John Schroyer
Nevada-based cannabis tech companies Leaf Trade and Sweed will merge into a new yet-to-be-named business entity, with Leaf Trade CEO James Yi at the helm.
The combined company, Yi said, will result in a new “B2B2C” tech platform that is unique to-date in cannabis.
“It’s connecting that B2B transaction point with the B2C transaction point, and that unlocks a ton of efficiencies for a lot of our clients, because all of a sudden, they can do stuff like take product catalogs and run them all the way through the supply chain,” Yi told Green Market Report.
At this point, the two companies are keeping their respective names and operational sectors, with Leaf Trade being a wholesale platform and Sweed being focused more on streamlining operations for retailers. But, Yi said, they’re joining forces into a new single business entity and will be cross-selling each others’ suites of services.
The combination, he said, will also be enough so that many of Leaf Trade’s existing clients won’t need about six other tech platforms they’re using for various services.
“This merger helps to replace about six different technology platforms our customers are paying for. They’re paying for cultivation technology, manufacturing, distribution, inventory management, point of sale, e-commerce and delivery, and this merger allows them to consolidate their tech stack and improve their operations,” Yi said.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to sell through that (Sweed) suite of products, the retail platform, into our existing customer base on the Leaf Trade side,” Yi added.
Leaf Trade has a footprint in 25 states, and Sweed has clients in eight states, though the footprints of both are growing rapidly, Yi said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a press release, the companies called the merger a “game-changer for its largely MSO clients.”
