There are two sides to Ispire, and this fact drives its product strategy. On the vape hardware side, Ispire works directly with brands as their white label partner on hardware with a complete line to support them with cartridges, batteries, and disposables. Ispire also offers packaging and creative services to help the brands imagine who they are and create the right structure to let them do what they do best: make great products to put in cannabis devices.
The Consumer Devices division features several dab devices that utilize induction heating. The team at Ispire decided to use induction heating in its devices to create a greater range of heating temperatures that better service the different ways people consume concentrates. As with all of its product decisions, Ispire places the consumer at the forefront. As the company moves forward, it continues to expand on both product lines to create the best experience for the customer.
Ispire’s team of experts is highly invested in advancing the industry. “I’ve been an advocate for the industry since medical was first passed in California,” explains Rick Egan, chief marketing officer. “While I was watching the industry, an opportunity to get into cannabis did not immediately presented itself to me. One of my mentors, Michael Wang, had been considering joining Aspire Global to help start a cannabis division. Based on my interactions with him, I had gotten to know a lot about the company and what made it different. When he decided to join, he asked if I would help him start the Ispire brand. I jumped at the opportunity to help him build the brand and to do it with him. I knew if he was joining, then it was going to be an opportunity to create a brand that would be loved within the cannabis industry.”
Ispire and its team assist startups in building and establishing a brand. It includes one phrase in all of its branding: “For the perfect hit, every time.” This encompasses Ispire’s drive to deliver a great, consistent experience. Anyone can do something once, but few can do it over time. “For any startup, it is important to find your north star and then start building your narrative that aligns to that north star. That helps to create the thread through everything that you do,” says Egan.
As a company, the goal has always been to make products that gave consumers a better experience. The Ispire team realized from the beginning that cannabis hardware tended to be inferior, and consumers were both typically overcharged and left with a lackluster experience. It was important that, as a hardware company, Ipsire needed to be part of the community to make sure that what it makes serves the community’s needs. Ispire prioritizes getting its people out in the community, supporting charitable groups, and giving back. Ispire created a charitable arm of the company, Wespire—its three pillars are environmental, homeless, and local community, and Wespire supports organizations focused on these pillars. The team is also visible at many events and present on social media.
“As with all startups, you have to wear a lot of hats, but it’s also important to know your strengths and weaknesses and look for help to overcome those weaknesses. Social media was one of those for me,” says Egan. “I am strong in many areas, but that was one where I knew I needed to build a good team. So, initially, I outsourced while I looked for a good team. Experience had taught me that social needed to be done in-house and that, for cannabis, it was a critical part of how we were going to tell our story. I’ve been blessed to this point to have a great team of passionate folks who are helping tell our brand story through our social channels.”
Ispire founder Tony Liu develops much of its technology himself, which led him to develop Ducore. He founded Aspire in 2010 and helped create many vape innovations taken for granted today. In 2018, he started looking into the current technology and concluded that it was not serving the consumer. Innovation was lacking, and compared to the E-cigarette industry, change was slow, and the consumer was suffering because of it. Ducore changed many of the core features by allowing for improved airflow and, lower burning temperatures, as well as solving other problems.
Adjustable airflow control puts the customer in control. By changing the airflow, the customer can select the experience they want, whether looking for a big rip or just a mellow toke. Airflow control lets the customer decide rather than having it decided for them.
With Ispire business can also stop outsourcing manufacturing. Its US-based team eliminates the hassles of liaising with various vendors and factories to create the perfect product. Ispire operates its own 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and it’s able to provide advice during every step of the process. Ispire also offers its partners premium packaging solutions that, like its hardware, are fully customizable with OEM/ODM options, making it a one-stop shop for all business needs.
To remain in the US was a critical decision in Ispire’s evolution. “Along with the importance of customer experience, being a part of the cannabis community was important to our brand and why we are doing what we are doing,” says Egan. “Having a team in the U.S. was the only way we could create products that would deliver on our charter of creating better customer experiences.”
Ispire connects—plugging its partners into a vast community of elite professionals and providing access to a network of cannabis aficionados from fillers to distributors, extractors to retailers, and beyond. Ispire supports. Ispire cares.
