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. 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. Described by its founders as a hybrid of Yelp and Consumer Reports, Leafly uses crowdsourcing to generate reviews for consumers. 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. Leafly is now a wholly independent company. Leafly is available for mobile use on iOS, and Android.
History
Leafly was founded in June 2010 by Scott Vickers, Brian Wansolich, and Cy Scott. 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. Privateer Holdings acquired the company in 2011, at which time Brendan Kennedy became the company's CEO. Meanwhile, the original founders left to launch a new company named Headset, a business intelligence platform for the fast-growing marijuana industry. By July 2011 the website had received about 180,000 unique visitors and was growing at 30 percent per month. In April 2012, Leafly reported about 2.3 million monthly visits and approximately 50,000 mobile app downloads per month. 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 On August 2, 2014, Leafly became the first cannabis company to place an advertisement in The New York Times 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. Jeffrey was replaced as CEO in 2018, after less than a year with the company. In preparation for recreational adult use cannabis legalization in Canada, Leafly announced Jo Vos as Managing Director in April 2018. 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. Leafly Canada officially launched the localized and compliant platform, on October 17, 2018. On June 25, 2019 Leafly Canada announced the expansion of Pickup tool in Canada with strategic partner, Spiritleaf. On March 4, 2019, Leafly appointed former Amazon.com, Inc. executive Tim Leslie as its CEO. Prior to joining Leafly, Leslie served as vice president of Amazon Prime Video International.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Mobile access
Leafly has mobile applications for iOS and Android devices.
Statistics
Thousands of strains, sorted alphabetically and categorized by indica, sativa, and hybrid.
