iLava, a wellness cannabis company based in Tucson, is showing signs of tremendous growth after launching six years ago.
Co-Founder Moe Asnani started iLava after his mother passed away from breast cancer in 2016. Recognizing the medicinal benefits of cannabis, Asnani hopes to educate users on the different forms of cannabis and aims to destigmatize cannabis in various communities.
"We're immigrants from India, so my mom was super conservative and didn't want to try it. A major thing for me is just having access to these products that I think most traditional Indian people, even Hispanics, and Catholics, are afraid off because of all the negativity that's been associated with it. We want to make products that don't scare those people, that seem accessible, and are not intimidating to them," Asnani said.
One of the first products Asnani released was iLava Touch, a topical gel with 11 essential oils, including Corsican Hill, Blue Tansy, Blue Cypress, THC, and CBD oil. Asnani said he recognized the need for iLava Touch when his wife developed neuropathy pain from a spinal cord injury she suffered years ago.
“Touch was really created to help solve her problem, and then it ended up solving a lot of other people's problems,” he said.
Along with iLava Touch, the company partnered with Leaflink, a B2B e-commerce platform for cannabis in the launch of its new website at ilava.com. Leaflink has 95% of Arizona cannabis retailers in its network and allows cannabis manufacturers to connect with dispensaries across the nation. Asnani believes the passage of the Smart and Safe Arizona Pact, Proposition 207, which legalized recreational cannabis, greatly benefited his company.
"Prior to the passage of Prop 207, there were only 300,000 medical marijuana cardholders who could come in and legally buy from you. Once recreational happened, anybody who's 21 and over with a valid ID can come in and buy. So you just had a bigger and total addressable market as a function of a property," Asnani said.
Asnani founded iLava with Chip Boyden, co-owner of Have a Heart and The Downtown Dispensary in Tucson. The company operates out of a large-scale indoor cultivation facility, which is divided into sections for agriculture, manufacturing, and production.
Expanding in Arizona
With its recent success, Asnani said he plans on expanding iLava to Phoenix and the rest of Arizona. iLava became profitable just six months into its initial launch in 2016, Asnani said. Asnani and Boyden started the brand with just a few hundred thousand dollars and used cash flows to re-invest in their business. In just six years, the pair have invested over $5 million and have seen over $10 million in revenue at iLava stores in B2B and B2C sales. The brand is projected to grow by an additional $2 to $4 million in the coming years.
"2013 is when we opened up our first dispensary, and we started making products in 2016 in a significant way, he said.
iLava began with just three employees and has now grown into a company with over 230 employees. The company is in the midst of building another 70,000 square-foot facility in Tucson.
"We do plan on hiring more people sales-wise. We have another 70,000 square-foot facility that's under our license that we're building out in Tucson. There will be some iLAVA presence there, but we have other brands that we will move to. We have ZenZona, Indica PM, and a few other brands," Asnani said.
Along with their facilities in Tucson, iLava has an office located on Central Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix. Asnani says this office serves as their brand headquarters, where wholesale customers can come in and meet with the sales staff. Asnani plans on hiring an additional half-dozen sales reps at this location.
The sale and production of cannabis were considered essential business during Covid-19. For that reason, iLava did not suffer any losses from the pandemic. And, Asnani said iLava offers something for everyone.
"Because our products balance out the THC content, you are not having such a strong psychoactive effect, and it becomes a function of people's personalities and what they want," he said.
