Leafly

Leafly is the largest cannabis website in the world, with more than 15 million monthly visitors and 40 million page views across its website and mobile applications.[1][2] Leafly allows users to rate and review different strains of cannabis and cannabis dispensaries. The site helps patients and adult recreational consumers determine which cannabis products are appropriate for their particular preferences or desired effects and then directs them to a nearby retailer or medical dispensary.[3][4][5][6][7] Described by its founders as a hybrid of Yelp and Consumer Reports,[8] Leafly uses crowdsourcing to generate reviews for consumers.[8][9][10][11] The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and was owned by Privateer Holdings, a private equity firm focused on the emerging legal cannabis industry, from 2012 to 2019.[12][13][14] Leafly is now a wholly independent company. Leafly is available for mobile use on iOS, and Android.[15][16][17]

Leafly's first-ever cannabis advertisement in the New York Times
Leafly
Private
IndustryMedical & Adult Use Cannabis
FoundedIrvine, California, United States, (June 13, 2010 (2010-06-13))
FoundersCy Scott
Scott Vickers
Brian Wansolich
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
Key people
  • Tim Leslie (CEO)
  • Sam Martin (Chief Strategy Officer)
  • Paul Barry (Chief Technology Officer)
Websitewww.leafly.com

History

Leafly was founded in June 2010 by Scott Vickers, Brian Wansolich, and Cy Scott.[18] 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.[9][18][19] Privateer Holdings acquired the company in 2011, at which time Brendan Kennedy became the company's CEO.[20][21][22][23] Meanwhile, the original founders left to launch a new company named Headset, a business intelligence platform for the fast-growing marijuana industry.[24] By July 2011 the website had received about 180,000 unique visitors and was growing at 30 percent per month.[19] 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 pageviews across its website and mobile applications [1] On August 2, 2014, Leafly became the first cannabis company to place an advertisement in The New York Times [25] 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.[26] Jeffrey was replaced as CEO in 2018, after less than a year with the company.[20]


In preparation for recreational adult use cannabis legalization in Canada, Leafly announced Jo Vos as Managing Director in April 2018.[27] In anticipation of recreational legalization, Leafly Canada informed customers and regulators that only provincially-licensed retailers, government retailers, and licensed producers would be listed on its platform and app, effective October 17, 2018.[28][29]


Leafly Canada officially launched the localized and compliant platform, www.leafly.ca on October 17, 2018. On June 25, 2019 Leafly Canada announced the expansion of Pickup tool in Canada with strategic partner, Spiritleaf. [30]


On March 4, 2019, Leafly appointed former Amazon.com, Inc. executive Tim Leslie as its CEO.[31] Prior to joining Leafly, Leslie served as vice president of Amazon Prime Video International.[32]

Business model

Leafly generates revenue by selling online display advertising and priority listing packages to companies in the cannabis industry.[9][33] Display advertising campaigns are sold on a Cost Per Impression model.[9][18]

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][34] 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.[4][19]

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.[4][8][23]

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.[8][15][22]

Mobile access

Leafly has mobile applications for iOS and Android devices.[4][6][17][18][19]

Statistics
  • Thousands of strains, sorted alphabetically and categorized by indica, sativa, and hybrid.
  • Over 270,000 individual strain reviews.[1]
  • 15 million visits per month.[1][35]

References
  1. "Leafly: the web's ultimate cannabis resource". Engadget. AOL.
  2. "Alexa - Leafly Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic". www.alexa.com.
  3. Patricia Murphy (November 29, 2012). "Seattle Web Entrepreneur's Efforts To Re-Brand Marijuana". KUOW.org. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  4. Crook, Jordan (April 20, 2012). "Got Pot? Leafly Can Help". TechCrunch.
  5. Truong, Alice (April 20, 2012). "Leafly Gives Users a Digital Marijuana Database". NBC Bay Area.
  6. Downs, David (February 23, 2012). "Medical marijuana apps on the rise". Sacramento News & Review.
  7. Duboff, Josh (August 26, 2010). "Finally: A Social-Media Hub for Stoners". New York.
  8. Deborah L. Jacobs (December 9, 2012). "Postcard from Seattle: New Clouds Hand Over The City As Pot Becomes Legal". Forbes. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  9. Taylor Soper (October 31, 2012). "Leafly: Like Yelp and Consumer Reports... for medical marijuana". GeekWire. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  10. Samuel Wagreich (February 25, 2013). "Meet The Man Funding The Cannabis Industry". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  11. Austin Jenkins (February 22, 2013). "Washington Marijuana Legalization Draws Yale MBAs With Big Ideas". mw news network. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  12. Eric Mortenson (January 25, 2013). "Investors and entrepreneurs have high expectations - sorry - for cannabis related businesses". Oregon Live. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  13. "Privateer Holdings Team". Privateer Holdings. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  14. Taylor Soper (November 7, 2012). "What legalization means for a medical marijuana startup". GeekWire. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  15. "The Audacity of Dope". The Economist. February 16, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  16. Justin Berton (December 11, 2012). "Heady stuff for Washington State tokers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  17. Kirsten Johnson (December 14, 2012). "Obama's hands-off stance may move marijuana businesses forward". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  18. Dorbian, Iris (June 26, 2019). "Just In Time For Canada Day, Leafly Expands Order And Delivery System To Country". Forbes. Forbes. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  19. Downs, David (July 6, 2011). "Leafly.com Classes Up The Joint". East Bay Express.
  20. Schaneman, Bart (September 26, 2018). "Cannabis company Leafly removes CEO over company management 'concerns'". Marijuana Business Daily. Marijuana Business Daily. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  21. Carole Bass (December 7, 2012). "Joint venture: these Yale MBAs want to put pot in every pot". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  22. "Groups waiting to cash in on pot sales in Washington". Fox 12 KPTV. February 14, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  23. Kim Murphy (December 9, 2012). "Plenty of smoke clouds the future of legalized pot in Washington". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  24. "Leafly founders depart, raise cash for new marijuana business intelligence startup". GeekWire. 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  25. Tom Huddleston Jr. (2 August 2014). "Marijuana advertiser finds a friend in The New York Times". Fortune.
  26. "Leafly Hires New CEO Chris Jeffery". Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  27. Edwards, Kyle (December 28, 2018). "Canada will soon legalize edibles—and the market is enormous". MacLean's. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  28. "30 Days to Legalization: Leafly to Delist Non-Licensed Retailers". Cision. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  29. Johnson, Lisa (July 1, 2019). "Online cannabis pickup app launched in Alberta, Saskatchewan". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  30. "Leafly Pickup Expands Into Canada". Financial Post. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  31. "Former Amazon Exec Tim Leslie Takes Over Leafly's C-Suite". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  32. "Amazon video service looking to expand Indian regional content". Reuters. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  33. Mitchell Hartman (December 27, 2012). "The business of selling pot... legally". American Public Media - Marketplace Business. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  34. Jonathan Martin (December 1, 2012). "Investors see profit potential in new pot law". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 26, 2013.
  35. "leafly.com Traffic Statistics". SimilarWeb.
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