Cannabis Thinking: the variety of businesses in the sector is the theme of the panel
Innovation and entrepreneurship were the main topics of the panel on technology, which also addressed themes such as social impact and sustainability.
By Jacqueline Passos
Business opportunities in the cannabis market were the main theme of the panel: "#greenchanging technology - Innovation and entrepreneurship", which was moderated by Felipe Paiva, foreign exchange executive at Abrão Filho Banking and Exchange and Fernando Pensado, head of innovation at SBT and founding partner of the Sechat portal, Guilherme Guardião, community manager of Civi-co, and Iara Vicente, CEO of Nossa Terra Firme Consultoria as participants.
New businesses
One of the panel topics was the opportunity for new businesses, especially in the cannabis industry. For example, Felipe presented some of his work as a foreign exchange executive specializing only in clients wishing to transact with cannabis products. Fernando, on the other hand, shared a bit about the birth of Sechat, a media channel specializing in medicinal cannabis, which gathers news from around the world on the topics of business, health, and legislation. On the other hand, Iara commented a bit about her consulting project focused mainly on the implementation of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), which, although not directly related to cannabis yet, could help plant producers if cultivation is legalized.
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Representing Civi-co, a civic-social and environmental impact hub, Guilherme mentioned that the place brings together four vertical business pillars: cannabis, food, education, and sustainable fashion. He also states that cannabis, despite being one of the pillars, can also move between each of the sectors, as there are foods made with cannabis, as well as clothes made with hemp, and with the sector's growth, the need for knowledge improvement and therefore education arises.
"Figital"
The union of the physical and digital terms, created by Professor Silvio Meira, emerged several times in the panel. Fernando was the first to remember the theme when presenting Sechat, a channel that is becoming "figital". In addition to Fernando, Guilherme also touched on the theme.
"We are a 'figital' impact business community, as the great Silvio Meira says, a Pernambuco professor who created Porto Digital, and who brings this vision that today, in 2021, we are already in another moment of our society. In 2021, our way of interacting with technology has advanced sharply, much because of the pandemic, as we had to innovate our social relationships. But today our advances and our interactions with technology are much greater. Therefore, there is this need for no separation between the physical world and the digital world and the construction of 'figital'."
Guilherme Guardião
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Cannabis is agro
According to Iara, "Brazil's climatic conditions are much more favorable for planting here than in much of the countries that currently dominate the inputs market." She also emphasized that the possibilities of the plant go far beyond its medicinal potential. This shows us that business opportunities with cannabis go far beyond technological startups and large pharmaceutical companies.
Felipe, who has an international market view, also added that, although he has noticed this business model in imports, Brazil should also focus on exporting cannabis inputs and, with that, make even more profit from the market.
The market needs to open the debate
For Fernando, it is essential that we make room for dialogue in the market and only with that, we will be able to boost businesses and attract more investors and entrepreneurs to the sector. Speaking always to the same audience or pointing fingers at someone who made a mistake or a bad decision are attitudes that end up driving away potential businesses. For him, "it is necessary to be persistent and deal with [the situation] with resilience."
"Bringing this type of dialogue and being humble in wanting to receive the different, wanting to understand and know how to listen is essential to build a community. Because the community will always be sustained by trust, trust is a matter that you do not gain, you conquer. And you will conquer this by delivering. It's what I see and hear my father talking a lot about: 'If you don't know how to serve, you are not useful for anything.' So, knowing how to listen, understand the pain, understand a different point of view, I comment with the partners that there is the wave of 'cancellation,' (...) people sometimes take a comma and want to build a narrative without understanding the context. So, when are we going to be joining and wanting to solve the problem together to progress? Is it by pointing or welcoming? Is it by sitting together, discussing market opportunities, understanding the patient's pains and what the entrepreneur suffers or will it always be us and them?"
Fernando Pensado
Technology and innovation in the cannabis sector were the main topics of the panel, however, the panelists went far beyond, as topics such as historical reparations, social responsibility, and sustainability were also addressed.