These young entrepreneurs behind a cannabis delivery platform want to push the needle for equity – MassLive.com

With cannabis delivery on the horizon in Massachusetts, the young entrepreneurs behind Zip Run are hoping to push the needle on social equity, offering a platform that streamlines the delivery model and focuses on consumer experience.

Zip Run is an e-commerce platform that CEO Gabriel Vieira hopes will be a one-stop-shop for delivery and pick-up that helps equity applicants partner with dispensaries. It’s like a Grub Hub equivalent for cannabis delivery.

“The biggest thing for us is we want to partner with dispensaries that are honestly in favor of social equity and economic empowerment members,” Vieira said. “We’re all about doing the right thing here, we’re all about making sure that social equity is pushed to the forefront at every level.”

Zip Run wants to focus on Greater Boston initially, Vieira said, and has had conversations with dispensaries in that region.

“The Pure Oasis, the Berkshire Roots of the world, the NETA Brooklines of the world,” Vieira said. “People like that, that really want to push our platform forward as well as grow their consumer base.”

Elis Omoroghomwan, the chief growth officer of Zip Run, said he and Vieria came up with the idea in February 2019. They wanted to start building a technology platform anticipating the eventual start of cannabis delivery in Massachusetts.

Omoroghomwan and Vieira both graduated from UMass Amherst, in 2019 and 2018, respectively, and have created a team of entrepreneurs in their 20s.

“The reason why we set upon this journey, honestly, is because we were young in the space, we knew we could create change and bring hope to individuals that wanted to gain equity in the space by seeing young individuals that graduated from a pretty good university who are out there doing something amazing,” Vieira said.

In addition to Vieria and Omoroghomwan, the Zip Run team includes Christian Nicholson, the chief operations officer, Michael Gordon, the chief technology officer and Doug Wigginton, the principal web developer.

“We have a diverse team, obviously Elis and I, we come from a minority background,” Vieria said, “we wanted to make sure we were diverse in thought at the end of the day.”

In addition to creating the ordering platform, Zip Run is planning to apply for a courier license with the state Cannabis Control Commission. Through Vieira, Zip Run is a social equity applicant and plans to operate out of Dorchester.

“We just want to support the entire Massachusetts community and the communities that we can’t physically support with our own delivery, that’s when we partner with social equity members so they can have the opportunity to expand their horizons as well,” Vieira said. “If we can work with pretty much all, if not most social equity members, I feel like social equity members could really hone in on the delivery market here in Massachusetts.”

Delivery has not officially started in Massachusetts yet. The CCC offers two delivery licenses: a delivery operator license that allows for the wholesale purchase of cannabis to be warehoused and then sold and delivered, and a courier license, which allows equity applicants to partner with retailers to deliver directly to consumers. Couriers can charge fees but cannot sell, process, store or repackage goods.

Both license types are limited to equity applicants for three years.

The marijuana operator license was the focus of a recent lawsuit against the CCC by the Commonwealth Dispensary Association. The CDA dropped the suit, citing the “best interest of the industry and our members,” as several dispensaries dropped membership with the association and while consumers planned a boycott.

Massachusetts was the first state to implement a cannabis equity program, though obtaining capital remains a huge struggle for social equity and economic empowerment applicants, programs to support people and communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. The state’s cannabis industry is largely white.

“The marijuana prohibition and enforcement had a lot of negative impact on a lot of various communities across the country,” Omoroghomwan said. “We’re going to use a good amount of our profits to invest into donations to nonprofit organizations who have a fight not only for social equity but also to enrich the youth in several communities across Suffolk County and Boston and other areas of Massachusetts.”

Zip Run also wants to hire drivers who come from disenfranchised backgrounds to make sure those negatively affected by prohibition have access to jobs, Omoroghomwan said.

Vieira said he’d like to see more dispensaries follow the steps of NETA, which recently awarded a $25,000 equity grant to twin brothers who are working on starting a delivery company called Florencia.

“I think partnerships between courier licensees and dispensaries should be much easier to get, especially now that the lawsuit is done,” he said. “I think we should all have a goal of supporting the social equity industry because I think it’s going to support dispensaries back at the end of the day.”

Vieria said Zip Run will offer services at a subsidized cost or competitive pricing compared to other software players.

Zip Run could launch now if it needed to, Vieira said. On Zip Run, customers will be able to shop by product, or by the kind of experience they’re seeking.

“Zip Run really wants to key in on consumers’ emotions when it comes to providing products that they love or discovering new products,” Omoroghomwan said. “Cannabis is a product that’s all about feelings. People use it to experience different emotions and feelings. We really want to key in on that.”

Customers will also be able to schedule deliveries. Vieira said they took some inspiration from Instacart, which does allow customers to schedule grocery delivery.

“We know that cannabis is not consumed right on the spot how it is for food delivery, so our big thing was to schedule out delivery so it would be easier for consumers to get their products,” Vieira said.

Zip Run was designed with social media in mind, Vieira said, and so the designers added icons to the bottom of the page, including a “refer a friend” section to help bring in new customers.

The team tried to bring in elements to make ordering online feel similar to a trip to a dispensary. A banner on the site will have promotions like “flash Fridays” and other items to improve customer experience, Vieira said.

“We really want to bring that to our consumers in Massachusetts, especially because it’s been a long wait,” Vieira said.

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