Type Private Headquarters Seattle, WA | Founder Dan Nelson Parent Nesta Holding Co | |
Industry Medical & Recreational cannabis consumer information Founded January 22, 2014 (2014-01-22) in Seattle, WA | ||
Wikileaf is an online resource for medical and recreational marijuana patients and consumers. You can compare marijuana dispensary prices and menu's as well as research cannabis strains. Wikileaf displays menus and prices for recreational and medical dispensaries in 7 states (Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado)[1]. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and has been dubbed "The Priceline of Pot."[2] Although they have this nickname their price comparison model is what's called a "Reverse Auction." This means that the consumer specifies how much he or she is going to spend on their next marijuana dispensary visit and then all the marijuana dispensaries within his/her radius put forth the most amount (in grams) they can at this price point. Wikileaf was acquired by Nesta Holding Co. Ltd. on May 2, 2016 for an undisclosed sum. Nesta.Co is private equity firm located in Ottawa, Canada that builds partnerships and brands within the cannabis community. It was founded in 2015 by Chuck Rifici, co-founder and former CEO of Canopy Growth Corporation (formerly Tweed Marijuana Inc.).[3]
Contents
Background
Wikileaf was founded in 2014 by Dan Nelson. Dan had previously been a financial and banking blogger before starting Wikileaf.com. The idea to create a price comparison site for the emerging marijuana industry came to him while he was working on interest rate comparisons for his blog. When Wikileaf went live on January 22, 2014 its launch went viral and the site received nationwide press. That Spring it was also featured as one of Entrepreneur Magazine's Most Brilliant Business Ideas of 2014. During the first year of being live Wikileaf's traffic increased 10 fold. During the beginning of year 2, it's organic traffic growth was sitting at 20% month over month. In September 2016, Dan participated in a Reddit AMA.[4]
Business Model
Wikileaf is currently providing dispensaries with free menu pages to show case their products and prices. They plan to start offering companies that want increased exposure the opportunity to do so at a cost come 2017 and will also have additional geo-targeted advertising opportunities for dispensaries looking to increase their exposure beyond their menu page. Wikileaf has not disclosed what these ad packages will cost. There are also plans to take the company public with an IPO sometime in 2017.
Use
Cannabis consumers can use the site in 3 primary ways.
1. They can compare marijuana dispensary prices and menu's in their neighborhood. 2. They can leave reviews of their favorite marijuana dispensaries based on quality of product, customer service and ambiance of the establishment. The review system is similar to Yelp. 3. They can research cannabis strains based on recommended time of use (morning, afternoon, evening and night), Indica, Sativa or Hybrid. Once a strain is selected, an Overview is provided as well as THC content, Medical use, Effects and reviews.
The website also has a Blog with the latest News and Information about cannabis.[5]
Mobile Usage
Wikileaf has launched its mobile app for Android on October 17, 2016 and for Apple on Nov 09, 2016.