Twentyseven Global, a Denver custom software development company and avid supporter of local startups, congratulates one cannabis tech startup on its past year of success. MassRoots, a cannabis-friendly social network, has grown immensely this year proving that the cannabis tech industry is one to watch. As more states lobby toward marijuana legalization, numerous cannabis tech startups have been popping up around the United States.
In MassRoots’ 2015 review, Isaac Dietrich, CEO of MassRoots, said “This past year was a period of tremendous growth and transformation for MassRoots, but in many ways was merely a practice round for 2016. We view this next year as our golden opportunity to grow MassRoots into one of the leading technology platforms for the cannabis industry.”
A majority of social network platforms prohibit advertising the sale of prescription or recreational drugs, hindering cannabis businesses from marketing themselves. While multiple states have approved forms of medical and recreational use of marijuana, federal law still considers it illegal. This has prompted social media companies to restrict advertising and even ban network accounts for cannabis businesses. This is how MassRoots began.
Starting off this year, MassRoots had a little over 200,000 users and was on the iOS App Store’s list of banned applications. Because of MassRoots’ large following, it was able to lift the ban in mid-February and as the year comes to a close, the company has tripled its user base to 675,000 users.
MassRoots was also named one of the top 10 finalists for the Extreme Tech Challenge, a competition aimed at identifying companies that have found product-market fit and have the potential to break into the mainstream. MassRoots beat out thousands of other companies to become a finalist and will present at the Consumer Electronics Show in January for a chance to pitch to Richard Branson on his private Necker Island. Even if MassRoots isn’t selected to pitch to Branson, the exposure from this national competition has made the company a frontrunner in the cannabis tech industry.
Creighton O’Neal, vice president of client services for Twentyseven Global, says, “Congratulations to Mass Roots on a successful 2015 and strong momentum going into 2016!”
As we head into 2016, at least 8 states are expected to have some form of cannabis legalization on the ballot. MassRoots hopes to continue generating a following of cannabis consumers to create a powerful community to help legalization initiatives pass. The company plans to introduce in-app voter registration in states where permitted, push notifications of voter legislation deadlines and tools to enable legalization campaigns to organize events.
To learn more about MassRoots, click here.
To see what else MassRoots has planned for 2016, click here.