How one training opportunity led Canawho to partner with WIMTACH

Technology Access Centres have an exclusive advantage that can’t be found anywhere else: one-stop shop access to services.

Canawho became part of WIMTACH’s network of clients when its founder, Pedro Correia, attended the Mobile App Clinic in March 2018, one of many WIMTACH trainings that details the ins and outs of incorporating mobile applications into businesses as well as the overall industry. Canawho is a start-up company that provides knowledge, resources and guidance to people who are curious about the medical and recreational use of cannabis, especially as its use has become newly legalized. The company does not facilitate the sale nor reservation of cannabis products in any way, shape or form.

Correia was looking to consult with a mobile applications expert about how to develop and administer mobile applications, the challenge his company was currently facing. He found it at WIMTACH. As he learned more about it as well as the other services WIMTACH provides – specifically technology development and concept design – Correia decided to partner with WIMTACH to execute the project. However, the draw to WIMTACH went beyond services:

“I liked the concept of working with students and I understand the transition for students to go to the workplace. I thought it would be cool to work with the school (Centennial College) and give students some exposure…they just needed an opportunity,” said Correia in an interview.

After acquiring NSERC-Engage funding via WIMTACH’s proposal writing service, Canawho began working with WIMTACH to build an artificial intelligence (AI) virtual cannabis assistant for customers to access knowledge, resources and guidance. Canawho’s team worked with WIMTACH’s team – Research Associates, project managers, students and faculty members – to ensure the application was highly functional and had the most useful features. Some of these features include a community for users to interact with one another and accessible legal information about each province’s laws around cannabis.

As a result of this collaboration with WIMTACH, Canawho now has a functioning mobile application that is currently undergoing beta testing. In the near future, Correia has expressed continuing his partnership with WIMTACH by obtaining a voucher under the College and Voucher Technology Adoption (CVTA) program so that he can better position his product for commercialization and a product launch.

WIMTACH serves to advance the ideas of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) towards commercialization by providing numerous services they can access in one place. Not only does this position companies to acquire or maintain leadership in their industries, it expands their network to include a wide variety of experts across research disciplines from the Centennial College community.

WIMTACH proudly recognizes funding to support this work from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).