Marina Del Rey, CA, Nov. 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- CanIDeal is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Roland Paanakker as the Chairman of the Company’s Board of Advisors. Mr. Paanakker brings with him a wealth of Information Technology and E-Commerce experience gained over the last 20+ years of working for Nike and Levi Strauss. He is tasked with overseeing all aspects of CanIDeal’s information technology function as the Company implements its revolutionary business-to-business (B2B) digital marketplace for the legal cannabis industry.
“Roland’s experience employing technological strategies at scale is invaluable for us as we continue to develop solutions that will connect the pieces of a fractured cannabis market,” says CanIDeal CEO Joseph Farruggia.
The newly-launched CanIDeal platform connects US-based cultivators, dispensaries, processors, and manufacturers in the legal cannabis industry, regardless of location. The platform’s geo-fencing capability prevents illegal purchases by ensuring compliance with applicable regulations within the appropriate jurisdiction. CanIDeal’s platform includes features such as accounting tools for tracking orders and fulfillment, sales tax reporting, support for regulatory agency reporting, auditing, and support for multiple forms of payment.
All of these features help cannabis businesses navigate the complex and shifting regulatory requirements resulting from the state-by-state nature of the current US industry. The fragmented environment has severely hampered the ability of the industry to achieve efficiency and scale, and the CanIDeal platform has been created to overcome those limitations by creating a compliant wholesale marketplace for a wide variety of businesses and services involved across the country.
In 18 years at Nike, Mr. Paanakker rose to the level of Vice President, Chief Information Officer. He was responsible for Nike’s global IT functions, including its e-commerce initiatives. Mr. Paanakker most recently served as Senior Vice President and CIO at Levi Strauss & Co. where he oversaw all aspects of IT. For both companies, he was instrumental in fueling the success of e-commerce and technology-based growth initiatives.
Mr. Paanakker successfully grew Nike’s IT portfolio including direct to consumer channels, digital stores, as well as operational digital platforms globally. “Roland has a pattern of excellence, which shows from his time at Nike and as the senior vice president and CIO of Levi Strauss,” says Farruggia. “Our aim is nothing short of becoming the Amazon of the cannabis industry — something we can only do by bringing people of his caliber on board.”
“Roland’s background designing, implementing, and running highly complex IT systems, especially as they relate to e-commerce, fits perfectly with our needs as we implement our CanIDeal platform in lockstep with the explosive growth of the cannabis industry,” said Joseph Farruggia, CEO of CanIDeal. “As the Chairman of our Board of Advisors, his expertise with large-scale best practices and systems will help guide the expansion of our platform across the United States and eventually internationally.”
“CanIDeal’s holistic B2B vision and strong focus on building scalable B2B capabilities in the rapidly maturing cannabis industry will be critical elements for CanIDeal’s success,” according to Mr. Paanakker.
About CanIDeal
Based in Marina Del Rey, California, CanIDeal is an early stage, Delaware-domiciled C-corporation that currently employs a number of IT-focused contractors, part-time workers, and 12 full-time staff members, including five software developers. The board of advisors has expertise in finance, business development, corporate law, and technological strategy.
CanIDeal provides a digital solution for this economic shift, serving as a market stabilizer that will keep margins as profitable as possible. Similar to the tools and buying options available on Amazon for retail, CanIDeal offers a supply platform for all cannabis industry-related businesses in which those with the best products and services will succeed.