One of the fastest-growing LED light companies in the world is headquartered in Las Vegas, and the company’s CEO doesn’t see any reason why that trajectory will slow in the coming years.
Brett Stevens co-founded Fohse Inc. in 2015 in an attempt to corner the market on high-performance LED light fixtures engineered for indoor cannabis grow operations.
So far, that goal has become reality, Stevens said. Fohse has established itself as one of the biggest buyers of Samsung LED diodes for horticultural use in the world.
Fohse is the designer and manufacturer of all of its lights and has created what Stevens calls “hyper-efficient” fixtures designed to hang inside cannabis grow operations.
The company sends its products to operations in 18 countries, supplying fixtures to over 700 grow operations.
Inc. Magazine recently named Fohse one of the top 20 fastest-growing private companies in the United States—the company pulls in close to $70 million in revenues. Stevens said that figure could soon approach close to $200 million.
“We’re a world leader; we ship to every legal market there is right now,” Stevens said from the company’s facility, located about three miles east of Harry Reid International Airport. “People in the cannabis space know our company, we see that time and time again on our surveys.”
Stevens, a former manager of mixed martial artists, co-founded the company with Ben Arnet. They made the switch from the traditional cannabis business grow space to the production of lights because they had issues retaining employees.
“We were in the cultivation space here in Las Vegas previously, but we were losing trimmers to the Vegas nightlife,” Stevens said. “It’s so hot here in Las Vegas, you have to run night cycles at your grow during the summer. Because this is Las Vegas, people were able to sometimes make $70,000 or $80,000 per year as a busser or server [on the Strip], so we were losing people.”
As successful entrepreneurs often do, Stevens and his people pivoted.
“One our buddies is an engineer and he had done laser guidance systems for the Department of Defense and pacemakers for big companies like Boston Scientific and Medtronic,” Stevens said. “We wanted to explore micro-LED and see if we could create something to grow plants with it. We knew that LED was much cooler burning and more efficient.”
Stevens said Fohse started out creating its lights specifically for the cultivation of cannabis plants, though it has branched out to the organic greens space, he said.
Partly to help guard against the buildup of moisture, which can cause troublesome corrosion, the light fixtures are packed with a glue-type potting agent, which makes them heavy.
That, however, helps keep moisture and dust from reaching the semiconductors within the fixture.
“We’re not the cheapest product,” Stevens said. “Not all light fixtures will have that potting agent, but we thought it was important.”
Stevens said the company is eyeing some pieces of land north of Las Vegas for a possible additional facility. Its location now comes complete with a showroom and a podcast studio.
“Nevada is a good place to have a business,” Stevens said. “The taxes are awesome here. I’m from California originally, so I know what it’s like over there. Property here is reasonable, the cost of living is reasonable.”
Because the cannabis industry is so specialized with regard to equipment and voltage capabilities, workers at Fohse can spend hours on particular light fixtures as they organize and place different cords, plugs and other pieces together.
“It’s very technical; there’s a lot that goes into it,” Stevens said.
Brandon Wiegand, chief operating officer for Thrive Cannabis Marketplace, one of the largest cannabis retailers in Nevada, said having Fohse in town is “a big win” for Las Vegas.
He said a member of the Fohse team helped with the design of the company’s cultivation facility.
“Fohse is a group that truly understands the industry,” Wiegand said. “They came from growing themselves and it shows. Their team has developed best-in-class lights that are getting recognition globally.”
As he tended to the company’s fluffy unofficial mascot—his 7-year-old Akita, Jax—Stevens said the future looks very bright for Fohse.
“Valuation-wise, I think we can be a billion-dollar company,” Stevens said. “And we love Las Vegas. We want to continue to take care of our customer base—current and future—here in Nevada.”
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This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.