Leadership Team

Tej Virk became the CEO and Director of Akanda in July 2021 following his previous role as President of Europe at Khiron Life Sciences where he established the company’s European medical and consumer packaged goods business from scratch. Tej started his career in investment banking, spending 15 years with BMO Capital Markets, with his final year focusing heavily on the cannabis industry. He transacted on over 100 IPOs and follow-on capital raises earning a reputation for industry leading innovation and successful execution in the global cannabis space.

Accomplished global business leader with over 15 years of direct cannabis industry experience with an emphasis on facility design and operations, including multiple large scale EU GMP certified cultivation facilities.

Mr. George has extensive experience in the financial services and cannabis sectors. His career began with business development roles in the financial services sector, and in 2017, he moved to Portugal to obtain his MBA. In 2018, he started working in the European cannabis industry and served as both Country Manager and European Alliance Manager for Tilray (TLRY-NASDAQ), where his accomplishments included Tilray receiving the first ACM (marketing approval) and managing the first medical cannabis exports out of Portugal to Europe and Israel. In July 2021, Mr. George left Tilray and started offering independent advisory services to cannabis clients across the European region before joining Akanda full time.

A Functional and Business Strategy Consultant passionate wellness, healthcare and cannabis. Experienced in designing data driven and innovative Sales, Marketing & Operating Strategies; leading and delivering global transformation programs, facilitating design thinking workshops to collaborate and understand customer journey and operational pain points, designing and implementing new customer experiences, data analytics/ modelling and compliance (GDPR), business case creation and delivering client value.

Mr. Matos became Global Technical Director for Akanda in the 2nd Semester of 2022, following its previous role of Head of Quality and Technical Director for Holigen, a Company previously owned by Flowr Corporation. Having been working much of his 30 plus year professional life in the Pharma Industry, its broad experience in major international companies, from Merck Sharp & Dohme to Novartis as well as his experience in a leading Medicinal gases producer, José brings to Akanda operations a comprehensive understanding of Pharma operations, a key requisite to achieve a high degree of EU GMP compliance, essential to Akanda role as a major player in the Medicinal Cannabis market.