Startup Spotlight #40: Nabis

Nabis (YC W19) is the fastest-growing software-driven cannabis company based in San Francisco.

Oct 12, 2020

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I got the chance to speak with Vincent Ning and Jun Lee, co-founders of Nabis, about what they working on at their startup, and any advice they have for emerging entrepreneurs.

Nabis is the leading cannabis distributor today and is scaling to become a global B2B online marketplace for cannabis products.

Founded in 2017, Nabis now ships a quarter billion dollars worth of cannabis products per year from brands to retail dispensaries in the legal cannabis market and is the most reputable distributor in the cannabis space has launched and scaled over a hundred industry-leading brands to nearly 100% of retailers in California.

Nabis is lowering the high barrier to entry to create brands in the regulated cannabis market, eliminating the need for operators to manage logistics fulfillment, compliance, sales analytics, and payment processing.

Nabis' Founders, Vince Ning (ex-Microsoft), and Jun Lee (ex-Facebook) have extensive experience building B2B enterprise technology to help scale bleeding-edge industries, and Vince is a second-time YC Founder, whose last company was bought by Amazon.

As Asian-American Founders, Vince and Jun are committed to supporting efforts to build a foundation of equality in the cannabis industry. This industry is built on the backs of minority groups, and Nabis acknowledges the atrocities that people of color continue to endure.

Nabis is hiring! Please send your resume to astoryforsoda@gmail.com for me to forward it to the cofounders. Share this article with others for them to apply for the role too!

Nabis cofounders (from left to right): Jun Lee and Vincent Ning.

Problem: There is an extremely high barrier to entry to create brands in the newly legalized regulated cannabis market. Supply chain infrastructure and technology does not exist to support the exponentially scaling growth of the cannabis market.

Market: The U.S. cannabis market TAM is $16B, and the SAM of the California market in which we currently operate is $4B. Nabis has captured 7% of the California market, shipping roughly a quarter billion dollars worth of cannabis products per year by retail value, which means 1 in 15 products in the state are distributed by Nabis.

Solution: Nabis provides a scalable, technology-driven, and low-cost shipping solution for the cannabis industry. Nabis is eliminating the need for operators to manage logistics fulfillment, compliance, sales analytics, and payment processing so that they can get to market and scale faster.

Team: In addition to the Founders, Nabis’ Leadership Team is composed of industry leaders from outsides industries who are brought in to apply their experience to the nascent cannabis supply chain. We have built an accomplished team with eclectic backgrounds: Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Deloitte, Carlyle, Coatue, Gartner, Centerview, Maple, Harvard, Princeton, Wharton, and LSE.

Recent Success:

Ning and Lee: Nabis has been successful at bringing together top talent who can balance their extensive experience from mature industries with the ability to adapt to the rapidly changing dynamics of the cannabis industry.

Recent Struggle:

Ning and Lee: Nabis, and the industry as a whole has struggled with regulatory constraints that disallow traditional banking and investment to be widely available for the space. Cannabis is a federally illegal controlled substance still, and the majority of financial institutions and institutional funds are still cautious around the regulatory risks that exist. As a result, most of the cannabis industry still operates on cold hard cash.

Founder Advice:

Ning and Lee: Focus, and have a bias to action. Always obsess over your customers, and focus on building a product that fits their exact needs. Wake up each day looking to adapt your product in order to improve your customer experience.

Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:

Ning and Lee: Here are three founders you should check out next!

Jonathan Goldsmith, Founder of Local Food Group: Local Food Group helps local restaurants expand.
Arif Bhanji, Founder of Lazer Technologies: Lazer is a digital product studio designed to help successful enterprises bring ideas to market faster and more successfully.
Luciano Arango, Founder of PersistIQ: PersistIQ is a free email automation platform to send a small batch of personalized emails.

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