director of Canopy San Diego. “. It’s also great to see our hometown of San Diego so well represented in the class, with 6 of the 8 participating companies based here.”

On March 29th, starting at 5pm PT, Canopy San Diego will host a launch party for the kick-off of its Spring 2017 class. The night will include special addresses from Dr. Dave Shubert from The Salk Institute and Kelley Grimes of the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County, as well as networking with investors, mentors, and entrepreneurs from the Canopy San Diego ecosystem and San Diego cannabis and entrepreneurial communities. Beer, wine and light appetizers will be provided, with all ticket proceeds going to the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County. Full details and tickets can be found here.