# John Yang

> John Yang is the co-founder and CEO of Treez Inc., the enterprise cannabis retail commerce platform he built from a single dispensary's pain point into a company processing over $4 billion in annual transactions across 600+ retail locations. A Shanghai-born, Reno-raised technologist who grew up troubleshooting computers in his father's shop, Yang applied a decade of Fortune 500 consulting experience to one of America's most underserved retail sectors, raising $76.7M in funding and turning Treez into the backbone of cannabis retail operations in over a dozen states.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Treez Inc.
- **Organizations:** Treez Inc., Innovative Management 360 (IM360), Slalom Consulting, Accenture
- **From:** Shanghai, China
- **Nationality:** American (Chinese-born)
- **Education:** B.S. Managerial Economics, University of California, Davis
- **Known for:** Raised $76.7M in total funding across Series A, B, and C rounds, Built Treez to process over $4 billion in annual cannabis transactions, Expanded Treez to 600+ retail locations across 15+ U.S. states

## Career timeline

- **~1990** — Born in Shanghai, China as Hai-Meng Yang; immigrated to the United States at age 7, settling in Reno, Nevada
- **~1997** — Began working in his father's computer shop, PC Service Center, at age 12 - learning customer service, hardware repair, and the business of technology
- **2006** — Graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Managerial Economics
- **2006** — Joined Accenture as a consultant, working with Fortune 500 clients on enterprise software implementations
- **2007** — Also operated his own business, PC Service Center, alongside consulting work
- **2010** — Joined Slalom Consulting, focusing on program management, CRM solutions, business intelligence, and software development
- **2013** — Founded Innovative Management 360 (IM360), a technology solutions firm serving restaurants and medical marijuana dispensaries
- **2016** — Co-founded Treez Inc. with Shareef El-Sissi, initially to solve inventory and compliance problems at Shareef's dispensary, Garden of Eden in Hayward, California
- **2016** — Launched SellTreez, Treez's flagship cannabis POS system
- **2018** — Raised $11.5M Series A; Treez was processing 15% of all California cannabis sales
- **2020** — Launched TreezPay, expanding into cashless payment processing for cannabis retailers
- **2022** — Raised $51M Series C led by Long Ridge Equity Partners, with Kayne Partners and Synchrony Financial; opened engineering hub in Trivandrum, India
- **2022** — Acquired Swifter, a fintech payment solutions platform, to enhance cannabis payment capabilities
- **2022** — Expanded Treez from 6 to 14 U.S. states within the year
- **2023** — Became co-CEO alongside David Yan; built Integration Hub for third-party tech connectivity
- **2024** — Acquired Gap Commerce for ecommerce integration; Treez named to Inc. 5000 list
- **2025** — Launched Treez Loyalty digital wallet platform; expanded into New York, Texas, and Maryland

## Achievements

- Raised $76.7M in total funding across Series A, B, and C rounds
- Built Treez to process over $4 billion in annual cannabis transactions
- Expanded Treez to 600+ retail locations across 15+ U.S. states
- Led company to a Series C valuation of approximately $260 million
- Grew Treez's annual recurring revenue by 82% year-over-year in 2021
- Completed strategic acquisitions of Swifter (fintech) and Gap Commerce (ecommerce)
- Named to Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in 2024
- Built Treez to serve 8,400+ cannabis brands and 275 industry partners
- Partnered with New York's CAURD to support equity cannabis operators with technology training

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Treez launched Treez Loyalty, a digital wallet loyalty platform for cannabis dispensaries
- **2025-01** — Treez expanded into New York, Texas, and Maryland markets
- **2024-01** — Treez acquired Gap Commerce to enhance ecommerce integration capabilities
- **2024-01** — Treez named to Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies
- **2023-06** — John Yang profiled by mg Magazine as an expert in enterprise cloud-commerce technology
- **2022-11** — Treez acquired Swifter, a fintech payment solutions platform
- **2022-04** — Treez raised $51M Series C led by Long Ridge Equity Partners

## Links

- Website: https://treez.io
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/john-yang-6138896
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TreezForMe
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Treez4Me/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/john-yang
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16