From Rocket Science To Rolling Joints: Meet The Ex-NASA Engineer

Forbes

Nohtal Partansky’s Sorting Robotics equipment is used by some of the biggest names in the cannabis industry, from Stiiizy to Tilray. Now he’s gearing up for when Big Tobacco is ready to roll.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2025/08/20/meet-the-ex-nasa-engineer-training-robots-to-make-pre-roll-joints/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, meet the ex-NASA engineer training robots to make pre-roll joints.

00:08Inside the Los Angeles headquarters of STEEZY, America's largest cannabis brand by sales,

00:14a robotic machine takes 10 pre-rolled joints in its arm, dips them into a vessel of THC

00:20concentrate, and then into another bucket filled with KEAF, a potent dust-like form

00:24of cannabis.

00:26In a few seconds, the Stardust machine, made by Van Nuys-based sorting robotics, will have

00:32coated 30 pre-rolls with an extra punch of THC, the compound in marijuana known for getting

00:37people high.

00:39In an hour, Stardust, and its one human operator, will have produced about 1,000 joints ready

00:46for consumption.

00:48James Kim, the CEO and co-founder of STEEZY, while standing next to the Stardust in early

00:53April, says, quote, this machine's output could be more than 10 people.

00:59In another room down the hall, about 140 employees sit at 14 tables, manually dipping joints into

01:06a terpene-infused adhesive and rolling them into a pile of KEAF.

01:10STEEZY isn't ready to replace its humans just yet.

01:13But Kim does envision a day when all of its joints will be made entirely by machines.

01:19Kim says, quote, robotics is the future, but the future isn't today.

01:23It might take a lot more time.

01:26That future is being pioneered by Sorting Robotics, founded by Notal Partansky, its CEO, Casio Santos,

01:34who was the CTO before leaving this year, and Sean Lawlor, who was the COO before leaving

01:39in 2021.

01:41The three founded Sorting Robotics in 2019.

01:45The company has sold about 30 Stardust machines, which go for a hefty $250,000 each, as well as

01:51hundreds of lower-priced marijuana machines to cannabis brands since its founding.

01:57Sorting Robotics also makes the GICO, which injects joints with THC concentrate, making

02:02what's called a so-called donut in pothead lingo.

02:05When the joint is lit, the ember resembles an O, as the concentrate vaporizes in the middle

02:10as the plant material burns.

02:12And the OmniFiller, a vape cartridge filling machine.

02:16The company, which has 20 employees, is still tiny, that will reach $11 million

02:21in revenue this year, up from $7 million last year.

02:25But Partansky, like many cannabis entrepreneurs, is playing the long game, hoping the drug will

02:31eventually be legal at the federal level.

02:34The company does have something going for it — profitability.

02:39Sorting Robotics has been in the black since 2021.

02:42While STEEZY, with $800 million in 2024 sales, is America's largest weed brand, Sorting Robotics's

02:49client list also boasts bigger companies by global footprint.

02:53Including Canada-based Tilray, with $788 million in 2024 revenue.

02:59And smaller regional outfits in the US, such as Blue Fox Brands, with sales of $80 million.

03:05Sorting Robotics' CEO, the 35-year-old Partansky, says, quote,

03:09In the complex world of the state-regulated cannabis market, which generated $32 billion

03:25in sales last year in 40 U.S. states that allow medical, recreational, or both, better

03:30margins can be life or death.

03:32Only 27% of marijuana businesses are profitable.

03:36Most companies fail.

03:38Pre-rolled joints are the third biggest product segment in terms of market share, after-flour

03:43and vape pens, accounting for 16% of all cannabis sales, according to a report by Headset, a Seattle-based

03:50cannabis data firm.

03:51It is also the fastest-growing category in the industry.

03:55In total, 394 million individual joints were sold last year, for $4.1 billion, a 12% jump

04:03over 2023.

04:05More than 43% of all pre-rolled joints are infused with extra THC, which explains Sorting Robotics'

04:11focus on the subcategory.

04:14But questions remain about how much the market can expand in the short term.

04:18Currently, there are only a handful of cannabis companies that produce enough THC-infused pre-rolled

04:23joints to make a $250,000 investment like the Stardust make sense financially.

04:31For full coverage, check out Will Yakowitz's piece on Forbes.com.

04:36This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:38Thanks for tuning in.

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