Lantern
Lantern is a cannabis e-commerce marketplace and same-day delivery platform operating in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Michigan, serving adult recreational consumers (21+) with aggregated licensed brand products and a VIP subscription tier.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersGrand Rapids, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Lantern does
Lantern is a cannabis e-commerce marketplace and on-demand delivery platform operating as KindRun Massachusetts LLC, headquartered in Boston. The company aggregates products from multiple licensed cannabis brands and dispensaries, offering flower, pre-rolls, vapes and carts, edibles, concentrates, topicals, and accessories via the lanternnow.com storefront. Customers place orders online for free same-day delivery between 9am and 9pm in Massachusetts, with active commerce operations also in Colorado and Michigan and planned entry into New Jersey and New York pending regulatory clarity. The technology stack includes an integrated payment processing layer handled by the wholly-owned subsidiary KindTap Technologies LLC, location-based services for delivery routing, age verification at point of delivery, and lab-tested product curation across partner brands including Glorious Cannabis Co, Good Chemistry, Clean Cut, Root & Bloom, GO TO, Choice Chews, and JoyBombs. Lantern also publishes educational content (Cannabis 101, Strain Guide) and runs its own brand of cannabis products alongside the marketplace aggregation.
Lantern's business model combines transaction-based revenue from cannabis product sales (priced at dispensary parity with promotional discounts of around 15%) with a subscription layer via the Lantern+ VIP program, which offers members special pricing, exclusive updates, and faster deliveries. The company was spun out from Drizly Group and received $40 million in capital in 2021 following Uber's $1.1 billion acquisition of Drizly, with Drizly and FJ Labs as investors. Its go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via self-serve e-commerce, supplemented by a community-led social equity incubator program network operating in Massachusetts, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York in partnership with nonprofits including The Color of Cannabis and Calyxeum.
Customer segmentation is hybrid: the primary audience is adult recreational cannabis consumers (21+) seeking dispensary-grade selection delivered to their door, with secondary segments including cannabis novices served through educational content and social equity entrepreneurs supported via the incubator programs. Lantern is privately held with 11-50 employees and no native mobile application; orders are placed through the mobile-optimized web storefront.
Lantern firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lantern
- Legal name
- KindRun Massachusetts LLC
- Website
- https://lanternnow.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lantern is a cannabis e-commerce marketplace and same-day delivery platform operating in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Michigan, serving adult recreational consumers (21+) with aggregated licensed brand products and a VIP subscription tier.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lantern industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cannabis E-commerce & Delivery Marketplace
- NAICS
- Beer, Wine, and Liquor Retailers (445320)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis Dispensaries (CRANAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis Delivery & Online Ordering (CRANAGAH), Cannabis Dispensary + Ancillary Retail (Accessories, CBD/Hemp, Merchandise) (CRANAFAH)
Keywords
Where Lantern is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Grand Rapids
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Lantern business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others
Revenue model
- Cannabis Product Sales: Lantern operates as a cannabis ecommerce marketplace connecting consumers with licensed dispensaries. The platform facilitates transactions for cannabis products (flower, edibles, vapes, concentrates, topicals, accessories) with same-day delivery. Revenue is generated through transaction fees and product sales.
- Special Pricing & VIP Services: Lantern+ VIP program offers subscribers exclusive updates and special pricing, suggesting a subscription or membership component that provides enhanced value to frequent customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Standard product pricing with special discounts |
| Subscription | Monthly | Lantern+ VIP membership for exclusive benefits |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Lantern product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lantern operates an online cannabis marketplace (lanternnow.com) that connects adult consumers 21+ with licensed cannabis dispensaries and brands for same-day free delivery in Massachusetts (with expansion to Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York). The platform aggregates flower, pre-rolls, edibles, vapes, concentrates, topicals, and accessories from multiple brands at dispensary-matched pricing, with lab-verified product quality, age verification on delivery, and a Lantern+ VIP membership program offering exclusive pricing and updates.
Product overview
Lantern is a cannabis ecommerce platform and delivery marketplace offering same-day weed delivery to consumers in Massachusetts, with expansion plans for Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York. The core offering is the Lantern Cannabis Delivery Marketplace, which connects customers with licensed dispensaries and brands. The platform operates alongside Lantern+ VIP subscription services and Social Equity Incubator Programs that support underrepresented entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry across five states. The product portfolio includes Flower, Pre Rolls, Vapes and Carts, Edibles, and Accessories — spanning both Lantern-branded products and offerings from partner brands including Glorious Cannabis Co, Good Chemistry, Clean Cut, Root & Bloom, GO TO, Choice Chews, and others. Educational resources including Cannabis 101 content and a Strain Guide complement the transactional platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Lantern+: VIP service offering exclusive updates, special pricing, and faster deliveries for cannabis customers
Products and services
- Lantern Cannabis Delivery Marketplace Online marketplace and same-day delivery platform connecting adult 21+ consumers with licensed cannabis dispensaries and brands in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Michigan; offers free delivery 9am–9pm and dispensary-matched pricing across flower, pre-rolls, edibles, vapes, concentrates, topicals, and accessories.
- Lantern+ VIP Membership Subscription VIP program offering members exclusive product updates, special pricing, and faster cannabis delivery via the Lantern marketplace.
- Social Equity Incubator Programs Multi-state incubator programs providing educational programming, technical services, licensing application assistance, mentorship, operational consulting, and networking opportunities to social equity cannabis entrepreneurs in Massachusetts, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York.
Quantifiable outcome
- Free delivery everyday
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Lantern
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Lantern technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Lantern partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- Drizly GroupmajorLantern was spun out from Drizly, a cannabis and alcohol delivery platform. Drizly served as the parent/sister company before its acquisition by Uber.
- The Color of CannabiscoreNonprofit partner in Denver providing a 10-week Social Equity Business Registration Course year-round in Colorado. Lantern provides support to help run the program.
- CalyxeumcorePartner for the Detroit Cannabis Project, which was named the official Technical Assistance Provider by the city of Detroit for social equity cannabis entrepreneurs.
- KindTap Technologies LLCcorePayment processing affiliate that handles payment services for transactions. KindRun collects and uses customer information on behalf of KindTap to facilitate payment services, which are subject to KindTap's own terms and conditions and privacy policy.
- New York Cannabis ProjectminorFifth social equity incubator program launched in New York in Summer 2022. Provides educational programming, technical services, application assistance, mentorship, operational consulting, and networking opportunities.
- New Jersey Cannabis ProjectminorFourth incubator program launched in New Jersey in late 2021. Supports social equity applicants with resources and support to build successful cannabis businesses.
- Detroit Cannabis ProjectminorPartnership with Calyxeum for Detroit cannabis incubator, named official Technical Assistance Provider by city of Detroit.
- Massachusetts Cannabis Delivery IncubatorminorLantern's first cannabis delivery incubator launched in Boston in 2019, supporting social equity entrepreneurs in the Massachusetts cannabis industry.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Lantern competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Leafly: Cannabis information and retailer discovery platform with growing commerce/ordering integrations. Adjacent incumbent with marketplace overlap.
- Weedmaps: Largest cannabis marketplace with listings, delivery, and advertising across most legal U.S. states. Broader incumbent in cannabis discovery and commerce with overlapping delivery ambitions.
- Caliva: Vertically integrated California cannabis brand and retailer with own delivery operations. Comparable retail-and-delivery footprint, but as a vertically integrated incumbent rather than pure marketplace.
Direct peers
- Eaze: Cannabis delivery marketplace operating in California and other legal states. Directly comparable to Lantern as a same-day on-demand delivery platform aggregating licensed dispensaries for adult-use consumers.
- Dutchie: Cannabis e-commerce and POS platform powering online ordering for dispensaries nationwide. Directly comparable marketplace/e-commerce model, though with broader B2B retailer SaaS positioning alongside consumer marketplace.
- Meadow: Cannabis delivery and dispensary POS platform operating primarily in California. Directly comparable as a delivery-and-commerce platform serving licensed dispensaries.
- Nugg Club / NuggMD: Cannabis delivery marketplace and telehealth platform operating across multiple legal states. Directly comparable on-demand delivery model targeting adult-use consumers.
Emerging players
- Gofire: Cannabis technology platform with delivery and compliance tooling for dispensaries. Comparable on the e-commerce/delivery stack, with narrower geographic and product breadth.
Regional players
- Green Dragon: Multi-state cannabis retailer with strong Colorado presence and own delivery capabilities. Regional peer with delivery infrastructure overlapping Lantern's Colorado market.
Others
- KindTap Technologies: Listed as Lantern's wholly-owned payment-processing affiliate rather than a separate peer; included as an ecosystem reference point for cannabis-specific payments infrastructure that Lantern has internalized.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lantern social profiles
Digital presenceLantern financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lantern leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Lantern subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Lantern funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lantern M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lantern
What does Lantern do?
Lantern operates an online cannabis marketplace (lanternnow.com) that connects adult consumers 21+ with licensed cannabis dispensaries and brands for same-day free delivery in Massachusetts (with expansion to Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York). The platform aggregates flower, pre-rolls, edibles, vapes, concentrates, topicals, and accessories from multiple brands at dispensary-matched pricing, with lab-verified product quality, age verification on delivery, and a Lantern+ VIP membership program offering exclusive pricing and updates.
Is Lantern a public or private company?
Lantern is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Lantern founded?
Lantern was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lantern based?
Lantern is headquartered in Grand Rapids, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lantern make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Cannabis Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are special Pricing & VIP Services.
Who are Lantern's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Leafly, Weedmaps and Caliva. Direct peers are Eaze, Dutchie, Meadow and Nugg Club / NuggMD. Gofire is listed as an emerging player. Green Dragon is listed as a regional player. KindTap Technologies is listed as an others.
Does Lantern have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lantern.
What industry is Lantern in?
Lantern's product category is Cannabis E-commerce & Delivery Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRANAFAA, Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis Dispensaries, with a secondary code of CRANAGAH, Adult-Use (Recreational) Cannabis Delivery & Online Ordering. Its NAICS code is 445320 and its SIC code is 5810.