Newsroom

Mercy Wellness is teaming up with an East Bay cannabis producer, Oakland distributor, and Mendocino County grower in providing free medicinal marijuana.

“We’re working with state legislators to share our experience growing the business from the ground up,” Vince Ning added. “Regulators in newly legalized states need to hear from thought leaders from other markets.”

It only took about four years for Nabis co-CEOs, Vince Ning and Jun S. Lee, to build up their company to $500 million in sales and 1,300 retail customers as the largest wholesale cannabis platform in California.

Julia Jacobson discusses her journey through the cannabis industry, the current state of the market in California, and the importance of sustainable practices. Jacobson also discusses challenges throughout the industry, as well as what she expects to see in 2022.

Founded in 2017 by Vince C. Ning and Jun S. Lee, Nabis has quickly established itself as the leading cannabis wholesale platform in California. Nabis supports the largest portfolio of brands in the world, exclusively supplying 100+ brands to over 99% of CA’s dispensaries.

"There's a ton of hype, especially from (and for) investors. It makes sense that beverages will pick up; I think they will. But there are a lot of challenges for this category. For one, people don't have experience with drinking cannabis. It's a new physical habit that may have to be established over the course of a generation." Vince C. Ning

California marijuana companies – already facing labor shortages, high taxes and regulatory red tape – are now contending with supply-chain gridlock, forcing many to reassess and revamp procurement strategies as margins shrink.

"Our mission is to 'empower the world to discover cannabis by providing choice, access, and innovation'. Our approach is different from that of a traditional distributor, in that we remain neutral and agnostic when it comes to representing brands. We have no equity stakes in brands and we don't endorse one brand over another. By allowing brands of any size into our platform to tell their own story, Nabis democratizes access to shelf space as opposed to being a gatekeeper."

Companies like Nabis work with brands and cultivators to deliver flowers, edibles, and other products to dispensaries, who then sell directly to consumers.

Nabis supports the largest portfolio of cannabis brands in the world, exclusively supplying over 100 brands to CA’s dispensaries. A whopping 99.5% of retailers in California—the biggest cannabis market on the planet—receive products from Nabis.

Only urgent tax cuts and a boost in retail operations can save the industry, the letter warns.

This year saw a new set of states' markets begin to flourish, as an even bigger cohort makes preparations to open in the northeast. It’s never clean or easy, but all the arrows still point in the same direction: eventual federal reform. With that in mind, here are the biggest stories of 2021, and the ones that will continue to matter next year.

So when I reached out to Vince Ning, founder of California wholesale platform, NABIS, I asked exactly that. As a distributor of over 100 brands across a saturated state, I figured who better to provide a litmus test for trends everywhere in weed.

Today, we are joined by Vince Ning of Nabis. Now, this is a full-service cannabis distribution platform that helps hundreds of brands reach the market. We talk about how a couple of coders took an idea, turned it into an industry-leading software that services nearly 100 percent of California's dispensaries, and grew it into a company that now offers shipping, finance, real estate services, and more.

There is a major tax crisis that could cause the collapse of the cannabis industry next year. One of the largest coalitions of operators in California cannabis' history has formed around working with the state to improve legislation. Industry leaders requested the Newsom administration take specific steps.

MJ Unpacked launched its first live show in Vegas this Thursday. The exclusive event is limited to brand and retail executives and accredited investors and represents a re-imagining of what a cannabis conference can look like. Hosted at Mandalay Bay, MJ Unpacked features a brand exhibit hall, a main stage for speakers and panel discussions, a “money stage” for brands to pitch to investors, and private meeting rooms for investors.

How two childhood best friends built a software-enabled distribution service that's transforming California cannabis. There's a cannabis founder stereotype that's bemoaned by the old-school legacy community: white boomer men with lucrative pasts in corporate finance and ample access to venture capital money, but the scant connection to traditional cannabis culture.

Nabis, a cannabis wholesale platform based in San Francisco, doesn’t drug test its workers, but has a no-tolerance policy for being under the influence on the job, in part because some employees handle heavy equipment, says Co-CEO Vince Ning.

The outlaw’s Bordeaux, California cannabis has for decades fetched a premium price—and serious profit—for anyone with the chutzpah to smuggle pounds out-of-state. Marijuana legalization has not changed this.

Major flaws in California’s marijuana regulatory system have allowed criminals to gain control of legal distribution permits and divert “untold millions of pounds” of cannabis to the illicit market–all while state officials “turn a blind eye,” a new lawsuit charges.

Director Nicole Elliott and industry stakeholders discuss what’s changed, and what still needs to change, in the biggest legal cannabis market in the world.

What are the hottest cannabis brands in 2021? And the trendiest products? This tough-to-answer question will soon have a response, thanks to the work of 47 leaders in the cannabis industry and beyond.

Today’s guest is Jun Lee, co-founder of the cannabis wholesale distribution company, Nabis. To anyone even remotely paying attention, it’s clear that the public perception of weed is rapidly changing. To date, weed is legal for recreational use in 18 states, plus D.C., while another 13 states have decriminalized its use.

Ning said he’s solely focused on winning on a merit basis. But he is glad to have a platform for his community in these recent times where they’ve faced a new wave of discrimination.

Vince Ning and Jun Lee have been best friends since they were 13. In 2017, after years of working in software development in Silicon Valley, the duo decided to come together and co-found a cannabis distribution brand—and have since managed to grow it into a behemoth that serves 99% of licensed retailers in California.

100+ Asian-owned cannabis businesses to support right now.

Read on as dispensary owners, brand owners, and other cannabis professionals weigh in and share their favorite 4/20 traditions.

Cannabis distribution is set to explode. We spoke to Vince Ning, the co-founder and Co-CEO of Nabis, a distributor that ships ~10% of all cannabis products in California.

"The sophistication and specialization of the infrastructure–manufacturing, distribution, and retail–that lowers the go-to-market cost of launching new brands and leaves plenty of opportunities for investors to participate in this rapidly growing industry." - Ning

Driven by a surge in cannabis use during the COVID-19 pandemic, industry entrepreneurs and investors are gearing up for even greater growth as legalization spreads and the economy reopens.

Problems with California’s seed-to-sale tracking system are causing cannabis companies to spend thousands of dollars in extra time and money to remain in compliance with state regulations.

Vince Ning, co-founder and Co-CEO of the Oakland-based distributor Nabis, said he’s seen some retailers pull back on charging slotting fees since 2018 when they were charging thousands of dollars a month for shelf space.

Co-Founder and President Jun Lee spoke with New Cannabis Ventures about the Nabis network, expanding beyond California, and creating a different kind of distribution model.

If you’re looking for a job at one of our top companies and other up-and-coming YC startups, sign up on Y Combinator's jobs portal, Work at a Startup.

“It’s like an Amazon Prime-level experience for retailers,” Ning said. “We take an Amazon approach to make sure the customers are delighted—brands and retailers both. As a distributor, we’re here to provide choice and access.”

Ma has consistently supported the cannabis industry gaining access to proper financial services throughout her career. From her days at the Board of Equalization to today, she’s a good person to have on the team if you’re a cannabis company with dreams of a normal banking account.