Nate Russell
Co-Founder and CEO of The Lab
Nate Russell is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Lab, a high-volume processing facility primarily focused on preroll production, and the VP of AE Global’s Midwest Division.
With a proclivity toward good science and political activism, Nate continues to put himself squarely on the cutting edge of the cannabis industry.
Nate received his BS in Botany from Humboldt State and worked in both cultivation and extraction in the early days of California’s legalization, with his longtime business partner, Ben Richards.
The pair left Humboldt after several years ‘on The Hill’ and built a merchandising businesses servicing the entertainment industry, designing and sourcing collectibles for clients ranging from Disney and the NFL, to Electric Forest and Kim Kardashian.
Leveraging their network and skill sets, Nate and Ben pivoted that business into one of the first cannabis-focuses packaging companies in the US, which recently underwent a merger with AE Global.
A few years later, Nate and Ben founded The Lab, creating a one-stop-shop solution to rapidly produce market ready cannabis products.