Greenlight Analytical, the Halifax maker of testing equipment for cannabis crops, is launching its first product, the HarvestIQ, on the back of raising about $300,000 over the summer.

The HarvestIQ is a modified mass spectrometer – a machine that analyzes the chemical composition of substances and lists their contents – paired with an artificial intelligence system that will translate the spectrometer’s output into a format understandable by non-experts.

Cannabis growers usually rely on lab-testing to check the health and chemical contents of their products, including for regulatory compliance. But sending samples to laboratories can take weeks, and by the time growers find out about a problem with their crops, it may be too late to correct the issue.

“We’re planning on having our own (business-to-business) salespeople, as well as working with strategic partners like distributors and system integrators,” said CEO James Wylde in an interview, referring to companies that specialize in turn-key systems for cannabis growers, such as lighting and processing equipment.

“The B2B sales team, we’re going to build that in-house and they will be selling directly to producers. With some of the strategic partners … we’re talking to several of them about integrating into their systems.”

Founded in 2018, Greenlight has conducted much of its research and development work with the help of Dalhousie University and Acadia University, as well as NRC-IRAP funding. The company previously raised $300,000 in 2021.

With the latest tranche of funding, Wylde plans to build out Greenlight’s in-house team, as well as ramp up marketing efforts.

He added that prospective customers in industries other than cannabis have also expressed interest in versions of the HarvestIQ tailored for their respective use cases, such as winemaking and biofuels, though an expansion into those industries will come after Greenlight commercializes its tech for the cannabis industry.

“We’re getting a lot of interest from growers of high-value crops,” said Wylde. “So we’ve expanded our focus beyond Cannabis.

“Ultimately, the chemicals that give food its characteristic flavours, they’re all the same. They’re not unique to cannabis. Things like the terpenes, flavonoids, they’re present really in anything that we eat or drink.”

Greenlight’s beachhead markets will be the South-Western United States, New England and Canada. Further international expansion will happen as regulatory regimes evolve to become friendlier to cannabis companies — a process that has been under way for years in jurisdictions as diverse as Mexico and Germany, with the latter’s cabinet having recently signed off on a proposed bill to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

So far, Wylde has been relying on local subcontractors for manufacturing work, and he said he plans to keep producing the HarvestIQ under partnerships with East Coast businesses.

“Initially we had planned to manufacture internally, but we’re finding there’s gems here locally that can probably handle manufacturing in the volumes that we need," he said.