Co-Founder of Innovative Cannabis Company Trying to Move Industry Forward

Photo credit: Grow Glide

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

As a still budding industry, cannabis is looking for thought leaders to innovate and chart a course. With big names like Tilray, Inc. TLRY and Canopy Growth Corp. CGC dominating headlines, new disruptors are looking to shake things up.

Co-founder and CEO of Grow Glide, Travis Schwartz, sat down with Benzinga recently to speak about unveiling the company’s new cultivation technology, products, and software launching on the Grow Glide website, as well as the industry’s shift to multi-tier grows at large.  

Where did the concept for Grow Glide come from?

“Grow Glide began when my fellow co-founder and longtime cultivator, Darin Siples, looked at the multi-tier cannabis space and realized that it was full of a bunch of companies that had no authentic ties to cannabis,” begins Schwartz, “Darin knew that he could design a system that was innovative and purpose-built for cultivation.  He asked me to hop on board as CEO and handle the business side of things given my previous experience scaling companies quickly and efficiently.” 

The company has enjoyed major growth over the past 2 years. It started with a team of 4 and is now 36 people strong. The company has seen 10 times YoY revenue growth and expects to double that by year’s end.

What are the benefits of using the Grow Glide system?

Schwartz says, “one of the fun stories I tell people is that we rarely, if ever, lose a sale if a cultivator has the chance to touch and see one of our systems in person. The differences are just that obvious.” 

The company uses sturdy, 2mm steel to build out its racks. They are intended to easily support multi-level grows, including the company's other products, Grow Decks and AirGlide. With AirGlide, Schwartz believes the company solves a critical issue of providing clean air circulation efficiently.

Can you tell us about your new proprietary room-building software?

The software allows cultivators to plan out their growing operations in advance, with the ability to see it rendered in 3D. It also allows for calculations of canopy space, revenue and other critical estimations.

“If it sounds like a lot — IT IS!,” Shwartz says, “We were thrilled to debut the technology at MJBizCon this year and saw over 200 cultivators build out their own rooms. The calls for us to put this tech on the web for everyone to use were overwhelming — so we’re happy to share it today with the larger cannabis community. And to be honest, we’re already working on version 2.0 — we think the possibilities for this software experience are truly endless.”

What makes your new room-builder software so valuable for cultivators?

“The seismic shift from single tier to multi-tier grows is happening. However, that transition can be intimidating for cultivators or investors who don’t have a way to effectively visualize what their rooms might look like or estimate the return on their investment,” Schwartz states. “By giving our industry the tools to start planning out grows and making Grow Glide (and the entire multi-tier movement) approachable in an immediate visual and financial sense — we are confident that our software will change the way people view maximizing their cultivation dreams.”

What has you guys excited about the future of this space?

The company recently launched an augmented reality experience that was received extremely well according to Schwartz. He states, “You might not think of Grow Glide as a tech company — but I do. We design total cultivation solutions, from racking and tables to workflow and airflow and now we’re pushing the envelope on accessible software solutions.”

With an eye on the future, Schwarts continues, “My hope is that the industry takes this cue  — not only for where Grow Glide is going, but where we ought to be going to continue to make cannabis and cannabis production accessible, approachable and manageable. My goal is that we’re having this discussion in a year, when Grow Glide has debuted a new, innovative technology solution that we’re just only whispering about right now.”

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.