Snoop Dogg to promote Israeli pot-growing machine

Seedo’s ‘homelab’ unit allows users to auto-grow plants at home, which rapper says he is ‘all the way down with’ as a way to promote a healthy lifestyle

An Israeli start-up that promotes home-grown marijuana said it has signed on American rapper Snoop Dogg as a brand ambassador.

Snoop, an outspoken advocate of marijuana use, will promote Seedo’s small refrigerator-like machine that allows users to auto-grow plants at home.

The self-contained “grow box” regulates temperature, light, carbon dioxide and minerals and is monitored by an application that sends users notifications and alerts. Its system is equipped with sensors and a camera to keep tabs on the plants’ progress and is controlled by an artificial intelligence algorithm.

The company says its box can grow a variety of plants and herbs, though much of its advertising has focused on the marijuana market. The company distributes its products in North America and Europe and one of its “homelab” units costs $2,400.

Seedo’s home lab grow kit allows users to auto-grow cannabis at home. (Courtesy)

In a statement released by Seedo on Tuesday, Snoop said that promoting a product that enables people to grow plants in unused urban spaces “is something I’m all the way down with.”

The legendary rapper said that with the partnership he aims to promote a health lifestyle by providing growing technologies to the public.

“Seedo creates cost savings and the opportunity for all people to benefit from agricultural technologies,” he said.

Zohar Levy, CEO of Seedo, said: “We’re honored to work with an industry icon like Snoop Dogg.”

“The international audience that Snoop has around the world, his influence on cannabis enthusiasts and his popularity on social networks will help us grow,” Levy said in a statement.

Snoop started his own line of marijuana products, Leafs by Snoop, in 2015.

Israel is considered a global leader in medical cannabis research, and its cannabis firms are snagging some big names. In September 2018, former prime minister Ehud Barak said he will become chairman of InterCure, one of Israel’s biggest medical cannabis firms and a publicly traded company in Tel Aviv, to lead its global growth strategy.

Another former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in April joined medical cannabis firm Univo Pharmaceuticals Ltd. as an investor and adviser.

Seedo holds a medical cannabis license from the Israeli Health Ministry. Daniel Birnbaum, the CEO of fizzy water maker SodaStream, has invested NIS 2 million ($557,000) in the firm.