How Qredible wants to fix the cannabis industry through Blockchain and AI

This interview was conducted with Brian Fitzpatrick, CEO of cannabis fintech firm Qredible. It has been edited for length and clarity.

The hemp and cannabis industry is still like the “wild, wild west” in many ways – especially when it comes to quality information.

Qredible CEO Brian Fitzpatrick recently spoke with Green market report on how the AI ​​blockchain startup platform that aims to verify, validate and ensure compliance in the cannabis and hemp/CBD industries.

The consequences of temporary solutions can pose real threats, not only to the businesses, but to the people who use these products.

Tell me briefly about yourself and your company?

Fitzpatrick: I created a software company pretty much right on the heels of (the housing collapse) and started automating quality and transparency around the lending process to reduce fraud and increase the quality of manufactured loans that were originated in the secondary market.

The good news is that no one has ever died or gotten sick from a bad mortgage. But I can of course tell you that in this industry the stakes are much higher because we mess with people’s health. What I saw going on in this industry was in a way the wild wild west.

Qredible is a software company that is the industry’s only digital registry. And what this basically means is that we monitor everything that happens about the companies and their products. So we validate and verify their licenses, their certifications. We issue these certificates with a smart contract ID to a blockchain. Then, in the digital ledger of that blockchain, it all becomes immutable.

We recently launched … a very, very cool system that will help this industry become safer and allow companies on the B2B side of the supply chain to do research – and treat us as the single source of truth for what’s going on out there.

So eventually, next year, we will release this for free to consumers. So, consumers want to know what the products are that they put into their bodies and know which company makes them and have full transparency about their legalization and the status of all their certifications.

What would it look like to a consumer? What is the vision?

Fitzpatrick: Basically, we’re going to be the Carfax of cannabis. So before you buy a used car, you should enter the VIN, you should check the vehicle – make sure it hasn’t been in any accidents. You will be doing research on that platform as well.

So what it will really look like to the consumer is that they will be able to take a picture of the label. We have developed artificial intelligence that will identify and link these labels to specific brands. They will be able to find out that this particular product is distributed through XYZ company associated with these manufacturers and they will be able to essentially research the company based on that product.

We currently monitor over 36,000 licensed companies across the country. There will be a QR code that will take you to a report that can tell the consumer everything about the company.

Now, from the company’s perspective, that company can basically say, “Yes, we’re aware of these lawsuits. We’re aware of these things. Here are the things we’re doing to address them. Here’s, you know, our course of action.”

Can you talk about how this platform might work in spaces outside of the supply chain, like a company’s website or social media posts?

Fitzpatrick: So across the country, our compliance department has collected all the rules and regulations that apply to labels and marketing, and we’ve built it into a machine learning system.

The first thing we do is comb through the website electronically. The technology reads the lines, and then it applies it against the artificial intelligence that understands what those rules and regulations are.

Then it will find all the places on your website and social media that you have no-no’s, the areas where you say things you shouldn’t say. And it will give that notification. So instead of paying a lawyer $750 an hour to actually review the website, the technology does it for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time.

We’re not just trying to secure the supply chain, we’re trying to help these companies stay out of trouble by reducing the cost of compliance, because that’s the big headache for them.

Talk about how this platform will benefit small business owners or small cultivators trying to make it in an unscrupulous industry.

Fitzpatrick: Secure. From a cultivator perspective, one of the challenges I saw especially in the CBD field in 2019, on the heels of the 2018 Farm Bill, every single tobacco farmer said, “Hey, I’m going to start growing CBD and hemp, and I’m going to sell it to these cultivators.”

First, there was an abundance and oversupply of the industry, and secondly, the farmers who were cultivating who were lucky enough to sell produce, they didn’t know who they were selling to.

I mean, they’re farmers. They don’t necessarily know who is on the other end of the transaction.

And the people who were basically buying produce, they didn’t know if they could trust the cultivator. So the farmer ends up sending free samples across the country and still doesn’t know if they’re dealing with a qualified buyer.

What Qredible does is it helps the buyer and seller identify the legitimacy of the other party, so the buyer knows they are dealing with a credible COA that is blockchained and hasn’t been monkeyed with by the farmer.

What would this mean for, say, the Delta-8 loophole and problems with other hemp derivatives?

Fitzpatrick: There is a big problem out there in the industry right now. In fact, I have a personal experience with a family member who was sent to the emergency room because of a batch. He is in the business and was sent by a manufacturer a bunch of delta-8 samples and he ended up in the emergency room as a result. We’re starting to see a lot of people getting really sick and sick because of these loopholes that exist.

We are monitoring very closely what the states are doing with this, and the recalls and the safety parameters that are now starting to be looked at are starting to be put in place. Because time is of the essence with many of these products.

I spoke with a CBD producer at MJBizCon and he told me that the majority of his orders right now are around this delta-8 distillate. And it’s the hottest thing on the market right now. Because it’s basically, “Oh, I get to be in the cannabis business without getting a license to sell marijuana.” And that is a very dangerous thing for the industry.

So what we do is we monitor it electronically very closely and we notify the supply chain of changes to it. And this is why I’m very keen to get this out to consumers, because consumers don’t know any better, right? I mean, they just jump on these products.

There is not much education on the consumer side. The B2B side has gotten smart, get it, but they also know what sells, so they just skip it all. And that is not the best for consumers.

I wanted to talk about New York very quickly before I let you go.

Fitzpatrick: Yes, so think about this. We track and validate and block and issue smart contract IDs for all these licenses.

Imagine a consumer standing outside a drugstore in New York and basically using their phone and seeing the Qredible ‘Q’ with a QR code, scanning it, and it says, “You’re standing on Fifth and Broadway right now, and this is XYZ dispensary; this is a properly licensed New York State dispensary. Here is their certificate from Qredible and here is all the information about this company.”

So the state of New York can basically say, if you don’t see the Qredible seal, and you don’t get this validation electronically while you’re at that dispensary, you’re not dealing with a properly licensed dispensary. Therefore, New York State cannot claim to follow all legal safety guidelines and limits.

Can you just remind me of the timeline for this rollout? And if you had to go on the track when a situation like New York could start taking advantage of the service?

Fitzpatrick: The technology is live today. So we offer this to cannabis brands and hemp CBD producers and distributors. And they sign up. These companies are all signing up.

Our first rollout is to go after the B2B side. Phase two of that, which we’re entering right now, is we’re starting to work with different states. But there is obviously a process, because you have to be approved to do business with the state, and then the state has to incorporate you into their process and workflow.

Honestly, what I’m trying to do right now is get the attention of every single state in the country that has these legalized programs. California is a good example. The illegal market in California is three times larger than the legal market. How do we change that? Well, SAFE banking is going to help, right?

But being able (to get) a consumer to identify that this is an illegal dispenser and buyer beware, this can be dangerous for you. Educating the consumer about that is very, very important.

So the technology is there. There is nothing to prevent us from doing business with the government or anyone else. It’s just, we’re building right now.

Post Views: 135