Moon + Leaf Bets On Crowdfunding To Support The Development And Marketing Of Its CBD Cramp Relief Products

Rather than reach for an extra painkiller to ward off period cramps, Shaina Kandel prefers women look to plant-based solutions. Her brand Moon + Leaf gives them those solutions: Its products mix CBD with organic extracts to address the effects of menstruation naturally.

To create merchandise and fuel marketing, San Francisco-based Moon + Leaf kicked off a 30-day Indiegogo initiative Tuesday to raise $30,000 and is already a third of the way to its goal. The crowdfunding effort comes after Kandel sat through several investor meetings.

“For a product-based business, any clean beauty product business, they want to see traction,” says Kandel of the angel and pre-seed investors she pitched. “As a business getting off the ground, getting those initial customers isn’t as hard because you always have people who are really curious, but showing that you can grow from a hundred to a thousand when you don’t have resources, that’s where the bind comes in and that’s why we chose to go the crowdfunding route.”

Kandel, who brings 10 years of experience in consumer goods, strategy and healthcare consulting to Moon + Leaf, estimates it took just over $30,000 to fund the company so far. Its initial product assortment consists of muscle pain relief rub Cramp Salve-ation and intense cramp remedy Go With The Flow Period Tincture. In its pipeline are the products On The Daily Pure CBD, Full Vitality Tincture and Monarch Menopause Tincture, a combination of CBD and herbs known to balance hormones and regulate body temperatures. With its growing range, Moon + Leaf is out to bring an effective and easy self-care practice to a moment of the month that can be arduous.

“We have a vision of serving two million women with our products over the next five years,” says Kandel. “As a new business getting off the ground, we’re taking steps to get there. We currently serve close to 150 customers. Our next milestone is to grow to serving 1,000 customers. This step that we’re taking [crowdfunding] is to enable us to grow. Purchase things we need to make product, ingredients, the packaging, the bottles and the labels, be able to invest in marketing and advertising so people who could benefit from our products will know about us.”

Due to persistent legal uncertainty around CBD, Moon + Leaf has encountered hurdles brands without CBD in their formulations don’t face. Kandel attempted to crowdfund on Kickstarter, but wasn’t permitted to do so. She says she wasn’t given a clear explanation about why her Kickstarter campaign wasn’t greenlit, but reasons it could be because of Moon + Leaf’s ingestible tinctures. It’s currently federally illegal to introduce CBD into the food supply, although the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t provided regulatory clarity on the matter yet. There’s been less concern over selling topical products with CBD.

CBD brands are banned from advertising by Facebook, Instagram and Google, too. Moon + Leaf’s Indiegogo campaign is a partial response to that reality, and Kandel hopes it will spread brand awareness among potential customers and retailers. “We put more emphasis on retail partners and getting into stores, and we’ve had people reach out to us and want to carry us, which is great. We’re going to continue our focus on that, building relationships with cool retailers and growing awareness, but that’s not great for our margins,” says Kandel. “What this crowdfunding raise will allow us to do is invest in what it takes to advertise a CBD business to direct consumers. That is our ideal play.”

“We currently serve close to 150 customers. Our next milestone is to grow to serving 1,000 customers. This step that we’re taking is to enable us to grow.”

On Indiegogo, backers investing as little as $5 in Moon + Leaf are rewarded with a perk. The small donors get a love note from the Moon + Leaf team. Contributors shelling out $42 to $500 receive an array of Moon + Leaf products at a discounted price. For big spenders, Moon + Leaf created more bespoke perks. Kandel’s favorite is the Premium CBD + Wellness package, which is available to backers contributing $1,000. The package includes a clean beauty consultation, a nutrition consultation and a one-hour clairvoyant tarot reading, on top of a robust assortment of Moon + Leaf products.

“The ability to collaborate with other women doing cool stuff is endless,” says Kandel. “We tapped some really powerful resources in our network. Women who are up to great things like nutrition and wellness coaching, clean beauty consulting. We’re able to say, ‘Hey, let’s create a package.’ That’s been really fun [as has been] working with other women-oriented communities like FemTech collective or Oov Lifestyle, communities that focus on either female entrepreneurs or women in CBD or fem tech. They’re helping us in getting the word out, too.”

Backers giving $5,000 are invited to model in Moon + Leaf’s next photoshoot and be featured on the brand’s website. “We thought, ‘What’s the most grand thing we could offer someone?’” says Kandel. “The focus on self-love and self-care also comes with putting yourself out there and getting the chance to be in front of the camera if you never have before.”