For all of you who want to find a new smoking buddy, there soon may be an app for that! App That Helps Cannabis Users Find Smoking Buddies Wins Innovate@BU Start-Up Competition https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/app-to-find-smoking-buddies-wins-start-up-competition/ An app that helps marijuana users find a new friend to smoke with took home the top prize in last week’s seventh annual Cannabis Start-Up Competition. The popular event consists of student- and alum-led teams pitching their ideas, Shark Tank–style, to a panel of judges for a chance to win $10,000 and free consulting services from industry leaders. This year’s winner was JoinME, the brainchild of Marco Rotella (Questrom’22) and Claudio Bettini (COM’23), who became friends a few years ago attending BU Italian Students Association meetings. They said the fact that they have lived all over (Rotella is currently getting his MBA at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, while Bettini works in New York City) and have had to make new friends with every move inspired their idea of finding a way to connect strangers with similar hobbies. In this case, the common thread for app users would be their love of cannabis. “We are very proud of what we are doing, and hopefully with everybody’s help we are able to develop our idea even more,” Bettini said after accepting the award and the comically large cheque (think Publishers Clearing House ads). “We’ve put a lot of work into the app so far, and we’re happy it showed tonight,” Rotella added. The competition, held at the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, is co-organized and sponsored by Green Lion Partners, a cannabis-industry business strategy firm founded by former BU classmates Jeff Zuker (Questrom’10) and Mike Bologna (Questrom’10). It’s open to BU student- or alumni-led ancillary cannabis start-ups, meaning those that don’t actually grow or sell marijuana. The contest comes as public support for legalizing marijuana continues to grow. On the same night as the competition (November 6), Ohio became the 24th state to legalize cannabis; last month, a Gallup poll found that 70 percent of Americans think cannabis should be legal, the highest approval rating yet. During his remarks, Zucker said the cannabis industry is built on the “backs of advocates, people fighting against the War on Drugs. So many people have gone to jail over this plant, yet there are these thriving businesses that are being built around it,” he noted. “I always want to [remind] everyone involved how important it is to be involved in advocacy, continue to work to end the War on Drugs, continue to end racially disproportionate enforcement around cannabis. It’s been great to have this platform, and that BU has been supportive of our vision for the industry.” (snipped) Granny