Microsoft partners with a start-up to monitor sales of cannabis – Le Figaro

The company has partnered with a start-up to ensure proper monitoring of legal sales of cannabis in the United States, from producer to consumer.

When a big name in digital joins … the drug market. Microsoft on Thursday announced a partnership with Kind Financial, a California start-up whose technology precisely monitors the sales of cannabis “from seed to sale”. This monitoring ensures that cannabis seeds are not lost or are not sold on the black market. The service will be rolled out in twenty states have authorized the sale of cannabis for recreational or therapeutic purposes.

Established in 2013, the Financial Kind platform is already requested by the local authorities and agencies regulation to monitor sales of cannabis from the production site to the place of delivery. Microsoft will add its solution cloud “Azure Governement” designed to meet the specific requirements of the US authorities, and will also provide marketing support. The third most influential brand in the world according to the ranking BrandZ 2016, Microsoft is, as the title New York Times , “the first big company to want to serve the legal market for marijuana.”

the digital giant intends to take advantage of the opening of the legal market for cannabis. Better and better tolerated in the US, it is also strictly regulated by the authorities. Almost half of American States authorized their sale for medical or recreational use. And these sales benefit the US economy. Colorado, which taxes to 30% sales, won $ 125 million in 2015. Last year, Americans spent $ 5.4 billion (€ 4.8 billion) over the legal market drug, according ArcView Market Research Data and New Frontier. The two research groups believe that the market’s growth potential is 30% per year over the next five years.