Sacramento Bee reporter Peter Hecht explores the emergence of the cannabis industry, which is drawing investors like cannabis-industry focused Poseidon Asset Management and Privateer Holdings but also more diversified firms including Founders Fund , Tao Capital Partners and DCM Ventures.
The article begins with a history of cannabis social network MassRoots, which has gone from startup in 2013 to a quickly scaling business on the cusp of uplisting to the NASDAQ. CEO Isaac Dietrich credits the ArcView Group’s angel investing network for much of the cumulative $3.5mm his company has raised. Andy Williams discusses his plans to expand Colorado-based Medicine Man to California. Eaze founder Keith McCarty describes his success thus far with the delivery app and his plans to globalize it.
Privateer Holdings, which owns Leafly, Canadian producer Tilray and the Marley Natural brand, employs 225 people, including a former DEA agent, Patrick Moen, as its General Counsel, is attracting “smart professionals from places like Amazon and T-Mobile and Microsoft that are waking every day to build companies and brands to end marijuana prohibition,” according to CEO Brendan Kennedy.
Read Peter Hecht’s “Tech mavericks see green in burgeoning marijuana industry”: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/marijuana/article52749005.html
