How Dutchie Is Bringing Cannabis Into The Ecommerce Space
Shadd Dales is joined on this episode of The Dales Report by Dutchie Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Zach Lipson. For investors unfamiliar, Dutchie is a SaaS technology platform powering cannabis businesses with operational help including Point of Sale, Ecommerce, Payments, and more.
We last talked with Dutchie co-founder and CEO Ross Lipson two years ago to the day, so it’s high time we sat down for an update. Here’s some highlights from the interview.
Zack Lipson Shares The Dutchie Origin Story
Dutchie got it’s start five years ago. It was the brainchild of Zack’s brother, Ross, who had a background in online food ordering platforms.
Cannabis had just been legalized in Oregon, where Ross still lives today. Oregon was a very progressive market which had just enabled delivery, and as he was standing in line at a dispensary, the lightbulb went off. He had a thought, ‘What if I take some of the things I’ve learned in the online food ordering space, and I bring them here to cannabis?’
Zack Lipson brings his own skillset to Dutchie. His background is in software development, and he had been in multiple start-ups on the product and design end. Today, the brothers make a great team. Ross covers the business and sales side, and with Zack’s help, their technology platform has been off to a great start.
Online Ordering For Cannabis ‘Wasn’t Really There’ Before Dutchie, Says Lipson
When Dutchie launched, there was nothing like it. “We focused first on this e-commerce piece,” says Zack. “Like, ‘how do we basically bring online ordering into this industry,’ because it wasn’t really there prior to Dutchie.”
So, when it came to market, the brothers were pleased to see it take off. There was an incredible amount of adoption. The Lipson brothers’ Dutchie solution allowed any company to embed online ordering directly onto their websites.
Point Of Sales Were Added In
Zack says from there they began working with investors. One was Casa Verde, who invests heavily in cannabis companies. They led Dutchie’s seed rounds, and there were others along the way. But Zack and Ross weren’t looking for just funding. The Lipson brothers were looking for a partner as well as an investment partner for Dutchie, someone who could give guidance on the cannabis industry, and not just cash.
As the brothers learned more about ecommerce and point of sale in the space, they began integrating with a number of cannabis point of sales. Because of the regulatory framework in the states, unique technology solutions have been required in different states. Because of the varying regulations dispensaries needed to comply with, there were none of what Zack calls the “agnostic, standard point of sales” coming in.
After partnering with some of these cannabis point of sale companies for a while, the brothers decided to make the design solution to bring both ecommerce and point of sale solutions together under one roof.
Be sure to catch the whole Dutchie interview with Zack Lipson at the video above. Zack and Shadd chat about the funding series for Dutchie, and how COVID has impacted the company’s plans for the future. Also part of the conversation: the Banking Act, how the Dutchie platform can really help people access the medicine they need, and more, right here on The Dales Report!
