Can we not pretend that cannabis is the future of medicine?

Cannabis being taboo or considered an illegal drug is a closed book from long ago. Nowadays, it’s more massively adopted as a recreational substance with many positive effects. Since the positive impact of cannabis was scientifically proven, the entire industry flourished, and it was high time for legalization.

Frank Qin, along with his fellow friends, saw this as an opportunity to initiate a product on their own that will be practical for those of the green society. Therefore, every weekend, they’d get together and work on the project tirelessly until they reached the final draft.

Mary Agrotechnologies refers to technologies that seem to be the perfect climate and soil for growing cannabis in home conditions.

Jeez, this green story is one in a kind in the users batch because it went from 0 to 100 not so quick. Read on to find out what happened.

Childhood Days

Frank Qin is of Chinese ancestry but he grew up in Canada. He is a 90s kid, a peer to technology and innovations. That particular era itself made most of the kids more connected to electronics than humans, but Frank wasn’t infected with the technology to that extent.

When he was a child, Frank read one proverb that stuck with him until today - A little fragrance always clings to the hand that gives the roses. Although he was just a kid, Frank associated this proverb with being kind, and it was a foundation to his character. He loved innovations and computer science, but being human was something he wanted future generations to learn from him.

When he graduated from Georges Vanier Secondary School, it was time for him to choose his career. Frank always wanted to have his own business someday, and make a difference in the world. So, his passion took him to study computer science, as the future undoubtedly lay in technology.

College and First Jobs

Frank’s academic journey begins at Western University where he enrolled in the Computer Science program. As his studies unfolded, he became more and more passionate to create something new. Yielding to learn new things, Frank went to the University of Holgeun to study on an exchange program. With that pushing drive he had, Frank earned himself a bachelor’s degree in record time.

As soon as he graduated, Frank rolled up his sleeves along with his college colleagues and founded his first start-up called Movement. However, that didn’t last long, and we’ll prescribe it to being the first try. After he got back on his feet from the first failed start-up, he got the strength to sit down and initiate the second start-up called Quest. It was a software product, and this time not only had he invested his savings, but he also invested himself to the maximum, too. Practically, Quest was his life. And sadly, it was an epic fail.

The moral of the epic start-ups is “always come prepared!” Frank learned that he lacked entrepreneurial management and thought process - the crucial elements of leading a start-up. So, he decided to join other start-ups to learn the thought process from the inside.

A Busy Bee Collecting the Experience Nectar

Frank’s first “outside” job was as an iOS developer at Liacada, where he worked for 16 months. His method of gaining experience is bee-like. He went from one company to another to widen his horizons, just like a bee picks the nectar from each flower.

So, after Liacada, Frank changed his location to Vanhawks and became an iOS developer where he gained the most experience. After 7 months, he changed to yet another start-up - Chef Hero. He didn’t last there, but he got the experience as iOS Engineer, and that’s all that counts.

But, his final entrepreneurial nectar to gather was at Goldenwise Capital Management where he worked as a Senior iOS developer. With a stable job and experience in mind, Frank was waiting for the perfect moment to quit and start his own company.

Side Projects Matter

Frank was passionate about growing and nurturing plants since he was a child. But, he had a passion to create things, too. So, back in 2017, Canada had breaking news as they announced legalization for cannabis. The idea to start a company doesn't originate from here, in case you thought of it. Frank realized that it was prime time to act on the stigmas about cannabis.

To begin breaking the chains of stigma, Frank decided to create a prototype for fun. However, he suggested this idea to his friends David and Roger who instantly got hooked. All three friends had stable jobs or school as full-time preoccupation, so their prototype was a weekend getaway. During their free time, they would gather together and work tirelessly until calling it a day.

But, every day they'd arrive at home around 9 pm, Frank would still work on it until midnight. Soon, he was drawn to this pet project to a point where he had to choose between his secure and full-time job as an iOS developer at a hedge fund - a dream to many tech fanatics, to say the least - or, his project. Many thoughts crossed his mind, but the prevailing one was legalization is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, to heck with it, I'll do it - he said. And, the journey starts.

Need Back Up, Please!

Looking for investors is the nightmare of every start-up. Frank and his friends had many options in their heads, but all of them were mere weak links. They knew they had to find investors straight away because they were jobless. Then, one day, Frank and his friends found cannabis pioneers online and decided to reach out to them. In fact, this opportunity turned out profitable for the boys, because they got valuable counseling, and also cannabis pioneers to spread the word.

So, they managed to get an audience thanks to cannabis pioneers, and now it's time to show off the project. The funny thing about it was that their prototype was straight-up ugly. So, they had to restructure it until it looked presentable for social media aka the largest world market.

And so it was. But, even better, their social media marketing developed as a successful Indiegogo campaign.

Mary AgriCulture

Currently, the company works with its investors on its beta test for the Mary Agriculture app. Social media didn't only serve as a marketing platform, but also, as the Mary Agriculture community. Frank and his friends got constructive feedback about their products. They used customer feedback as the foundation to improve the performances so they can deliver the product their customers want.

In fact, the boys' goal was to create a community that is proud to be part of the community to the point where they'd be happy to recruit their friends to the group.

That community today counts $1.28 million in total funding even with two giants like Antares, and Tillman Domotics as their competitors.

Looking Forward to the Future

With its main headquarters in Ontario, Canada, Mary Agrotechnologies aims to seize the world. And, they’re not far from it.

First, they started with a small group of employees, but later, they’ve expanded to up to 50.

Secondly, with their success with the first product, the boys managed to capture the attention of US and Canadian markets. These two markets were familiar fields to Frank, and therefore the costs were synced with the preferences to sell.

However, the plan was to expand their business to every country where cannabis is legal. If you do the math, that's like a billion of the population, to begin with. Plus, it's not surprising for these numbers to jump, so the demand will go even higher. This will require them to think of new business plans to satisfy the demand.

However, the main focus in the future for Frank and his friends is to consider various plant options or systems that will allow them more types of plant growth.

Until then, the main focus remains on raising funds to speed up their growth because showing hardware products to the market goes by showing money first.

Next time you find yourself in the middle of a conversation about cannabis, jump in with Mary’s story, it surely is an attention-grabber!