Cannabis Execs Ankur And Vishal Rungta Make It To Crain Detroit's '40 Under 40'

Crain’s Detroit Business recently announced the honorees of its 2020 “40 Under Forty” awards.

“It’s the year of the pivot, as business, organizations and individuals make drastic changes on the fly in response to the coronavirus and social unrest across the country. Leadership always matters, but in times like these, it makes all the difference,” the media outlet explained.

This year’s winners included executives from multiple industries, including cannabis: Ankur Rungta, 37, and Vishal Rungta, 34.

A Grow(th) Story

The Rungta brothers, alongside Joel Ruggiero, co-founded C3 Industries, one of the largest cannabis companies in Michigan. Nowadays, they employ more than 100 people in the Wolverine State, and roughly 170 nation-wide.

C3 currently operates four retail stores — in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grant and Buchanan — with several others in development. In addition, the company owns two manufacturing facilities, one in Michigan and one in Oregon, with more on the way in Massachusetts and Missouri.

Ankur, who serves as CEO, and Vishal, president and CFO of C3 Industries, started their company in 2016, after raising more than $25 million. They have since grown exponentially, driving a sales increase of 15 times in the last two years — helped by the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Michigan.

Both University of Michigan alumni, Ankur has a background in law and investment banking, while Vishal stems from finance and private equity, having spent a couple years at Google Inc. GOOG GOOGL.

“I put a lot of value on spending time in the corporate world. The five years I spent there really prepared me,” Ankur told Crain’s Detroit Business, advising young entrepreneurs to not rush into starting a company before accumulating some experience.

Image from company website.