Nabis has become an indispensable partner to cannabis suppliers in California

Vince Ning and his friend, Jun Sup Lee, made an important discovery when they offered to drive a delivery truck for another friend who had a cannabis brand in California. It was 2017, when the state had just legalized the sale of cannabis for recreational use, and licenses were about to go live. Vince and Jun had always been curious about the industry and wanted to learn more. Their friend suggested that continuing to make deliveries and meeting people at dispensaries would be the best way to learn.

As Vince explains, since cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, people in the industry only want to do business with partners they know and can trust. Making deliveries was initially only something Vince and Jun did on the side because they both had full-time jobs – Vince had just sold his business to Amazon and Jun was running another startup called Allganize.

The discovery that Vince and Jun made during their deliveries was that the cannabis industry had a major distribution problem. As the industry grew and more brands entered the market, many suppliers assumed they would need their own fleet of trucks and drivers to meet the constantly rising demand levels. That would be horribly inefficient. Firms that market other consumer products, like bottled water companies, don’t need their own dedicated distribution infrastructure. Vince and Jun saw an opportunity to become the go-to distribution source for the industry. 

From their experience, Vince and Jun also identified a number of issues that cannabis sellers had with the management of their supply chains. Drawing on their engineering mindset, Vince and Jun knew technology could offer solutions to many of these issues.

Their ideas inspired them to establish their firm, Nabis. Vince and Jun’s goal was to build a company and platform that could enable cannabis sellers to ship products anywhere in the state within two days. As Vince explains, Nabis became a third-party logistics company for the cannabis industry, adding, “We were very similar to DHL or FedEx of the cannabis business in California.” 

Distributors for 10% of the California market

All the relationships Vince and Jun formed during their delivery runs helped their business grow. Eventually they were handling logistics for 10% of the California market. That volume enabled them to gather a significant amount of data about cannabis sales – something that had never been tracked at the wholesale level.

Gathering and analyzing that information enabled Nabis to expand their platform and offer more services to their customers. “We provide analytics that helps our clients better understand their customers,” says Vince.

Today, their expanded services include an online wholesale marketplace that cannabis brands can use to extend their reach and sales. Nabis also offers financial lending solutions to help suppliers who might need capital or a steadier cash flow to expand their business.

As important as trust and personal relationships are in the cannabis industry, the Nabis team recognizes that trucking is still ultimately a commodity business that others can easily deliver. They looked to differentiate themselves and add value to their customers on the technology side by offering services and insights from the data that would be difficult to find anywhere else.

“Our goal is to be much more than a fulfillment and logistical solutions provider,” Vince says. “We want to be the partner that helps suppliers grow their business and reach as many customers as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Eventually, they plan to expand their footprint beyond California. Right now, they’re continuing to draw lessons from their experience as they prepare for that rollout.

Today, there are nearly 200 people on the Nabis team.

“We’ve come a long way,” Vince says, “from the days where we were just two guys with trucks, delivering products across California.”

Emles partnership offers valuable lessons

Attracting venture capital for a firm in the cannabis industry can be a challenge, given that marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. Vince was grateful that Gabriel Hammond and Emanuel (“Manny”) Zareh of Emles Venture Partners knew about the industry, were excited about its growth prospects and eager to make investments in the most promising firms.

“Gabe and Manny have been great sounding boards for us,” says Vince. “Gabe also has an interest in beer distribution, and he shared many of his insights about that business, which are highly relevant for us.”

They are both “founder-friendly,” as Vince says, because Gabe and Manny have shown an interest in supporting his and Jun’s business efforts in any way they can.

Manny has worked closely with Vince since Emles provided funding to Nabis. He’s been impressed with the personal skills Vince brings to his role. “Articulate, clear, steady, mature beyond his years, a leader and a dreamer – those are just some of the words that come to mind when I think of Vince,” says Manny. “These attributes enable him to bring an unparalleled vision to Nabis, and I have every confidence the firm will endure as a dominant force in the industry.”

He adds, “You can take the measure of a leader by how well they navigate both the good times and the challenges. That ability to handle the ups and downs is especially important for the founder of a startup. I’ve been a firsthand witness to how skillfully Vince navigates every situation.”

Their partnership began as an investor and a founder, but Manny says they have transcended that. Today, he counts Vince as a friend. “We’ve developed an extraordinary level of trust and mutual respect.”

Providing a needed perspective

The engineers who spent time at Microsoft and Facebook have become vital contributors to the success of the cannabis firms they now support.

“People in the business are incredibly knowledgeable about how to cultivate the plant,” Vince says. “We’ve learned so much from them about the history of the business, and we’ve shared the tech side with them in return.”

Being able to offer technology-driven that solutions can make cannabis suppliers’ business lives easier and more profitable has enabled Vince, Jun and the Nabis team to become valuable to the industry in ways even they didn’t imagine when they were driving those delivery trucks.