LOS ANGELES, CA - May 24, 2022 - PRESS RELEASE - Cure8, a cannabis IT and security services provider in North America, announced today that it was expanding into the Florida cannabis market, one of the world’s largest, with the acquisition of the Coral Springs-based cannabis IT services firm Real Cloud Pros (RCP).
“We see a lot of opportunity in the Florida market,” said Cure8 CEO and CTO Eric Schlissel. “Even with recreational sales remaining illegal for now, it’s still the third largest market in the U.S. with over $1.3 billion in revenues in 2020 and over 400 active dispensaries.”
Schlissel added, “Our services will help the state’s MSOs maintain compliance, stabilize costs, and continue to grow. We’ll also help smaller operators use technology and IT best practices to survive, compete, and punch above their weight. And when new medical and recreational licensing opportunities open up eventually, we’ll be well-positioned to help those licensees get set up and grow quickly.”
Cure8's cannabis IT services include point-of-sale (POS) system installation, surveillance system design and installation, managed IT services (24/7 monitoring, management, and support of a client's IT), cyber security assessments and consulting, cloud consulting and management, and hardware procurement.
Cure8 has supported scores of cannabis dispensary, processing, and grow locations since 2016, working for leading brands such as Canopy Growth, Tokyo Smoke, Superette, and performing artist Drake-affiliated Bullrider.
Cure8's leadership suggested several reasons for their dominant position in the cannabis IT services market:
- They get cannabis. They have been serving the industry since 2016 and understand its unique requirements, including compliance and business continuity.
- They get retail. Many on the Cure8 team have a background in retail. They know how frustrating tech problems can be when you have a line of customers waiting, which is why they offer guaranteed response times for critical issues of under 5 minutes. This carries over into their work for manufacturers, distributors, cultivators, and vertically-integrated cannabis companies, too, who similarly have a low tolerance for stoppages and delays.
- They care. Cure8's team works with clients on a one-to-one, consultative basis. They help customers develop a standardized technology "stack" that matches their preferences, business needs, and brand aesthetics. With installs, they work according to the client's schedule, slipping in and out often in just one or two workdays, and have never missed a deadline. With their managed IT services they offer custom escalation procedures, priority workflows, support SLAs, and more.
The company has grown multiple times over in terms of new clients and revenue over the last few years, assisted by strategic moves like its acquisition of Real Cloud Pros and by partnerships with leading cannabis tech innovators in both software and hardware.
“We expect to accelerate our growth going forward, as cannabis companies continue to mature in operations and further appreciate the value of professionally installed and managed IT, particularly in avoiding costly outages and security breaches and reducing risk,” said Schlissel. “We also see additional opportunities opening up in the new markets of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Connecticut, New Mexico, Mississippi, South Dakota, and elsewhere, as new cannabis businesses will be seeking an experienced IT partner to guide them through the startup process.”
The Florida-based Real Cloud Pros offered technology selection, procurement, management, security, and compliance services to cannabis businesses. Like Cure8, their success was rooted in their holistic, partner-like approach and a commitment to providing clients with only the best technologies on the market. Cure8 will be working to smoothly transition RCP’s clients to their systems over the next few days and weeks.
David Levy, CEO and Founder of Real Cloud Pros and an IT consultant with over 30 years of experience, will be joining Cure8 as a Technology Ambassador.
“Agreeing to the deal with Cure8 was an easy choice,” said Levy. “We share the same values, approach, and high standards. As a combined team, we’ll have the scale and combined expertise to better serve the needs of the entire Florida cannabis market, while continuing to provide world-class management and support to Cure8 and Real Cloud Pros clients.”
Under the terms of the deal, Cure8 will be taking Real Cloud Pros’s place as an exhibitor at the 6th Annual Cannabis Law, Accounting and Business (CLAB) event in Miami on June 3rd and 4th, 2022.
