Marijuana Business Magazine November December 2018

N ick Kovacevich launched Kush Bottles in 2010 with the intention of providing California medical marijuana growers, manufacturers and retailers with high-quality packaging for an array of cannabis products. Today, his company sells products to more than 5,000 legally operated medi- cal and adult-use dispensaries, growers and producers in every legal marijuana market in the United States and Can- ada, as well as markets in Europe and South America. It also opened an office in China.The company changed its name to KushCo Holdings in Septem- ber to reflect its evolution into a diver- sified company that has advanced and cemented its expansion with an initial public offering and a multifaceted line of products and services that includes vaporizers and vaporizer accessories, hydrocarbon gases and packaging design services – as well as its bread and butter, packaging products, which account for hundreds of SKUs. “The public money has funded expansion into new states – but also expansion into new categories. Even though we started as a packaging company, we are no longer just a packaging company. Today, packaging is less than 40% of our revenue,” said Kovacevich, KushCo CEO. “I think the investments we’ve made in diversification have been the right plays, and we’ve stayed away from industries that are experiencing challenges right now, like hydroponics.” KushCo’s brands include: • Kush Bottles, one of the largest cannabis packaging companies in the world. • Kush Energy, which provides ultra-pure hydrocarbon gases and solvents to the marijuana and CBD extraction sector. • Hybrid Creative, a design agency for cannabis and non-cannabis ventures. • Koleto Packaging Solutions, the research and development arm that drives intellectual property development and acquisitions. Wrong Bet The company's expansion didn’t begin auspiciously. Company leaders started thinking multistate when momentum grew for recreational legalization in Colorado and Washington state. It had enough capital to move into one state, but not both, and opened a distribution center in the Seattle area in 2013, gambling that Washington would roll out its recreational program in fall 2013, well ahead of Colorado. But Colorado launched its program in January 2014, while Washington didn’t launch until July 2014, meaning KushCo's Seattle distribution facility had been open for about a year before stores opened. “We bet wrong,” Kovacevich conceded. KUSHJOB KushCo Holdings HEADQUARTERS Garden Grove, California YEAR FOUNDED 2010 ABOUT KushCo Holdings is a diversified marijuana company with businesses specializing in packaging and vaporizers, hydrocarbon gases, marketing and design as well as research. STATES KushCo has offices or products in all eight states that have passed recreational marijuana laws as well as warehouses and distribution centers in Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada and Washington state. Its products are sold in all states with legal marijuana. KushCo also has offices in Canada and China and markets in Europe and South America. EMPLOYEES 170 REVENUE Projects more than $51 million for fiscal year ended Aug. 31. TICKER SYMBOL KSHB California packaging company diversifies its offerings and bankrolls acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint By Omar Sacirbey 60 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November/December 2018