Team
Matt Dickinson
Co-Founder & CEO
Bachelor of Commerce,
Queen’s University
Matt spent 4 years in commercial real estate in Toronto where he transacted €500m+ of deals.
Following this he moved to Nicaragua where he developed Maderas Village and grew it into one of the top boutique hotels in Central America. In parallel to this, he built Nicaragua’s second
largest premium furniture production company with his business partner. His strength is building and working with teams to achieve ambitious goals, building successful businesses in challenging environments, developing respected brands, and marketing premium products to discerning clientele.
Following this he moved to Nicaragua where he developed Maderas Village and grew it into one of the top boutique hotels in Central America. In parallel to this, he built Nicaragua’s second
largest premium furniture production company with his business partner. His strength is building and working with teams to achieve ambitious goals, building successful businesses in challenging environments, developing respected brands, and marketing premium products to discerning clientele.
Andrew Lange
Co-founder & COO
Bioengineering and Genetics,
University of Iowa
Andrew spent the last 6 years profitably operating an 80,000sf facility in Washington
State as an owner/operator. He has cultivated more than 30 Tons of premium cannabis over this
period at EU pharma-grade standards. Andrew has designed 2.0m+ Sf of indoor cannabis
facilities and has set up/optimized 150,000+ Sf of aeroponic facilities across North America.
Andrew was part of the Special Navy Warefare division, studied bio-engineering, and is passionate about building businesses & creating consistency through well managed operations.
State as an owner/operator. He has cultivated more than 30 Tons of premium cannabis over this
period at EU pharma-grade standards. Andrew has designed 2.0m+ Sf of indoor cannabis
facilities and has set up/optimized 150,000+ Sf of aeroponic facilities across North America.
Andrew was part of the Special Navy Warefare division, studied bio-engineering, and is passionate about building businesses & creating consistency through well managed operations.
Sílvia Rosa
Qualified Person / Technical Director
Pharmaceutical Sciences Degree, Faculty of Pharmacy;
PhD in Biotechnology, Technical University of Lisbon
Qualified Person for the production of medicinal products. Sílvia brings 18 years of experience in the Pharmaceutical Industry where she has focused on Quality Control, Quality Assurance, Analytical Development, Pharmaceutical Development, Process Validation, Manufacturing of solids, semi-solids and liquid forms, Packaging, and other Qualified Person Activities. She wants to use her influence in the pharmaceutical industry to eliminate the stigma around cannabis, while helping to produce a product that is optimal for medical patients & wellness consumers.
Bailee Lange
Operations Director
ArtSci,
Washington State University
Bailee Lange graduated from Washington State University in 2017 before starting her career in
Medical Administration. In 2018 she pivoted into cannabis as a Compliance Manager at Onyx
Agronomics where she was responsible for managing the integration of multiple compliance
software systems, ensuring operational compliance with all applicable laws and managing regulatory audits. Since 2019 Bailee has been Operations Director overseeing and directing over
45 employees in 5 departments. During this time, she increased eficiency by 25% and decreased labour by 23%.
Medical Administration. In 2018 she pivoted into cannabis as a Compliance Manager at Onyx
Agronomics where she was responsible for managing the integration of multiple compliance
software systems, ensuring operational compliance with all applicable laws and managing regulatory audits. Since 2019 Bailee has been Operations Director overseeing and directing over
45 employees in 5 departments. During this time, she increased eficiency by 25% and decreased labour by 23%.
Sofia Marques da Costa
Senior Financial Analyst
Masters of Business Management,
IE Business School (Madrid)
Sofia is experienced in M&A and corporate finance, as well as marketing analytics for an international F&B Brand at 3G Group.
She Oversaw Joint Ventures’ profitability for EMEA (companies w/ total of USD —4.9bn in System wide Sales in 2018). Prior to this Sofia co-founded a tech startup in the apparel space.
She Oversaw Joint Ventures’ profitability for EMEA (companies w/ total of USD —4.9bn in System wide Sales in 2018). Prior to this Sofia co-founded a tech startup in the apparel space.
André Costa
Lead Cultivator / Facilities Manager
BSC Biology, MSc Biotechnology at Instituto
Superior Técnico
Andre has a keen interest in plant physiology. He completed an extracurricular investigation position at the Plant Physiology Department and his Master’s thesis was on Metabolic Engineering. Andre co-founded the preeminent industrial hemp farming cooperative in Portugal. During this project he was responsible for strategic planning, scientific advisory and team management.
Advisory Board
Mark Herron
Toronto, Canada
Mark is a Canadian CPA/CA with 40 years’ experience as CFO, audit partner and tax expert. He has a broad background in public, private (including non-profit) and entrepreneurial initiatives. He has been CFO of a publicly listed holding company in the emerging US cannabis industry (TILT Holdings), a publicly listed Health Canada cannabis applicant (Santé Veritas), a P3 industry and government partnership (Destination Toronto), as well as COO of a private health care company (Sunnybrook Clinicians’ Management). Amongst his numerous accomplishments, Mark participated in raising seed capital for start-up and M&A before publicly listing Santé Veritas and TILT Holdings. Mark brings a wealth of experience-
Tyler Wakstein
Los Angeles, California
Tyler is a community builder and business development executive who is passionate about using business as a tool to drive positive social change. Tyler is an active angel and previously, was Managing Curator at Summit Series, a globally recognized event series for today’s brightest leaders. Tyler is dedicated to using his resources and network to drive impact as a board member of The Life is Good Kids Foundation and Wholistic Research and Education Foundation. He is Co-founder & CEO of Open Nest, a Cannabis Venture studio based out of LA which incubates, accelerates and advises cannabis brands at all stages of development. He is also co-founder of Trailblazers, a curated global network
Dr. Phil Jackson, PhD
Lisbon, Portugal
Phil brings 30 years of experience as a plant research scientist in a wide range of topics. During his career, Phil established the Plant Cell Wall Group at ITQB-NOVA (Portuguese University) which explored the genetics and cell biology underlying the formation of primary and secondary cell walls. In 2014, his research continued with a project to elucidate the cell and molecular biology of hormonal signaling driving root vascular formation. In 2018 Phil became the Chief Scientist in the commercial R&D company, Naturally Scientific Technologies aiming to produce targeted metabolites from in vitro plant cell cultures. Phil is passionate about plant science and utilizing his unique career experiences to develop new ways of
Gilles Dreyfus
Lisbon / Paris
Gilles is the CEO and co-founder of Jungle, a vertical farming company active in the food and perfume industries that recently closed a €42M round. Having worked in the finance industry for 10 years prior to starting Jungle, he has a large network of VCs and family offces across Europe. His six (6) years of vertical farming experience in controlled environments is a strong asset to Clarion. Gilles created Jungle in Portugal before transitioning to France, and he has the ambition to scale to the IJK and the US. Gilles advises Clarion on fundraising strategy, negotiations, hiring, cost management, and the arrangement of bank debt.
Dr. Beau Lotto, PhD
London, England
Beau is a neuroscientist and world-renowned expert in perception. His research explores the ways in which we experience the world through our own versions of reality. Beau is a three-time main stage TED speaker. He has spoken at the G8, Google’s Zeitgest, Wired, Oslo Freedom Forum, Big Think and contributed to the BBC, National Geographic, Netflix and PBS. His company “Lab of Misfits” is the world’s only
neuroscience-focused creative studio. Their collective of leading scientists, artists, designers and producers as well as experts in social media and communications believe that invention and
neuroscience-focused creative studio. Their collective of leading scientists, artists, designers and producers as well as experts in social media and communications believe that invention and
Pedro Silva
Lisbon, Portugal
Economics, Nova SBE, post-graduated in Financial Markets from ISCTE and in IFRS & Taxation from ISCTE. Pedro is a Chartered Accountant with strong international experience in listed Groups (pharma, building materials, FMCG), including development of manufacturing operations from scratch, coaching teams of different cultural backgrounds and leading Finance, IT and Procurement functions. During his career, Pedro performed several Corporate Finance roles, with wide exposure to ERP, Bl, internal controls and Quality frameworks.