CannaBuild develops app for medical marijuana users

DENVER – CannaBuild, a startup that plans to move to Denver this month, is developing an app for marijuana dispensaries to serve their customers online.

Ashville, N.C.,-based CannaBuild CEO Zach Marburger said the company plans to move its headquarters to Denver this week, though the company is still searching for a permanent space. Marburger, along with Brandon Cook and Tim Skaggs, founded CannaBuild in January.

The company is developing a mobile and desktop app that marijuana users can use to ask dispensaries about symptoms and cannabis strains. App users can participate, anonymously if they like, in chat, text or video chat with dispensary workers to find the right kinds of medical marijuana to sell their customers. Customers can use the app to reserve products for pick-up at the store, similar to the way a pharmacy works.

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“What we want a customer to be able to do is access a dispensary’s inventory from multiple touch points,” Marburger said.

CannaBuild’s app is similar to chat services that large online retailers use to connect with their customers, but it’s designed specifically for the cannabis industry. Marburger believes it will help eliminate longer waits at dispensaries.

“It’s providing convenience for the people who want it and providing a platform for communication for people who would like that,” he said.

Dispensaries also would have access to customer data so they can recommend certain strains to treat various ailments, he said.

CannaBuild said it recently raised $225,000 in equity seed funding through
members of San Francisco-based angel investor network The ArcView Group, which focuses on cannabis companies. CannaBuild plans to sell the app to dispensaries, while customers will be able to download it for free, Marburger said.

The tech boom finally has discovered the legal cannabis industry, and the recent investment from ArcView investors in Cannabuild underscores the transition, said Troy Dayton, CEO of The ArcView Group. CannaBuild’s presentation to investors at a recent ArcView Group event was “one of the highest-rated by our investors.”

“They attracted early support from particularly well-respected members of our group, and I believe that’s one of the reasons they are finding success,” he said.