Alien Labs is Ted Lidie's Sacramento flower brand, built on in-house genetics and a look lifted from skate decks, comic books and B-movies. Connected Cannabis Co. acquired it in 2017, and the site now carries a 2026 Connected International copyright. It sells flower, pre-rolls, vapes and hash rosin in California, Arizona and New York, and Forbes reported a Florida launch in 2023.
The site sums up the mix as skate culture, connoisseur-level cannabis and all things nerd. Lidie is still founder and creative director.
From Redding to a Sacramento grow room
Lidie started Alien Labs in Redding, a city and county that banned commercial cannabis. "I moved to Sacramento to find us a home," he told Forbes in October 2023. Connected, co-founded by master grower Caleb Counts, bought the brand in 2017, according to Connected's April 2021 capital-raise announcement. Forbes dates Lidie's working partnership with Counts to 2018.
The partnership gave Lidie scale. Forbes described the brands growing out of an 800-light Sacramento facility built in 2015, plus 500 more lights at a research facility for breeding. Connected's 2021 release counted three stores and grow facilities in both California and Arizona. The same release announced a $30 million debt and equity raise led by Navy Capital and One Tower Group, with Sam Ghods then serving as Connected's chief executive.
Nerd culture on the jar
Lidie grew up on comic books, manga, B-movies and cartoons, and he told Leaf Magazine in November 2022 that the brand borrows from legacy skate labels like Alien Workshop and Hook-ups. He framed Alien Labs as a voice for "the people that aren't always represented in our culture – even stoner culture."
The packaging plays along. The Y2K release came in Happy Meal-style boxes with collectible alien babies inside. Leaf also noted that the company sponsors street fairs and non-commercial community events, and that product, merch, concentrates and events all run under one creative roof.
Area 41, Atomic Apple and the cultivar library
The genetics carry the name. Forbes listed Area 41, Baklava, Biskante, Atomic Apple, Gelato 41, Y2K, Gemini, Melonade, Zkittelz, Dark Web and Planet Red among the fan favorites, and Torches NYC singled out Area 41 and Milkbone as early calling cards. Zkittelz won the Best Thing Smoking category at Greenwolf's Zalympix connoisseur tournament.
The flower collection rotates through Skyline Haze, Glitch, Cosmic Cereal, Permanent Shade, Atomic Apple, Biskanté and Brain Wash at $60 a jar. Astro Valley runs as a STIIIZY exclusive, and Phoenix Lights as a Ponderosa exclusive. In August 2026, Headset's top-selling Alien Labs item was an eighth of XJ-13, followed by BK Satellite and Permanent Shade. An XJ-13 pre-roll and an Atomic Apple eighth rounded out the top five.
Pre-rolls, cold chain and hash rosin
The catalog goes well past the jar:
- Pre-rolls: 1-gram singles of Area 41, Atomic Apple, Baklava, Biskanté, BK Satellite, Brain Wash and Creme de Menthe at $15, plus the Alien Finger solventless hash roll at $30.
- All-in-ones: 1-gram Cold Chain, Z, Biskante, Atomic Apple, Gemini and KryptoChronic devices at $50.
- Cartridges: 1-gram cured resin at $35 and live resin at $40, in Agent X, Area 41, Atomic Apple and Creme de Menthe.
- Disposables: 500-milligram live resin units, including Apollo 41.
Hash rosin and collaborations have their own collections on the site. The site works as a catalog and points buyers to a store locator, and apparel sells through a separate shop, TwentySixtyNine.
Travis Scott, HUF and Zumiez
Alien Labs runs collabs like a skate company. In 2021 it made Cactus Farms, a limited-edition cannabis line with Travis Scott. Forbes also cited Zumiez capsule collections, a HUF collaboration two years in the making and a project with The Ten Co. in development in 2023. Leaf reported in November 2022 that Alien Labs merch had expanded into 180 Zumiez stores.
New York and the 2026 footprint
Leaf's November 2022 profile already had Alien Labs in California, Arizona and Florida, with the East Coast next. Lidie told Forbes he was eyeing New York once indoor licensing opened, and by April 2026 the brand had launched there. Torches NYC on East 42nd Street in Manhattan was a launch partner, stocking Xeno, Atomic Apple, Permanent Shade and BK Satellite as flower and 1-gram pre-rolls, with a merch capsule alongside. Torches said vapes would follow.
Headset counted Alien Labs in 587 licensed dispensaries in August 2026, 418 of them in California. It ranked No. 12 in California flower, down from No. 9 in May 2026, No. 13 in Arizona flower and No. 36 in New York flower. Flower made up 73.2% of sales, vapor pens 15.0% and pre-rolls 11.5%, across 261 SKUs.
The site footer lists California licenses C11-0001367-LIC, C10-0000330-LIC, C10-0000500-LIC and C10-0000501-LIC, the same numbers Connected publishes.
For adults 21 and over.