Houseplant launches mentorship program for cannabis entrepreneurs

On March 15, Seth Rogen’s cannabis brand, Houseplant, announced plans to service local cannabis businesses. The brand recently sent out a spate of emails to subscribers promoting the opportunity. “Social responsibility is at the heart of Houseplant’s mission, which is why we’re always looking for new ways to give back to the cannabis community,” the email reads. “Last year, this led to the creation of a pilot program we called In-House, where we provided resources and guidance for cannabis entrepreneurs from underinvested communities.”

On the website, the brand explains more about the goal of this program. “Houseplant’s ‘In-House’ program is a mentoring program focused on helping individuals disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs have a fair and equal opportunity to succeed in the cannabis industry “It says in the application. “The free, six-month program gives aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs (both side and plant-touch businesses) close access to Houseplant’s team, as well as the company’s extensive network of consultants and industry leaders.”

The program is described as a part-time position with an estimated 5-10 hours per month. Along with basic contact information about an individual’s cannabis business, it asks if the candidate holds a California social justice license, and if not, asks about past experiences: “Consider yourself (or other founding members of your team) negative about criminalization affected by cannabis?”

The application is short and the only difficulty is summarizing the question “What is the biggest challenge your company is currently facing?”. in just 150 words. The application window is open until May 1, 2022.

Houseplant has already started this program with Itty Bitties’ mentee Moises Estrada, who says he was pleased with the mentoring experience. “[The mentors] have made themselves extremely accessible,” he says. “I know how to cultivate, but I needed help running a business, and [In-House] gave me a ton of insight,” he said, according to the Houseplant email.

Houseplant, founded by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, launched in Canada in March 2019 through a partnership with Canopy Growth. Two years later, the partnership ended and Houseplant would later launch its product line in California in March 2021.

Seth Rogen has been involved in other advocacy and support missions such as the Cannabis in Commons campaign launched in November 2021. He appeared in a video with Sarah Silverman explaining the current state of cannabis in the US and the importance of reaching out to state officials to achieve federal legalization. “Despite what you may have heard, Americans can actually agree on something. And that something is grass,” said Rogen. “…You know who can’t agree on anything? Politician. So despite the fact that 69 percent of us want cannabis to be legal, less than half of the senators voted in favour. In fact, some aren’t even saying where they stand on the issue.” He concluded his statement by urging the country’s cannabis users to act now. “The final legalization of cannabis is long overdue, but if we make enough noise, we can do it.”

Both Rogen and Goldberg will be collaborating on an announced NBC project, according to IMDB. The duo is executive producer on numerous other projects including The Boys Spinoff and Darkwing Duck. In addition, Rogen and his wife Lauren Miller Rogen recently received the Public Leadership in Neurology Award for their support of families affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s – an award previously presented to public figures such as Michael J. Fox, Julie Andrews and Emilia Clarke and many more. The Rogens have also raised more than $15 million for the cause through their nonprofit organization, Hilarity for Charity.