Events. Leafbuyer Technologies Inc, the five-year-old, Colorado-based digital information service and marketplace for cannabis users, has agreed to purchase the Las Vegas exhibition CBD.io. <CBD is the common name for Cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis which, research shows, may help to relieve joint pain and anxiety. >The deal also includes an e-commerce wholesale and retail site. Last year’s event featured more than 270 exhibitors including Costco, Walmart and GNC. It attracted an estimated 12,000 people across two days which were filmed for a Netflix documentary series. The show also includes VapExpo, a collaboration with the eponymous French show on vaping which recently held its 10th event in Paris.
CBD.io CEO Robb Hackett says: “In 2018, CBD.io hosted one of the largest and most successful hemp and CBD industry expos in the United States. We’re expanding this year to focus on more speakers and educational series, host nearly double the booths, and bring more value to our trade show clients. CBD is a hot commodity in the US, as well as other countries around the world. With Leafbuyer, we have our sights set on locations for trade show expansion in both Europe and Asia in 2020.”
The next event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nov 22-23, 2019. The Nevada city is the location of the world’s largest cannabis dispensary. In 2017, the first full-year of legalisation, Nevada recorded retail sales of $425m of recreational marijuana and tax receipts of $70m.
The recreational use of cannabis is legal in 11 of the 50 states in America, including: California, Nevada, Washington, Massachusets, Illinois, Michigan and Vermont. It is legal for prescribed medicinal use in most other states. Marijuana Business Facebook estimates the legal-marijuana industry’s economic impact in the US was between $20-23bn in 2017 and could be $77bn by 2022. Market researcher New Frontier Data estimates that the US cannabis industry directly employs at least 250,000 people, almost equal to the number of employees at US iron and steel mills.
The seven-year-old, listed company Leafbuyer claims to be one of the most comprehensive online sources for cannabis deals and information, reported to reach millions of consumers every month. It self-describes as “the official cannabis deals platform” of Dope Media, Sensi Magazine, and Voice Media Group. The company claims that legal cannabis sales in the US (most for medicinal purposes) have increased revenue from $4.6bn in 2014 to $12bn in 2018 and are expected to reach $17.4bn this year. In the nine months ended March 31, 2019, Leafbuyer made an operating loss of $4.5m (2018: £1.3m) on revenues of $1.3m ($0.8m).
