Luxury bongs and fine joint paper - this company wants to make smoking weed stylish

A drilled Fanta bottle as a bong may serve its purpose. But anyone who has outgrown the stoner years on the halfpipe might ask themselves: doesn’t that also come in beautiful?

Anna Grafe-Busch often asks herself this question. The Munich native with a sense for aesthetics thinks that everything should actually be beautiful, and was correspondingly enthusiastic when her best friend Philipp von Frankenberg showed her a picture of an extremely elegant ceramic bong some time ago. Manufacturer was a manufactory in California. But the friends thought that there should also be one here. And started.

With Auriey, the two have now founded an online shop for “contemporary smokers accessories”, as they say themselves. Bongs, pipes, papers, grinders and everything you need to smoke weed are available here - in beautiful condition. Prices range from 50 to 130 euros.

They wanted to "liberate the moderate enjoyment of cannabis from its sleazy image and the prevailing clichés through fine understatement and unobtrusive noblesse," according to a press release.

When Philipp von Frankenberg himself talks about Auriey, it sounds a little different: "Of course, I used to smoke myself and I still do occasionally," says the businessman cheerfully. "We are the core stoner generation, born in the late seventies, teenagers in the nineties."

His co-founder also sees the core target group of her online shop in this generation and speaks of “design-conscious people over thirty” whom she wants to address. However, von Frankenberg interjects that he would not make any age restrictions, he could imagine people in their mid-twenties with Auriey accessories just as much as people over 60 plus.

"If cannabis is the 'weapon of choice' for a cozy evening with friends, then there must be something for the people who set the table beautifully and elegantly with Riedel glasses and decanters," he says. "But we don't talk to the 16-year-old stoner who does bong Olympics on his dingy sofa," he says.

However, this “choice” that Frankenberg is talking about does not really exist in Germany. The hosts of a cozy evening with friends can't easily choose between red wine and weed, because the former can be found everywhere and the latter cannot be found legally.

So isn't the success of your business heavily dependent on the legalization of cannabis, the so-called "recreational" or "recreational" cannabis? No, says von Frankeberg. There are studies that show that around four million people in Germany regularly consume cannabis. Currently. There are 40 million across Europe. "The market already exists," he says.

Of course, von Frankenberg and Grafe-Busch do not want to rule out the possibility that the market could grow as a result of legalization. It's quite possible that some people who smoked weed in their youth will occasionally do so again if they don't have to risk anything and don't have to call a drug taxi, but can buy cannabis legally somewhere.

Somewhere where you might be able to buy chic accessories from Auriey. The founding duo is currently concentrating on the online shop. Von Frankenberg brings his expertise to the table: After managing the online business of model retailer Hallhuber until 2016, he became Head of Marketing

"I know my way around SEO and SEA," says the entrepreneur. And it doesn't matter whether it's "Laptop and Lederhosen" or "Lederhosen and Cannabis" as before.

Anna Grafe-Busch is also an entrepreneur in her day job – Auriey has been a side project for both of them so far. Together with her brothers, she sells home accessories and gift items in the B2B sector. "I look for articles and manufacturers all over the world and then offer them exclusive distribution in the EU."

Appropriately, she also takes on this part, the sourcing, for her start-up. Most of the products on their Smokers online store were currently from manufacturers in the US and Canada. The two people from Munich have already commissioned a product designer to design their own series.

Two construction sites are currently open: first, financing. Classic VCs often turn out to be financiers, as the founders found out in initial discussions. Because it's about drugs, in a broader sense, and because it's against the statutes of some financiers. "We are currently working on a group of four to five people for a seed round," says von Frankenberg.

The second issue, which Grafe-Busch sees as the biggest challenge, is the advertising ban they're subject to as a cannabis startup. “How do we promote our product without being allowed to advertise?” they asked themselves, so they tried different marketing channels, from brand collaborations to possibly influencers. In the USA, reports von Frankenberg, this already exists.

According to the founder, another way of achieving awareness and a larger customer base could be to expand the “Lifestyle” section on Auriey. Here they sell about hemp candles.

"A nice joint can also sell a cozy blanket," says von Frankenberg. Everything from the area cozy and cuddly - and by no means shady and rancid, like the plastic bottle bong of yesteryear. That's where the two want to go.

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