As co-founder of Oakland-based Hood Incubator, Ifedigbo sees the launch of a new legal cannabis industry as a “perfect opportunity” to build economic and political power in black and brown communities.
The Hood, co-founded by Ifedigbo, Lanese Martin, and Biseat Horning, is the nation’s first business accelerator program specifically designed to support people of color and those from marginalized groups as they transition from underground cannabis entrepreneurs to legal business owners. The Hood focuses on community organizing, policy advocacy and economic development, including operating an annual four-month, 100-hour intensive Pre-Seed Accelerator.
Ifedigbo believes those with experience in the “informal cannabis economy” should come out of the shadows and enter the legal industry as soon as possible, before competition from large, venture-capital backed competitors floods in and eats up market share.
That’s what the Hood Incubator aims to do. One of its slogans is: “Connecting the underground market to the green economy.”