Startup interview: Alexej Pikovsky, Co-founder, Alphagreen
RTIH talks CBD and alternative healthcare products and startup life with Alexej Pikovsky, CEO at London-based marketplace Alphagreen.
RTIH: Tell us about Alphagreen
AP: Launched a year ago, Alphagreen is now Europe’s leading platform for CBD and alternative healthcare products and has onboarded more than 90 brands and lists over 870 products.
Our B2C side focuses on giving consumers access to high-quality CBD products as well as other products infused with adaptogens and superfoods, providing them with natural plant-based remedies to help them alleviate their daily health and wellbeing concerns.
As part of our mission to destigmatise and educate consumers about CBD and adaptogens as well as their benefits, we recently launched our Academy and Medium blog where we publish well researched in-depth articles related to CBD, adaptogens, superfoods and general health and wellbeing.
In addition to our B2C services, we also provide tech-enabled services to our brands which include display advertising, SEO and assisting many international players to enter the EU market and set up e-commerce. We also have a B2B platform where we offer wholesale rates to other retailers looking to buy in bulk.
Our main point of differentiation is our rigorous onboarding process where we check all products are lab-tested to the highest standards and have COAs to confirm the same. This ensures that our consumers are sold effective and high quality products.
RTIH: What was the inspiration behind setting the company up?
AP: Alphagreen was founded by myself and Viktor Khliupko (CTO) as we combined our passion for health and wellbeing with innovation and technology.
I use CBD regularly to alleviate various wellbeing issues and realised there are some bad actors in the CBD space and spotted a gap in the market for reliable and effective products that are also available in a variety of formats.
Wanting to develop this opportunity further, I reached out to Viktor (an old friend), an expert in e-commerce development which made him perfect for the collaboration. This led to the birth of Alphagreen.
RTIH: What has been the industry reaction thus far?
AP: Industry reaction has been very positive and they recognise our efforts to inform and educate the consumer and maintain high-quality control with regard to our product selection and the brands we onboard.
We’ve also started to attract the attention of the media from the likes of the FT and Forbes, indicating the growing interest in our market. Myself and other colleagues have also been speaking at numerous conferences and have been invited to panels where established players were sharing their insights.
We are seeing more and more brands and even other marketplaces reaching out to us for partnerships.
“While consumers do favour the convenience of online shopping, many prefer the in-store experience where they can try and test products before they purchase them. This is particularly relevant in the CBD sector, given the general lack of information and education about products”
RTIH: What has been your biggest challenge/setback?
AP: Our recent survey of UK consumers highlighted the significant lack of education and awareness around CBD and its benefits - the biggest challenge is the stigma associated with cannabis which affects the growth of the wider CBD industry as a whole.
We saw from our survey that despite this lack of education and awareness around CBD in the UK, there remains a significant level of demand for quality products. We see one of our roles as being an educator of CBD to the public and to build a community around the destigmatisation of cannabis/CBD.
I’d say another challenge has perhaps been the restrictions around marketing CBD products on various platforms which has also limited our growth/exposure to some extent. This means it’s unnecessarily challenging to reach new consumers and educate them by promoting educational content.
RTIH: What are the biggest challenges facing the online retail sector right now?
AP: One persistent challenge in the online retail sector has always been the inability to test products. While consumers do favour the convenience of online shopping, many prefer the in-store experience where they can try and test products before they purchase them.
This is particularly relevant in the CBD sector, given the general lack of information and education about products. In this environment, it’s understandable that a significant number of buyers of CBD products may prefer the in-store experience.
It gives them the opportunity to try the products and speak to experienced customer service representatives who can guide them and provide personalised recommendations.
RTIH: What's the best question about your company or the market asked of you recently by a.) an investor
AP: We are regularly asked whether we want to expand into other international markets and also beyond CBD. The answer for both is yes, absolutely.
We are launching in Sweden at the end of October and will then steadily roll out into other European countries with dedicated domains, but we’re already shipping internationally.
We’re also beginning our gradual expansion into the US, the world’s biggest CBD market. In terms of other products, we’re starting to onboard some very interesting nootropic brands and wellness brands and are looking to launch thematic bundles for energy, focus, relaxation, etc.
One of the best questions we've ever been asked by a customer was “what’s in it for a brand to enter a marketplace with lots of brands already?”
It’s true there is a lot of competition and new brands risk getting lost in the noise. On the flipside, in a congested marketplace you can benefit greatly from being part of a single, trusted destination where consumers are actively looking to buy products like yours.
RTIH: What can we expect to see from Alphagreen over the next 12 months?
AP: We will soon be launching our Swedish website and will focus on growing that part of the business. We will continue to onboard more brands to give our consumers a greater variety of products to pick from, so you can expect to have more than 100 brands with over 1100 products available to buy on alphagreen.io by the end of this year.
We also have a fully owned German subsidiary for Medical Cannabis which we plan to move forward with within the next year too. Finally, we already offer international shipping and will carry on expanding our reach so we can enhance consumer well-being globally.