Three weeks ago, Nebraska-based e-commerce startup Spreetail laid off about 85 people in its Austin office as it refocused its business plan.
Now about 30 of those former Spreetail employees have found a soft landing at another out-of-town startup establishing a presence in downtown Austin.
Leafly, a Seattle-based website and app that helps consumers find legal cannabis dispensaries, product reviews and other marijuana-related information, said Tuesday that it's opening an Austin office to house product and engineering operations. The company is still searching for space in downtown Austin, but it already has more than 30 employees. That includes VP of Technology Brandon Elliott, the former head of engineering at Spreetail, who will lead the new office.
“Leafly has been a driving force for cannabis education,” Elliott said in a statement. “As legalization continues to spread around the country and the world we can help people connect with legal cannabis safely and easily. My team and I could not pass up the opportunity to apply our deep e-commerce expertise to the future of this growing industry.”
Of course, traditional cannabis products that contain THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, remain illegal in Texas. But Austin, like many other cities, has recently had an explosion of cannabis-related businesses. Most of them are focused on CBD, a non-intoxicating component of the cannabis plant that is being used for a wide variety of conditions -- from anxiety to pain.
Leafly's VP of Corporate Affairs Laura Morarity said that while cannabis is not legal in Texas, except for a narrow medical program, Leafly wants to provide educational resources.
"Leafly is not a plant-touching business, it's an education and information platform," she told Inno via email, noting the growth of hemp and CBD businesses in the state. "Texas is one of the biggest and most vibrant economies in the United States. When we became aware of the Spreetail team's availability, we saw an opportunity to retain talented engineers while simultaneously expanding into a dynamic city."
Leafly's Austin digs will be its third major office. In addition to Seattle, Leafly's website indicates it has operations in Baltimore, Toronto and Washington, D.C., as well.
“Austin is a great fit for Leafly because of its wealth of talent, burgeoning technology scene and culture of innovation,” Leafly CEO Tim Leslie said in a statement. “We are fortunate to be able to bring an established and talented team that fit so well into our culture to help us tackle the challenges of consumer education and access within the legal cannabis industry.”
While plants with more than 0.3% THC remain illegal, Leafly in March published "The Cannabis Fan's Guide to Austin, Texas Tourism." It points out places to cure the munchies, spots to see live music and it highlights local weed laws, noting that Austin has a reputation for being relatively relaxed about public toking in certain circumstances, such as music festivals.
"We don’t encourage law-breaking, but if you choose to partake, don’t light up in places where kids and families congregate," Leafly's guide says. "Keep an eye out for police. Veterans recommend being smart, staying out of sight, consuming discreetly, and always, always, always staying on the move."
Leafly may be one of the most well-known cannabis businesses to open in Austin. But it's far from the first to serve the marijuana markets outside of Texas. Fluence by OSRAM, for example, provides energy-efficient LED lighting to cannabis grow farms, including publicly traded cannabis company Green Organic Dutchman Holdings in Ontario.
