About Kanabo

The Company

Kanabo is creating a new standard in the medical cannabis industry by improving the well-being of millions around the world. We focus on the distribution of Cannabis-derived products for medical patients, and non-THC products for CBD consumers. We have conducted extensive R&D in order to develop high-quality Cannabis extract formulas, innovative medical-grade vaporizers, and various non-smoking consumption solutions – making use easy and accessible for anyone in need of treatment. Clinical and validation activities, including safety and efficiency tests, are conducted in Israel – an established leader in the Cannabis industry.

The company is selling initial products in Europe already, and is ready to scale up to meet market demands and projected sales and revenues.

History of Cannabis in Israel

Israel is one of the leading countries in the world in cannabinoid research, and the reason for that is because we started when nobody else was doing it Raphael Mechoulam

Israel is an established leader in Cannabis research and innovation. Israeli scientists became the first to isolate and identify the active compounds of cannabis in the 1960s, and later identified the endocannabinoid system in the 1990s.

After approving cannabis for medical use in the 1990s, the Israeli Ministry of Health initiated their state regulated medical cannabis program in 2007 and licensed farms to produce medical cannabis for patients suffering from approved conditions. In 2011, the country recognized the therapeutic use of Cannabis. Today, there are over 46,000 approved patients in Israel with 8 licensed farms producing and distributing medical cannabis to patients. Those numbers are expected to rise, with the Ministry receiving a reported 300 applications per day.

When compared to the German medicinal Cannabis market, which only began issuing prescriptions in 2007, there are already comparable numbers. While there are no centralized patient numbers in Germany, estimates from 2018 suggest that there are already 60,000 patients consuming cannabis in the country. While the local market remains small, over 100 cannabis companies are currently active in Israel, and some analysts believe the recent move to allow cannabis exports from Israel may unlock a US$4B market. Between 2013-2017, cannabis related Israeli startups have raised $76.4 million in equity. Israel is recognized as a global leader in cannabis research, cannabis healthcare, product innovation, and technology.

History of Kanabo

Kanabo was born out of Founder and CEO Avihu Tamir’s personal experience working with medical Cannabis patients in Israel – a pioneering leader in the field of medical Cannabis. Israel is the first country to allow medical and scientific research of Cannabis, and the first country to establish a national medical Cannabis program for patients. In Israel, a patient prescribed Cannabis is often directed to smoke their prescription – or even mix it with tobacco to ‘make it burn better.’ Concerned about the long-term health effects of smoking, Avihu began exploring and providing healthier options for Israeli medical cannabis patients and others, with a focus on vaporization.

At the time, Avihu found that there were no medical vaporizers for Cannabis patients available in Israel or around the world. He set out to change this, and became the first importer of vaporizers in Israel. He founded the vaporizer import company Teva Nature Ltd., which is still the leading importer and provider of vaporizers to the Israeli market. Avihu has now worked with hundreds of patients over the last several years to provide access to vaporizer devices, training, consultation, and support for patients using medical Cannabis. After learning the market and the different available alternatives, Avihu understood that there was a need for the development of medical grade vaporizer solutions.

Team

Kanabo’s leadership team is made up of experienced medical industry professionals in a variety of fields shaping the medical Cannabis industry, including biopharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical R&D, Drug Delivery Systems (DDS), clinical research, medical patents, vaporizer technology, botanical extracts, and more. Featured members of Kanabo’s leadership team are included below.

Executive Team

Ian Mattioli

Chair, Non-Executive Director

Mr Mattioli brings considerable financial services, wealth management, property and capital markets experience to the Group. Mr Mattioli co-founded the wealth management group, Mattioli Woods PLC (“Mattioli Woods”), in 1991 and has held the role of CEO since Mattioli Woods was admitted to AIM in 2005. He is responsible for the vision and operational management of the Group. Mattioli Woods is one of the UK’s leading consultancies in the provision of pensions and wealth management services for controlling directors, professional persons, owner-managed businesses, and small-to-medium-sized PLCs.

Mr Mattioli has received many accolades for his business acumen, including being awarded the London Stock Exchange AIM Entrepreneur of the Year award and CEO of the Year in the 2018 City of London Wealth Management Awards. Ian Mattioli was awarded an MBE for services to business and the community in Leicestershire in the Queen’s 2017 Honours List. In 2022, the University of Leicester awarded Mr Mattioli an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws).

Mr Mattioli is currently Chief Executive Officer of Mattioli Woods Plc, and Non-Executive Director of Custodian Property Income REIT Plc.

Sharon Malka

Non-Executive Director

Mr Malka brings a wealth of experience to Kanabo, having held senior leadership positions with a number of international healthcare and technology companies. Mr Malka is currently Chief Executive Officer of Dotz Nano Ltd. (“Dotz”), an Australian-based technology company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercialising advanced materials for diagnostics solutions. In addition to his position at Dotz, Mr Malka has spent the past 16 years at MediWound Limited, a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company. Mr Malka is a member of MediWound Limited’s Board of Directors, and he has previously been MediWound Limited’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Sharon held the role of Partner at Variance Economic Consulting Ltd., a financial services consulting boutique focused on international technology companies, and served as a Senior Manager position for PwC Corporate Finance.

Mr Malka is a qualified accountant and holds a B.Sc. in Business Administration from the Business Management College in Israel and an M.B.A. from Bar Ilan University, Israel.

Avihu Tamir

CEO, Executive Director

Mr Tamir is a cannabis entrepreneur with over six years of hands-on experience in multiple cannabis ventures and vast experience in consulting for international cannabis projects. Mr Tamir began his career and built his reputation as a senior strategy consultant at Accenture. He is also the founder of Teva Nature, the leading vaporiser company in Israel.

Mr Tamir founded Kanabo Research in 2017 and since then has served as CEO of the company. His expertise includes biotechnology, new agriculture and agro-tech, and other breakthrough technologies in the dynamic field of medical cannabis.

Mr Tamir holds a B.A. in Finance and Risk Management (Magna Cum Laude), and an M.A. in Political Science (Magna Cum Laude) from the IDC Herzliya.

Management

Assaf Vardimon

CFO

Mr Vardimon brings over 20 years of finance experience in the High-Tech and real-estate sectors. In the past four years, he served as partner and CFO in Brooks-Keret, a leading company specialising in providing financial management for startups and High-Tech companies.

Prior to Brooks-Keret Mr Vardimon worked in Kimberly Enterprises N.V. (KBE: AIM Stock Exchange), a leading real-estate group that operates in East Europe, and served as their CFO. Earlier in his career, he spent three years at the accounting firm KPMG.

Mr Vardimon is a qualified CPA and holds an MBA in Finance and a BA in Accounting and Management from the Academic College of Management Israel.

Suleman Sacranie

CTO and Founder of The GP Service

Mr Sacranie is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur with a proven track record of successfully founding and leading tech startups. He has been awarded Midlands Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012-2014, Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 and Growing Business Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019. He founded The GP Service, an online primary care provider in 2016, which was approved by NHS for video and online consultations, and was able to send prescriptions electronically to over 4,200 pharmacies in the UK. The company was acquired by Kanabo Plc for £14 million in February 2022.

Mr Sacranie’s leadership approach is to involve his team from the start, building a culture of success. He believes that the success of a business is based on its team, and he continues to lead his ventures with a strong determination to succeed.

Yonatan Hillinger

RA Director

Mr Hillinger has over 10 years of experience in establishing Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance Systems, both in the Pharmaceutical and the Medical Device industries. After completing a BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Clinical Biochemistry, he began his career at Johnson & Johnson, working alongside many of the global regulatory authorities In Asia, Europe and America (north and south).

Mr Hillinger established the RA department at Syqe Medical and led the certification process of ISO 13485, the CE Mark and MDSAP for a medicinal Cannabis inhaler.

In his last position as QA/RA Manager at XRHealth, Mr Hillinger established the QMS, receiving ISO 13485 and ISO 27001 certifications with successful registration in IL, EU (MDR), AU and US.

Joshua Berman

Director of Global BD & Relationships

Mr Berman has been an executive in the cannabis industry since 2014. As the head of business development at iCAN Israel-Cannabis and the director at CannaTech, his focus was innovation across the global cannabis supply chain, focused on bringing together entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors to its premier cannabis events across the globe.

Originally from Seattle and now based in Israel, Mr Berman brings his global experience, partners, and know-how to the Kanabo platform.

Kanabo Agritec

Ophir Shimshi, Adv.

CEO, Kanabo Agritec

Founder and partner in a private law firm, Hoyzman, Weinbaum, Shimshi.

Co-Founder and partner in a specialized entrepreneurs group, mainly dealing in real estate transactions and development and in renewable energy projects, both in Europe and in Israel.

Former senior lawyer at Jacob Cohen & Co Law Office, specializing in corporate law, commercial law, real estate – planning and construction.

Eilon Bdil

COO, Kanabo Agritec

Medical Cannabis Cultivation & Production

Over 10 years experience managing a licensed medical cannabis cultivation and production facility in Southern Israel, including crop and business management.

Non-Executive Director of Hadiklaim, Date Grower’s Cooperative. Hadiklaim exports to more than 30 countries and is the biggest producer of Medjool dates in the world.

Former CEO of Kibbutz Elipaz and Local Council Member.