Created by Deontae Mack, a graduate of the Florida International University, Vibesbnb lists cannabis-friendly places to rent.
Mack previously worked for BestBuy and AT&T. While working as an Uber and Lyft driver, Mark and his wife began to rent out their extra bedroom on Airbnb in 2017.It was as an Airbnb host that Mark chanced upon the idea of a Airbnb but for Cannabis aficionado. It then took Mark three years to develop the Vibesbnb app.
“Cannabis has always been a nice community but no platform had ever considered itself a cannabis platform so I thought it was a good opportunity for growth if we focused on cannabis users and solving problems for the tourist community who consume and need to find accessible homes,” Mark explains.
“I thought to myself, ‘where do you go to book a 420-friendly reservation? I didn’t think of an answer and it was not Airbnb or Google. The only legal place you could consume according to the state law was inside a private residence.”
-Deontae Mack, founder of Vibesbnb
On the Apple AppStore Vibesbnb describes itself as “a short-term lodging marketplace that helps you find the vibe for your stay. Come catch a vibe and find everything you need to make your next experience memorable.”
On the app you can find everything “from a treehouse for a weekend adventure to an entire house for the whole family to live, work, and relax. Search by Vibe specific getaways as well as price, property type, location, amenities, and more.”
In an interview to StarterStory, Mack claims the platform has handled 5,000 reservations related to cannabis tourism on the 160 listed properties so far, and the monthly revenue from the start-up now ranges around $18,000.
“I thought to myself, ‘where do you go to book a 420-friendly reservation? I didn’t think of an answer and it was not Airbnb or Google. The only legal place you could consume according to the state law was inside a private residence.”
In 2016, Mark came across a news headline that Florida had approved a bill to legalize the medicinal use of Cannabis on private properties. He knew he had to try out his idea in Miami.
According to cannabis market research figures, Cannabis market in the United States which now stands at $25 billion could grow up to $42 billion in just five years.