Puffco unveils the $299 Proxy, an revolutionary, modular cannabis vaporizer – TechCrunch

Puffco has lengthy led the market with revolutionary cannabis vaporizers. The Puffco Peak Professional is well one among the finest e-rigs out there, and the firm simply unveiled a brand new vape known as the Proxy. It affords the better of the Peak Professional and may be constructed into varied type components.

Don’t be distracted by the pretty pipe. That’s only a piece of glass. The Proxy slides into the glass piece. Consider the Proxy as a modular dabbing rig, capable of match into any type issue made for the unit. Bubbler? Positive. Glass beaker? Yep. Pipe? Clearly.

The $299 self-contained rig is about the dimension of a taller D-cell battery. Inside is the identical heating factor present in the firm’s different flagship product, the Peak Professional. USB-C recharges the battery, and the unit comes pre-programmed with 4 completely different warmth ranges.

Puffco ships the Proxy with the pipe proven right here, together with a journey case that holds cables, a cleansing package and a focus container spot.

It’s easy to make use of: Open the carb cap at the high, drop in your favourite focus (resin, shatter, hash, and so forth.), and hit the button twice to activate the oven. Then, a few seconds later, blast off. I discovered the glass pipe clean and cozy, however I might additionally like to strive it with a water piece.

“This seems to be like a vaporizer, simply in a pipe type,” Puffco founder Roger Volodarsky mentioned to TechCrunch. “But it surely’s the first really modular vaporizer that’s been made to work in any design you need. And [Puffco] will launch completely different equipment in different type components that the Proxy can drop into.”

And the firm is seeking to makers to construct different distinctive equipment for the Proxy.

Puffco has lengthy had an lively neighborhood that constructed equipment for the firm’s flagship product, the Puffco Peak and the Peak Professional. Puffco sells a couple of on its website, and Etsy and eBay are filled with customized glass items and utility equipment. Nonetheless, the Peak’s design is limiting and requires makers to construct glass items to a particular type issue.

Volodarsky hopes makers will discover it simpler to construct round the self-contained Proxy.

“It takes a lot much less work to construct for the Proxy,” Volodarsky mentioned. “If an artist goes to make a high for a Peak, it’s going to take them eight to 16 hours … except it’s actually, actually low cost. [The Proxy] takes a lot much less effort, so artists can get the worth for his or her time. If it takes 4 hours to make a chunk, they’ll cost approach much less for it. We expect there will probably be far more reasonably priced choices in our neighborhood.”

The Proxy is offered at present at Puffco.com and several other retailers for $299. As well as, the firm expects new type components and equipment to be out there in the subsequent couple of months.

Volodarsky based Puffco in 2013 and has bootstrapped the firm since. Roger doesn’t wish to take enterprise capital cash.

“I’ve an enormous drawback with having to serve buyers,” he instructed TechCrunch. “Every little thing must be deeply worthwhile, and normally meaning you’re paying staff as little as you possibly can. It means you’re reducing corners to drive profitability. We’re right here to develop and professionalize the house, and that doesn’t align with the returns I believe shareholders would need. So yeah, I’m avoiding having any buyers for so long as I can, and it doesn’t appear to be that want is arising in the future. The one folks that have any possession curiosity in Puffco are early-stage staff.”

Volodarsky says the firm has skilled exponential progress from 2016 to 2021, persistently doubling its income yearly. The chip scarcity affected the firm, although. The Proxy was speculated to be launched in 2021, however the firm needed to push it again till now, when it might purchase sufficient stock to launch the product.

The Puffco Proxy is hitting the market at a pivotal time. Cannabis is now authorized in varied kinds all through the United States, with Europe displaying indicators of turning on the lights. With the explosion in home markets, extra customers are discovering the plant, and a few are on the lookout for high-end experiences and tools — that’s the place Puffco’s merchandise play.

I’ve lengthy been a fan of Puffco’s merchandise, and the Proxy carries the better of the firm into new type components. I had a couple of days with the Proxy, and it’s a lot simpler to scrub than different Puffco merchandise, and it’s a pleasure to make use of. It’s straightforward to take the Proxy out of the glass pipe and picture it becoming into all types of glass items. I can’t wait to see what individuals construct for this factor.