InFrankfurt, Germany, in September 2020, in a small two-room doctor practice, telemedicine company Bloomwell had its first patient meet with a doctor to get a prescription for marijuana. It would still be another four years until Germany would legalize pot for medical and recreational use—and the process was arduous.
Still classified as a narcotic at the time, cannabis prescriptions had to be written on paper and delivered to a pharmacist, which had to store the product in a safe due to its classification as a dangerous drug. Bloomwell then had a team of about 25 couriers in place to pick up a script for overnight delivery to a pharmacy. Once a pharmacy filled the order, it was sent via a secured courier. Within a week, the company's first patient received their cannabis.
"Back then, when we launched it, it was just a website and people didn't believe it was real," says Bloomwell cofounder Julian Wichmann, 40, who is also a board-certifed radiologist. "The patient demand was there immediately. Once we launched, we had patients. We were overrun within the first four weeks."
During the first few months of operation, Bloomwell had 200 patients a month—some who flew from across the country to get an appointment—and only four doctors in their network. Today, the company connects more than 100,000 patients with 60 doctors in the network who write prescriptions for cannabis products. With its own proprietary script software, prescriptions are sent electronically to a pharmacy, and the patient either picks it up in person or waits 24 to 48 hours for home delivery via DHL.
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