Leafly

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Leafly
TypePrivate
IndustryMedical & Adult Use Cannabis
FoundedIrvine, California, United States, (June 13, 2010 (2010-06-13))
FoundersCy Scott
Scott Vickers
Brian Wansolich
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
Key people
  • Yoko Miyashita (CEO)[1][2]
  • Sam Martin (Chief Revenue Officer)
  • Dave Cotter (Chief Product Officer)
  • Laura Morarity (SVP, Marketing and Communications)
Websitewww.leafly.com

Leafly is a website focused on cannabis use and education.[3] The company says it has more than 120 million annual visitors and over 10 million monthly active users.[4] Leafly provides a wide range of information on cannabis, including 1.5 million consumer product reviews, more than 9,000 cannabis articles and resources, and over 5,000 verified strains in its database.[4] Leafly additionally provides 4,500+ retailers and 8,000+ cannabis brands with e-commerce tools such as digital storefronts, embedded menus, point-of-sale integrations, targeted advertising, and more.[4] The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and from 2012 to 2019 was owned by Privateer Holdings, a private equity firm focused on the emerging legal cannabis industry.[5][6][7] Leafly is now a wholly independent company with 160 employees.[4]

Leafly's first-ever cannabis advertisement in The New York Times

History[]

Leafly was founded in June 2010 by Scott Vickers, Brian Wansolich, and Cy Scott.[8] The three Orange County engineers recognized the need for a legitimate strain resource and began to build Leafly as a side project to their jobs as web developers.[8][9][10] Privateer Holdings acquired the company in 2011, at which time Brendan Kennedy became the company's CEO.[11][12][13] Meanwhile, the original founders left to launch a new company named Headset.[14] By July 2011 the website had received about 180,000 unique visitors and was growing at 30 percent per month.[10] In April 2012, Leafly reported about 2.3 million monthly visits and approximately 50,000 mobile app downloads per month.[9][15] In June 2016, the company announced that it received more than 6 million monthly visitors and 31 million page views across its website and mobile applications. [16] On August 2, 2014, Leafly became the first cannabis company to place an advertisement in The New York Times. [17] On November 6, 2017, Privateer Holdings announced Chris Jeffery as the new CEO. Prior to joining Leafly, Jeffrey co-founded OrderUp, an online and mobile food delivery service.[18] Jeffrey was replaced as CEO in 2018, after less than a year with the company.[19]

On March 4, 2019, Leafly appointed former Amazon.com, Inc. executive Tim Leslie as its CEO.[20] Prior to joining Leafly, Leslie served as vice president of Amazon Prime Video International.[21]

Yoko Miyashita is now CEO of Leafly, stepping into the role on August 18, 2020 after serving as Leafly’s General Counsel. Miyashita previously spent 14 years at Getty Images, where she led the global legal team as SVP and General Counsel. Prior to joining Getty Images, she practiced law with Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle.[22]

Business model[]

Leafly generates revenue by selling online display advertising and priority listing packages to companies in the cannabis industry.[9][23] Display advertising campaigns are sold on a Cost Per Impression model.[8][9] More than 4.5 million orders are placed with businesses on Leafly each year, generating $460 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) annually for Leafly partnered retailers.[4]

Use[]

Leafly has three primary functions:

Strain explorer[]

Patients and consumers use Leafly to search for cannabis strains according to medical use, such as anxiety or nausea, and desired effects, like euphoria or creativity.[9][24] Relevant strains are then presented in a format similar to the periodic table. The table is color coded to identify whether the strain is sativa, indica, or a hybrid of both.[10][25]

Dispensary locator[]

Patients can use their zip codes or city and state names to search for dispensaries, which are then displayed on a map of the area. The dispensary profiles include menus, reviews, photos, and store locations.[25][26][13]

Reviews[]

Leafly users can write reviews of strains and products they have tried or dispensaries they have visited. For dispensaries and products, reviews consist of a brief comment section and a star rating system that is based on medication, service, and atmosphere. Strain reviews include desirable effects, attributes, and summary information.[26][15][12]

Mobile access[]

Leafly has mobile applications for iOS and Android devices.[25][27][28][8][10]

Statistics[]

  • 220 million annual sessions[4]
  • 10+ million monthly active users[4]
  • 5,000+ strains in the Leafly database, sorted alphabetically and categorized by indica, sativa, and hybrid[4]
  • 1.5 million product reviews[4]
  • 9,000+ cannabis articles and resources[4]
  • 4,500+ retailers online with Leafly[4]
  • 8,000+ brands online with Leafly[4]
  • 4.5 million orders placed annually[4]
  • $460 million GMV[4]

References[]

  1. ^ "Tim Leslie Out as CEO of Leafly After 18 Months".
  2. ^ "General Counsel Miyashita supplants Leslie as CEO at marijuana firm Leafly". 18 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Leafly: the web's ultimate cannabis resource". Engadget. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "About". Leafly. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  5. ^ Eric Mortenson (January 25, 2013). "Investors and entrepreneurs have high expectations - sorry - for cannabis related businesses". Oregon Live. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  6. ^ "Privateer Holdings Team". Privateer Holdings. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  7. ^ Wagreich, Samuel (2013-02-25). "Meet the Man Funding the Cannabis Industry". Inc.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Dorbian, Iris. "Just In Time For Canada Day, Leafly Expands Order And Delivery System To Country". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Taylor Soper (October 31, 2012). "Leafly: Like Yelp and Consumer Reports... for medical marijuana". GeekWire. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Downs, David (July 6, 2011). "Leafly.com Classes Up The Joint". East Bay Express.
  11. ^ Carole Bass (December 7, 2012). "Joint venture: these Yale MBAs want to put pot in every pot". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "Groups waiting to cash in on pot sales in Washington". Fox 12 KPTV. February 14, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Kim Murphy (December 9, 2012). "Plenty of smoke clouds the future of legalized pot in Washington". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  14. ^ "Leafly founders depart, raise cash for new marijuana business intelligence startup". GeekWire. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Audacity of Dope". The Economist. February 16, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  16. ^ "Leafly: the web's ultimate cannabis resource". Engadget. AOL.
  17. ^ Tom Huddleston Jr. (2 August 2014). "Marijuana advertiser finds a friend in The New York Times". Fortune.
  18. ^ "Leafly Hires New CEO Chris Jeffery". Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  19. ^ Schaneman, Bart (September 26, 2018). "Cannabis company Leafly removes CEO over company management 'concerns'". Marijuana Business Daily. Marijuana Business Daily. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  20. ^ "Former Amazon Exec Tim Leslie Takes Over Leafly's C-Suite". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  21. ^ Phartiyal, Sankalp (2018-03-12). "Amazon video service looking to expand Indian regional content". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  22. ^ "Meet Yoko Miyashita, CEO of Leafly". Leafly newsroom. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  23. ^ "The business of selling pot...legally". Marketplace. 2012-12-27. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  24. ^ "Investors see profit potential in new pot law". The Seattle Times. 2012-12-01. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b c Crook, Jordan (April 20, 2012). "Got Pot? Leafly Can Help". TechCrunch.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Deborah L. Jacobs (December 9, 2012). "Postcard from Seattle: New Clouds Hand Over The City As Pot Becomes Legal". Forbes. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  27. ^ Downs, David (February 23, 2012). "Medical marijuana apps on the rise". Sacramento News & Review.
  28. ^ Kirsten Johnson (December 14, 2012). "Obama's hands-off stance may move marijuana businesses forward". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved March 26, 2013.

External links[]

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