'Setting The Standard For Product Safety': Akerna's CEO Talks Cannabis Data

Akerna Corp KERN CEO Jessica Billingsley discussed the company’s enterprise resource planning software technology in front of cannabis entrepreneurs and investors Thursday at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Detroit.

“At Akerna, we are visionaries. We innovate to meet the needs of technology and compliance, not only for today but for five, 10, 15 years in the future," Billingsley said in a keynote address. 

The company is working to bring together data points across the cannabis supply chain, she said. 

The Process, Benefits Of Tracking Cannabis

Akerna technologies give the most extensive look at cannabis from beginning to end, Billingsley said. 

Billingsley showed the audience an unmedicated gummy bear and said: “If this were filled with cannabis, I would be able to tell you, the farm of which it came from, anything additional applied during the growth process, when those plants were harvested and at what day and location. I could tell you when they were distributed, to which retail location and when that product was sold.”

The data is collected at every step along the way with the Akerna MJ Platform, the CEO said.

Akerna has the most robust cannabis data collection platform to date, she said.

"We [have] tracked more than $15 billion in cannabis sales transactions.”

Click here more information about the upcoming Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Oct. 22-23 in Chicago. 

With the growth in the cannabis sector, it is expected to bring $31 billion in sales by 2027, Billingsley said.

"New consumers and or patients are entering the cannabis market at a growth rate of 9% a month," she said. 

Some are new entrants, while others are transitioning from the illicit market, she said. 

With the legalization of cannabis across many nations and states, Akerna can collect data from every stage, the CEO said: from cultivation to manufacturing and retail.

"This technology is setting the standard for product safety in the supply chain for cannabis products."

Akerna shares were down 0.81% at $9.05 at the time of publication Friday. 

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Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley speaks Thursday at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Detroit. Photo by Dustin Blitchok.