Marijuana Business Magazine - January 2017

Asha Oroskar Orochem Technologies, CEO Age: Not available BACKSTORY: A molecular biologist, Oroskar might seem an unlikely revo- lutionary. But her Naperville, Illinois, company might well change the entire cannabis industry. Orochem invented a new way to extract CBD from the hemp plant and then sued the Colo- rado cannabis company it was working with,Whole Hemp.The dispute cent- ers on technology that Orochem used to extract CBD from industrial hemp. WHY TO WATCH: The Orochem- Whole Hemp dispute needs to be on every cannabis company’s radar. Orochem wants to become the first company to get federal trade-secret pro- tection for a cannabis invention. Oro- chem alleges that Whole Hemp officials pretended to be interested in producing CBD for Orochem when the company’s true intent was to discover proprietary extraction techniques. Orochem is suing in U.S. District Court in Illinois, not state court. As more marijuana com- panies work across state lines and build partnerships, the Orochem case could set an important precedent. BIGGEST GOAL IN 2018: Oroskar declined to discuss the lawsuit. But the suit would indicate she’s interested in the cannabis market. “Orochem’s trade secrets provide it with signifi- cant advantages in the production of THC-free CBD,” according to the complaint. Amy Poinsett MJ Freeway, CEO Age: 50 BACKSTORY: Poinsett helped pioneer seed-to-sale software in the marijuana market. More than a thousand dispensaries and recreational shops nationwide use MJ Free- way’s Tracker point-of-sale software, and several states have signed contracts with the company to use its Leaf Data Systems seed-to-sale traceability program. But multiple outages in 2016 and 2017 saw retailers losing important data, leading to significant losses in revenue and a loss of customer confidence in the Denver company. WHY TO WATCH: Can Poinsett rebound from the string of outages?The company’s reputation has taken a major hit. And while Poinsett says MJ Freeways is on the upswing, speculation swirls over the company’s future. Despite the thin ice,MJ Free- way is poised to make significant gains on both the point-of-sale and state seed-to-sale traceability fronts. Last year, the company landed traceability contracts in Washington state and Pennsylvania. Looking ahead, Poinsett is pinning her hopes on the rollout of the company’s second-generation MJ Platform software, which she says will solve the outage issues. BIGGEST GOAL IN 2018: Poinsett wrote in an email that she would like to increase MJ Freeway’s market reach to 60% of all businesses using its second-generation plat- form in regulated cannabis markets.