Zentrela Announces Creation of Strategic Advisory Board
HAMILTON, ON, Feb. 25, 2021 /CNW/ – Canadian neurotech start-up Zentrela today announced the creation of a Strategic Advisory Board (SAB), a group of cannabis industry experts and veteran entrepreneurs chosen to counsel the company commercializing their technology globally.
Israel Gasperin, company CEO and Founder commented, “With our recent infusion of investment capital and the scientific validation of our proprietary research methodology, the time is right to think more broadly about the range of commercial opportunities that are available to us.” The new advisors include:
Alex Revich, an Equity Partner at Hybrid Pharm, is a pioneer in the Canadian cannabis industry. Alex combines a vast network of industry relationships with extensive experience in the medical cannabis sector as well as years spent educating cannabis consumers and retail staff on how to safely enjoy recreational cannabis products.
Gregg Battersby is the Founder and President of Peak Processing Solutions, a licensed producer of Cannabis 2.0 products specializing in 3rd party commercialization and manufacturing of cannabis-infused products. Gregg has a wealth of experience commercializing products within the cannabis industry and keeps his finger on the pulse of trends and opportunities in the Canadian cannabis space to support partners in bringing innovative and disruptive products to market.
Jordon Sansom, investor and Director of Marketing at Shape Products brings deep industrial design expertise to the neurotech category where continuous innovation is required to keep Zentrela on the forefront of new ergonomic data collection technologies.
Andrew Holden, Co-founder and CTO of Weever Apps, is a successful Canadian entrepreneur who has built his own software company that enables the world’s leading manufacturers to digitize, transform and visualize their operations. Andrew also advises Canadian software entrepreneurs on how to build scalable organizations structured for global growth.
“I have spent years in the cannabis industry providing consumers with the information they require for the safe and informed use of cannabis products,” said Alex Revich. “Zentrela brings exactly the kind of science-backed product effect information the industry needs to educate consumers and grow the category.”
“The next wave of growth in the cannabis industry,” according to Gregg Battersby, “will come from product innovation and new users. Zentrela is the missing piece of the puzzle, they provide the scientific product-effect information new users require to comfortably experiment with new products. How high will I get; how long will I feel the effects? These are the questions that Zentrela answers.”
“Neurotechnology represents a powerful synthesis of technical capabilities that didn’t exist ten years ago,” said Jordon Sansom, “Personally, I am focused on human-centric design, keeping the consumer at the centre of the entire process from research through to education. Zentrela understands that ultimately this is all about helping individuals make better decisions.”
“Zentrela is poised for a period of very fast growth,” offered Andrew Holden, “their technology is proven, they are attracting savvy investors and the industry is growing at an exponential rate. My role is to challenge them to think laterally across the business to ensure that they have built the right structure and established the necessary processes and metrics to sustain the challenges associated with high growth global start-ups.
In 2019 Zentrela raised $1.2M in funding from the Ontario Brain Institute and various government agencies to fund prototype development and clinical trials. They have recently announced a successful seed round of $850,000 which will be used in part to fund this round of research and accelerate progress on creating the world’s largest scientific database of cannabis consumer experiences1.
The neuroscience of cannabis is advancing quickly at pace with the speed of deregulation, as government regulators, license producers, drug testing experts, law enforcement officials and recreational cannabis users seek to better understand cannabis and its effects on the brain.
“Our research has already identified several proprietary signatures related to how cannabis impacts the brain. We are now cataloguing the entire universe of consumer experiences for Cannabis 2.0 products. This goldmine of data will help unlock new insights and opportunities for licensed producers and enable cannabis consumers to make more informed purchase decisions to ensure responsible and enjoyable cannabis use,” says Israel Gasperin, Zentrela CEO and founder.
About Zentrela
Zentrela Inc. is advancing the understanding of the brain effects of recreational cannabis and is creating the world’s largest scientific database of cannabis consumer experiences. Visit us at https://www.zentrela.com
