Cannabis Country 🌿

Cannabis consumption reached new heights during the pandemic as people sought ways to unwind from the…well, you know, the pandemic. The industry grew from $10.7BN to $18.3BN in the last year and is projected to grow to $41.5BN by 2025, according to New Frontier Data. It helped that a record number of states had either legalized cannabis for recreational or medicinal use. The industry that used to be conducted on couches reeking of bong water or in your dad’s tomato garden is now burgeoning with pharmaceutical companies, bringing innovative science and Apple-store aesthetics to a wider range of consumers.

In recent months, Ascend Wellness raised $80MM in a highly-watched IPO while Canadian companies Tilray and Aphria merged to become the largest grossing cannabis company in the world. Meanwhile, PrivCo data confirm that, while private companies in cannabis are highly concentrated in Colorado, the industry is still green and which US state or country takes the crown as largest producer is anyone’s guess. 

🌱 Spring Big offers “seed-to-sale” software and apps for the cannabis industry and made the top 100 of Inc.’s Fastest-Growing Private Company list for 2020. Except for the cannabis leaf in its logo, this Boca Raton, FL company looks like any other Silicon Valley marketing platform. The company last raised an $11.5MM Round B in August of 2020 led by TVC Capital.

☘️ Wyld creates edible gummies made with real fruit and sold in packaging that would fit in at a Whole Foods’ artisanal chocolate aisle. The company employs nearly 400 people from its Clackamas, OR headquarters.

🌵Blaze is another seed-to-sale software company, albeit with a more conspicuous name.  The Long Beach, CA company closed an $8MM Series A in March led by Delta Emerald Ventures.

🍃 Hemp Depot grows custom strains of cannabis to produce hemp CBD for commercial and consumer sale. Based in Colorado Springs, CO, it primarily does wholesale business on 3 brands and offers drop shipping for wholesale customers.