Andrew Wilson: “We love Portugal and Infarmed is one of the most advanced and forward-thinking regulatory entities in the world”

Andrew Wilson, founder and CEO of growerIQ, a cannabis cultivation software and management platform for high-quality growers, today announced that its company received 1 million Canadian dollars in funding from the government of Canada. Since the business was founded, the GrowerIQ platform has been adopted by companies in around 15 countries, with more customers coming online “every day”. According to the CEO, cannabis producers use their platform “to manage millions of plants, producing hundreds of millions of grams”. 

[Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages ​​using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original.]

Before working at GrowerIQ, Andrew developed custom enterprise software at Wilcompute Systems Group, a technology consultancy. He has worked in sectors as diverse as aerospace engineering, online marketplaces and private educational clients and specializes in business process consulting and the use of technology to increase business efficiency and profitability.

With a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto and specializing in Spanish and Arabic, Wilson completed an MBA in International Business and Corporate Strategy at York University, with a regional focus on Latin America. After specialization, he developed some projects in Mexico and Spain.

“I love traveling, climbing mountains and have logged approximately 50 dives. Working with the GrowerIQ team to build a leading cannabis cultivation platform has been one of the best challenges of my life”, he says, in the biography published on his company page.

We spoke to Andrew Wilson to learn more about his work and find out how he got into the cannabis field.

How many years have you been working with Grower IQ developing solutions for the cannabis market and why did you get involved in this sector?
We started with the origins of the Canadian cannabis industry, working in a variety of roles. Our team is made up of people with experience in everything from cannabis cultivation to technology and consultancy. Looking at the early stages of the development of the legal industry in Canada, we realized that there was a clear lack of technology available to producers. We saw the opportunity to be the first and, as far as we know, still the only cannabis management platform designed by a master grower. This is an important differentiator and what makes GrowerIQ so intuitive compared to other platforms that were not designed for cannabis.

How did you get this funding from the Canadian government?
The Government saw that we had strength in our space in 15 countries – including that exclusive agreement with Barbados that Cannareporter previously reported – and wanted to support us in our efforts. The aim of the program is to support local businesses and help them become leaders in their space. We are so excited that you have decided to support us and what this can do to help boost our cannabis industry.

What have been Grower IQ's biggest challenges in the cannabis industry?
The biggest challenge has been keeping up with how quickly the industry moves. As you know, things change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and new innovative products and methodologies are regularly adopted. Our incredible team of engineers has figured out the best way to ensure we can stay up to date and still serve all 15 markets with local regulatory reporting. As a result, we have a new software release every few weeks.

What do you know about Portugal and how do you see the Portuguese cannabis market?
We have been in the Portuguese market since the beginning, working with startups and leaders in the cannabis space in the country. Really, all company sizes. One of the reasons we've been able to support so many customers is that our platform is in Portuguese, our customer support team speaks Portuguese, all of our support materials are in Portuguese, and in fact, our platform automates the regulatory reporting of the Infarmed with one click. We love Portugal and Infarmed is one of the most advanced and forward-thinking regulatory entities in the world. We don't say this lightly.

What plans do you have for the future of Grower IQ, particularly in Europe?
We plan to continue our mission to serve producers across Europe and dedicate all our energies to solving time-consuming challenges. If they are successful in their mission to bring natural, plant-based medicinal alternatives to the market and help people, then we consider that a success for us too.