Major Partnership Announced
LOS ANGELES, CA – June 26, 2025 – Weed®, a U.S.-based intellectual property company, today announced a strategic partnership with Khalifa Kush, the prominent cannabis brand founded in 2015 by multi-platinum-selling artist Wiz Khalifa. The collaboration is explicitly designed to accelerate Khalifa Kush’s global expansion efforts, aiming to achieve this through a unique integration of culture, commerce, and cutting-edge AI technology. This alliance represents a significant convergence of branding power, cultural influence, and strategic business development within the rapidly evolving international cannabis market.
Leadership Joining Advisory Board
As part of the significant alliance, key leadership from Khalifa Kush will join Weed®’s Board of Advisors. DJ Saul, the Chief Executive Officer of Khalifa Kush, and Tim Hunkele, the brand’s Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, will lend their considerable expertise to guide the commercialization strategy. Their focus will be on the global rollout of Weed®-branded well-being lifestyle products, primarily facilitated through licensing agreements. This move signals a deep alignment between the two organizations’ strategic visions and a commitment to leveraging Khalifa Kush’s market success, operational experience, and cultural influence to drive the expansion of the Weed® brand into new product categories and geographic territories.
Khalifa Kush: A Global Leader
Khalifa Kush has established itself as a formidable presence in the cannabis industry since its inception in 2015. Founded by Wiz Khalifa, the brand has cultivated a loyal following and a reputation for quality, authenticity, and cultural relevance. According to data compiled by Hoodie Analytics, a leading market intelligence firm specializing in the cannabis sector, Khalifa Kush currently holds the distinction of being the largest celebrity cannabis brand globally. This market leadership position provides a robust platform upon which the partnership with Weed® can build its ambitious international goals. The brand’s strong connection to Wiz Khalifa, a figure known worldwide for his music and authentic engagement with cannabis culture, is a critical asset in navigating diverse global markets and consumer bases, offering instant recognition and credibility.
Weed®’s Strategic Investments
Weed®, the U.S.-based IP company, brings a distinct set of capabilities and strategic assets to the partnership. Over the past five years, Weed® has made substantial investments across several critical areas: intellectual property acquisition, comprehensive product development pipelines, exploration and implementation of Web3 technologies, and significant investment in artificial intelligence applications relevant to branding and market growth. Crucially, the company has dedicated significant resources to securing comprehensive trademark protection for the WEED® name across a wide array of business sectors internationally. This extensive IP portfolio provides a strong foundation for developing and licensing products under the Weed® brand name, positioning the company as more than just a cannabis entity but a potential player in broader well-being and lifestyle markets globally.
Fusing Culture, Commerce, and Technology
The stated ambition of the partnership is to fuse culture, commerce, and AI technology to drive expansion. This multi-faceted approach acknowledges the unique position of cannabis at the intersection of cultural identity, evolving consumer markets, and rapid technological advancements. Khalifa Kush’s deep roots in music, entertainment, and cultural movements provide an authentic connection to consumers. This cultural capital, combined with Weed®’s strategic focus on IP management, robust commerce models (like global licensing), and cutting-edge technological tools (including Web3 and AI), is intended to create a powerful synergistic effect. AI, for instance, could be leveraged for everything from predicting nuanced global market trends, optimizing complex international supply chains, and enhancing product development through data analysis, to personalizing consumer experiences and engagement strategies. Web3 technologies might play a role in building decentralized brand communities, ensuring product authenticity and traceability via blockchain, or developing new, immersive digital engagement models for consumers.
Addressing Destigmatization
Beyond commercial objectives, the partnership also explicitly aims to further destigmatize cannabis. Despite growing legalization and increasing public acceptance in many parts of the world, significant social and regulatory stigma persists in various forms. By combining the mainstream recognition and cultural cachet of Khalifa Kush and its founder Wiz Khalifa with the strategic business acumen and extensive branding expertise of Weed®, the partners hope to present cannabis and cannabis-related well-being products in a manner that resonates with wider, mainstream audiences and helps normalize its place in global society. The planned launch of Weed®-branded well-being products under licensing agreements is a direct avenue for introducing cannabis-adjacent or inspired products into broader retail and consumer channels, potentially reaching consumers who may not yet feel comfortable engaging directly with traditional regulated cannabis dispensaries.
Leadership Perspectives
Darin Phillips, the Chief Executive Officer of Weed®, commented on the significance of the collaboration and its strategic implications. “Partnering with Khalifa Kush is absolutely crucial for us as we embark on the ambitious journey of launching a global well-being brand named Weed®,” Phillips stated in a press release issued from Los Angeles. His remarks underscore the strategic importance of aligning with a culturally relevant, commercially successful, and widely recognized entity like Khalifa Kush to effectively navigate the complexities of the global market and build a brand with universal appeal and trust. The partnership is viewed as a foundational step in realizing Weed®’s expansive vision for its brand in the global marketplace, leveraging Khalifa Kush’s established brand equity, deep consumer connection, and market penetration capabilities to accelerate reach and consumer adoption on an international scale.
Path Forward
The alliance, formally announced today, June 26, 2025, from Los Angeles, California, marks a significant development in the global cannabis, well-being, and lifestyle industries. By combining the distinct strengths of a leading celebrity cannabis brand with a strategically focused IP and technology company, Weed® and Khalifa Kush are positioning themselves to capture new market share, innovate product offerings, and influence the narrative surrounding cannabis and well-being globally. The integration of key leadership onto the advisory board ensures strategic alignment and a shared vision for the future direction of the partnership. As this collaboration moves forward, the industry will closely watch how the fusion of culture, commerce, and advanced AI technology translates into tangible global expansion and contributes meaningfully to the broader societal goal of cannabis destigmatization. The licensing strategy for well-being products under the robust Weed® brand is anticipated to be a key driver of growth and market presence in the coming years, signaling a new era for cannabis-related branding and consumer engagement.
