Dominique van Gruisen is the CEO and founder of Innexo. In this facility, cannabis cultivation technology meets pharmaceutical precision. Innexo is an Dutch cannabis contract research organisation that conducts and designs cultivation and technology tests for clients in the cannabis industry.
He has a career that spans over two decades in the cannabis industry. His work includes Belgian networks of patient advocates and clinicians, European lobbying for biotech and consulting services on cultivation both east and west. Van Gruisen has a lofty goal: To take cannabis from cultivation to a world with validated data and reproducible genetics, and ensure true pharmaceutical reliability. This requires consistency. How do you achieve that?
Innexo, which is based in Meterik in The Netherlands conducts independent tests on lighting, nutrition and genetics to produce measurable, repeatable data to bring cultivation closer to pharmaceutical standard. They’ve developed some revolutionary techniques through key partnerships. The Las Vegas-based Fohse lighting company is currently working on a project with the research center to determine how precise lighting using their Cobra LED systems affects cannabinoid production, plant structure and energy efficiency.
van Gruisen said, “We are using Cobra Pros. Soon we will have Fohse tunable-spectrum model models.” They have sensors which constantly monitor the light levels in the greenhouse. This allows them to adjust themselves automatically. We can create the same conditions in any climate by using a dynamic spectrum which mirrors the sunlight.
The study benchmarks a range of metrics—from cannabinoid and terpene expression to morphology and energy use—to quantify how light affects consistency. Van Gruisen says that their system “fills up your stack of data”. We’re looking for information to validate cultivation models, not just assumptions.
Genetics and lighting define the environment. To address that, Innexo partnered with sister companies Innoveins Seed Solutions and SeQso to develop—wait for it—the world’s first AI-driven seed-sorting system for cannabis.
Van Gruisen affirms that the data is collected in an environmentally friendly manner. Then, they record the traits of the seed and feed them back to the system. This algorithm then learns what spectral patterns are predictive for which plant traits.
“I pulled over literally to make calls when I first heard about this technology,” says van Gruisen. Testing confirmed the technology worked with cannabis. It opened the door for non-destructive seed-level quality control certification. He says that if there is something distinguishable, a sorting algorithm can be designed to push through a batch of seeds and separate out the good ones from the bad.
This technology has implications that go beyond the yield. AI can be used to detect hop latent virus and other pathogens, as well as certify the genetic quality of seeds before they are planted. “Companies are developing F1 hybrids—stabilized lines,” van Gruisen says. You can improve your seeds even more by scanning them.
Van Gruisen thinks AI-based seeds fingerprinting can also help reduce reliance on the cloning industry. Even when using clones you can still see big variations in secondary metabolites based on humidity or season. It’s difficult to produce a product that is consistent in the form of flowers. He says that the regulatory frameworks demand precision in pharmaceuticals.
When regulators tell us that cannabis is a medicine they really mean it must conform to what the label says. It’s nearly impossible to achieve that with a naturally-occurring product. With solid F1 genetics, which start with seed, quality control is increased.
F1 seeds are better for cultivators. They offer cleaner starts and lower costs. For patients, they promise reliability—the same genetics, the same relief—every time.
Van Gruisen describes Innexo’s role as the link between two industries that seldom speak the same languages. He states that “Growers are talking in grams per sq. m.” Pharma speaks in terms of validated data and tolerances for deviations. “We sit at the center, making these conversations possible.”
The bridge is not just about technology. Innexo is also reviving iconic legacy cannabis genetics—long-flowering, terpene-rich cultivars—and reintroducing them through advanced lighting and AI-guided cultivation. Innexo wants to correct some of the mistakes the cannabis industry made. In the last twenty years, he claims that we have taken many wrong turns when it comes to cannabis. “It is time to rediscover why this plant was valuable and use proper science to do so.”