We probably take for granted the many benefits of the widespread usage of UPCs both for manufacturers and consumers and the impact it has on retail – inventory control, standardization, cost efficiencies, clear and accurate pricing, reduced errors with the elimination of manual entry, improved data and tracking, and improved decision making to name a few. For nascent products, UPCs also adds a degree of credibility and builds trust in the product and manufacturer. Lucid Green is bringing the benefits of UPC to the cannabis industry with its software platform that facilitates fungible product codes, LucidIDs, for the cannabis industry. The platform caters to the entire cannabis supply chain from brands down to the consumer with the codes used on bulk packaging, cases, pallets, and individual items. As the market for cannabis continues to grow, with more and more jurisdictions moving towards legalization, the company’s solution allows the industry to scale efficiently with transparency.
AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Larry Levy to learn more about the inspiration for the business, the company’s traction, future plans, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $4.3M, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
This round of funding was an extension of Lucid Green’s A round and included new investors, Bravos Capital, Silverleaf Ventures, and existing investors FGCP and HALLEY Venture Partners.
Tell us about the product or service that Lucid Green offers.
Lucid Green is a software platform that provides trusted and transparent information and data to brands, distributors, retailers, and consumers in the cannabis industry. The power of the Lucid Green platform are fungible universal product codes (F-UPC) called LucidIDs. These LucidIDs appear on cannabis packaging, cases, pallets, and any other cannabis inventory items. For brands, distributors, and retailers, it provides complete supply chain operational support and inventory management. The F-UPC provides all the tracking information and cannabis casing information. Consumers scan LucidIDs to get COA (certificate of analysis), dosage recommendations, rewards points (or bud tokens) to allow them to optimize their cannabis experiences. This gives brands direct marketing capabilities in a highly regulated environment.
What inspired the start of Lucid Green?
Paul Botto (cofounder) and I both have rich enterprise data industry experience. Paul had a serious skiing accident that left his leg shattered, and cannabis provided a health solution to pain management and recovery as a replacement for heavy narcotic drugs. The rest is not history, yet, but we are extremely bullish on the future of Lucid Green.
How is Lucid Green different?
There is not a single company that provides F-UPC for the cannabis industry such that different players in the supply chain operations and inventory management (as well as consumers) can get different imperative information that supports their professional, medical, or recreational activities with cannabis. One code implemented via F-UPC provides support for EVERY group that touches cannabis from seed to consumption.
What market does Lucid Green target and how big is it?
We target four audiences in the cannabis industry – brands, distributors, retailers, and consumers. As cannabis is legalized, state-by-state, and new markets open up, there can only be speculation on how big the market is. Currently, it is estimated to be a $60B industry, but we expect that number to grow significantly as legal cannabis becomes ubiquitous in the United States – it is just a matter of time.
What’s your business model?
Lucid Green drives revenue with each “imprint” of a LucidID on cannabis packages, cases, pallets, or any other distribution container.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business??
In many ways, COVID has caused an increase in cannabis consumption, but at the same time has slowed many businesses as they have been hampered by supply chain delays.
What was the funding process like?
As the cannabis industry is relatively new, and regulations vary state-by-state, we have had to do much educating regarding inefficiencies in the supply chain operations.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The current investment climate rewards scale in Cannabis. We are not yet at the scale that makes this a no-brainer for investors but that will change in the next 6-9 months as we aggressively roll out LucidID’s across multiple states.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The fact that we have the potential to become a standard. Lucid Green’s unique LucidIDs and the way these F-UPCs create efficiencies, cost-savings, trust, and transparency throughout the entire cannabis industry.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Having the LucidID’s on over 25MM units in the US by year-end.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Manage your cash flow. No matter how great your solution and value proposition are for an intended target audience, nothing ever moves at the speed which you would like it to – especially when regulators are involved.
Manage your cash flow. No matter how great your solution and value proposition are for an intended target audience, nothing ever moves at the speed which you would like it to – especially when regulators are involved.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We intend to become the standard in Cannabis with the LucidID’s as the backbone for two-way information across the entire supply chain through to the ultimate consumer.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC
Gosh – there are so many to choose from. We have loved to see the ingenuity from restaurateurs as they have dealt with the pandemic. I guess we would say anywhere we can enjoy the sun and spring weather … maybe soon, cannabis will be on the menu.
