Jeffery Freeman Jr.
Age: 35
Company: Mfused
Title: Co-founder, brand architect and chief sales officer
As co-founder and chief sales officer of Mfused, the largest minority-owned cannabis company in Washington, Jeffery Freeman Jr. knows that there are two sides of the industry that need attention.
“There’s the cannabis part — the cannabis passion — and then there’s people who are really good at business,” he says. “We are really good at the cannabis business.”
Though originally opposed to cannabis use, Freeman says family members helped him see the possibilities in the plant and his business sense told him there was an opportunity for well-branded products.
Freeman in 2010 co-founded Mfused, operating in Washington’s medical space with the goal of making better products for cannabis consumers — including the first high-CBD vape cartridge on the market — and helping “legitimize the space.” Freeman says the company’s products, aimed mostly but not solely at the medical and high-CBD side, focus on “known outcomes” so the effects can be replicated.
Mfused is now the most-sold cartridge in Washington state, the No. 1 processor in terms of revenue and oil production with one of the largest distribution channels in the state. The company processes up to 8,000 pounds a month from its 100 partner farms and is forecasted to do $30 million in revenue this year, just in processing for its own brands and white labeling/tolling.
Freeman also helped launch Polite Therapeutics, a medical-focused brand with products backed by doctors and formulated using “emerging cannabinoids” with their help. The goal is to keep costs down to increase access and the plan is to license Polite in multiple states.