The architects of flavor: who is behind Connected Cannabis Co.?
Connected is the work of Caleb Counts, the brand’s CEO and co-founder, who entered the industry in 2009. The Sacramento roots run deep: Counts helped write cannabis laws in his hometown before the legal market existed.
This wasn't a brand that showed up after legalization to cash in. It was built by an operator who was in the room when the rules were being drafted. Counts served as president of the Sacramento Association of Representatives, a business owners' group that developed the city's regulatory framework. That seat at the table meant Connected understood the rulebook while most of the market was still guessing at it.
Counts’ background is a blend of entrepreneurial grit and advocacy. During the gray market years, he wasn’t just growing; he was organizing. Working alongside Sacramento’s operators, he helped shape local licensing so legitimate businesses had a voice when the city decided who got to stay open.
The genetics obsession was there from day one. "When Connected built our first grow room back in 2010, we had 5,000 square feet and 36 lights, of which half were dedicated to developing new genetics," the company has said. Half the lights on R&D before there was a legal market to sell into — that’s the tell.
Connected says it chose research over short-term yield in those years, putting phenotype hunting ahead of squeezing every gram out of the room. Connected treated cannabis breeding like a craft discipline years before "designer genetics" became a marketing line.
That early bet shaped everything that followed. Instead of buying someone else's surplus flower and putting it in a pretty jar, Connected spent its early years selecting plants. It was a long-term play, and it is the reason the brand gets talked about as a genetics house rather than just another label on the shelf.
From one room to a real operation
The one-room origin story didn't stay small. By 2015 Connected had built an 800-light grow in Sacramento, and it added a separate 500-light research facility, according to a 2023 Forbes profile of Alien Labs. The same profile put the combined operation at roughly 400 employees across three states.
The capital followed the product. Connected closed a $25 million Series A in July 2019, expanded into Arizona in November 2020, and announced a $30 million raise in April 2021. At the time of that announcement, the company said it was EBITDA-positive and ran three retail stores.
Scale is usually where craft brands lose the plot. Connected's pitch has always been that the plant comes first and the business is built around it, and the numbers suggest investors bought that story.
The DNA of a legend: what strains is Connected known for?
Biscotti is the flagship — a chocolatey, indica-leaning hybrid that crossed over from dispensary shelves into the soundtrack of the culture. A 2024 Forbes profile of Counts counted Biscotti references in more than 400 songs. That kind of reach is rare for any cultivar.
Leafly lists Biscotti as Gelato 25 crossed with Sour Florida OG, and credits Cookies Farms with the original breeding. Connected's Biscotti still sits at the top of its own lineup; it's the first strain featured on the brand's homepage, listed as an indica-dominant hybrid. Crosses built on it, such as Guava x Biscotti and Biscotti x Gushers, show up on Connected's menu too.
Then there's Gelonade, which took first place at The Emerald Cup in 2021, the inaugural year of the Indoor Flower category. A win in the first year of a new category is a real credential, not a participation trophy. At the same competition, Alien Labs' Biscotti placed third.
Gelonade is a cross of Lemon Tree and Gelato 41. It also won first place in the sativa flower category at a High Times Cannabis Cup, while Biscotti took first in indica, according to Connected's 2021 announcement. The win proved Connected could compete in the "fruit" lane as well as the "gas" lane.
The current menu runs deep with names cannabis heads recognize: Permanent Marker, Tropical Z, Silver Spoon, Nightshade, Cherry Fade, Mr. Sandman and more. Permanent Marker is one of the three strains the brand features on its homepage, listed as an indica.
Beyond the flower, Connected carries its genetics into other formats. Its lineup covers flower, vapes and carts, pre-rolls, extracts and edibles. Menu staples include a Biscotti live resin cartridge, a Gelonade live resin all-in-one and Gelato #41 budder. On the edible side, Connected partnered with Lost Farm on Biscotti live resin chews and Gelonade live resin gummies.
The powerhouse partnership: how are Connected and Alien Labs related?
This is where the story gets bigger. Alien Labs was founded in March 2014 by Ted Lidie and his partner Tyler Meeks, and Connected was the first company to buy a pound of Alien Labs flower. The relationship deepened from there. Connected's own 2021 announcement says it acquired the Alien Labs brand in 2017; Lidie dates the partnership with Counts to 2018.
Lidie remains Alien Labs' founder and creative director, and Alien still runs as its own brand inside the Connected family. Connected's site lists Alien Labs as a house brand known for limited drops. "I consider them family. We let them take over the heavy lifting," Lidie told Forbes in 2023, describing Connected's role on the cultivation side.
The two brands still feel distinct. Connected leans classic connoisseur, rooted in California's established cuts, while Alien Labs leans exotic and hype-forward, pushing aesthetics and "out of this world" genetics like Area 41 and Baklava.
Operating as a family of brands lets them reach different corners of the market without diluting either name. See how another California originator scaled in our Cookies brand story, or go deeper on the sister brand in our Alien Labs brand story.
Finding the real deal: where can you buy Connected Cannabis?
Connected runs its own retail, with storefronts in Stockton, San Francisco and Sacramento. All three are listed on the brand's site as open daily from 9am to 9pm. These are the places to find the brand's full lineup under one roof.
On the product side, Connected lists availability in California, Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York. Arizona came first, in November 2020, and Florida followed through Trulieve. In December 2022, Trulieve became the exclusive Florida provider of Connected products, launching Alien Labs' Xeno and Kryptochronic on December 15 and Connected's El Jefe, Gelonade and Nightshade on December 20 at select locations.
Always check the brand's official store locator for current availability in your area — cannabis distribution shifts constantly due to regulatory changes and supply chain logistics. You can also find the brand on our Connected Cannabis Co. brand page.
Defining the culture: what makes Connected culturally significant?
Three things define the cultural gravity of this brand. First, staying power: this is a brand that predates legal California and is still setting the standard, not chasing it. Connected has gone from a single Sacramento grow room to a multi-state operation, and that longevity builds trust with consumers who remember the brand from the NorCal days.
Second, genetics as identity. In the age of marketing-first brands, Connected stands out because its value is in the plant itself. When you pick up a Connected jar, you are buying the result of years of selection work, and the brand has built its entire story around that.
Third, cultural reach: between Biscotti’s run through rap lyrics and cup wins for Gelonade, Connected occupies the rare space where a cannabis company is also a cultural reference point. It has built a lifestyle brand without losing sight of the product that made it matter.
The hidden engine: what most people miss about Connected
The easy story is "premium weed brand." The real story is that Connected is a genetics house that happens to sell flower. The 2010 grow room that put half its lights on genetics tells you everything: the product is downstream of the R&D.
That's the tell. While other companies were focused on footprint or cost-cutting, Connected was focused on the library. It understood early that in a commodity market, the thing that holds value is proprietary IP. In this case, that means the plants themselves, plus a dedicated research facility to keep finding the next one.
In a market where plenty of brands are white-labeled flower with a logo slapped on, the ones with real genetics work behind them are playing a different game. Owning something real versus renting attention is the whole ballgame in cannabis branding right now.
It's what separates the brands that survive a market contraction from the ones that don't. Building that kind of durable brand identity is exactly the work we do at High Rise Agency. We look at the long-term viability of a brand based on its roots, and Connected’s roots go back further than most in California.
Frequently asked questions
Is Connected Cannabis a real licensed brand?
Yes, Connected is a licensed California cannabis operator. The brand displays its state licenses on its website, including C11-0001367-LIC, and sells flower, vapes and carts, pre-rolls, extracts and edibles.
Who founded Connected Cannabis Co.?
Caleb Counts is the CEO and co-founder of the brand. He entered the California cannabis industry in 2009, helped write Sacramento's cannabis laws, and has been developing genetics since Connected's first grow room in 2010.
Did Connected buy Alien Labs?
Connected's 2021 funding announcement says it acquired the Alien Labs brand in 2017, while Ted Lidie dates his partnership with Counts to 2018. The brands share cultivation resources but keep distinct identities, with Lidie still serving as Alien Labs' founder and creative director.
What is Connected's most famous strain?
Biscotti is the brand's signature strain, referenced in more than 400 songs and featured first on Connected's homepage. Gelonade is also highly celebrated, winning first place in the inaugural Indoor Flower category at the 2021 Emerald Cup.