MMJ Business Daily

Privateer raises $58 million to boost marijuana expansion

Marijuana-centric private equity company Privateer Holdings – coming off a $122 million funding year – has increased its coffers with a significant raise of $58 million.

The Seattle-based company’s recent Series B raise is a combination of equity and a convertible note, GeekWire reported.

In 2016, Privateer became the first marijuana company to raise more than $100 million, and its latest funding brings the seven-year-old firm’s total to $180 million.

Privateer owns U.S. cannabis companies Leafly and Marley Natural as well as Canadian medical marijuana licensed producer Tilray. Tilray recently said it will

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Privateer raises $58 million to boost marijuana expansion is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Oregon gov latest to push back against AG Sessions

Oregon’s governor and the head of the state police defended the state’s legal marijuana industry in letters to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has been hinting at a crackdown on states such as Oregon that have legalized cannabis.

Gov. Kate Brown noted in her letter that Sessions’ earlier communication to her referenced a draft report from Oregon State Police that concluded a lot of Oregon’s marijuana was being diverted to other states.

But Brown and Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton said that draft report was invalid and had incorrect data and conclusions.

Brown said new laws in Oregon will help cut down on

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Oregon gov latest to push back against AG Sessions is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Colorado marijuana companies brace for flood of cannabis from outdoor grows

By Bart Schaneman

With some of the largest licensed outdoor grow facilities in the country, Pueblo County produces a significant amount of Colorado’s wholesale marijuana – and this year’s harvest could its biggest yet.

It’s understandable, then, that indoor and greenhouse wholesale growers across Colorado might be worried about a possible flood of product this fall. 

But the state’s growers needn’t necessarily brace for a dip in the price of a pound of cannabis, according to industry insiders.

Analysts say any worry is unwarranted because:

• Most of the outdoor crop has already been contracted as trim to

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Colorado marijuana companies brace for flood of cannabis from outdoor grows is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Marijuana cultivators up 20% in Canada as industry scrambles to meet growing demand

By Matt Lamers

The number of licensed medical marijuana producers in Canada has jumped 20% over the past few months after the nation’s top regulator dedicated more resources to processing cultivator applications to meet growing demand for cannabis.

Since revamping and streamlining the application process in late May, Health Canada has awarded nine licenses, bringing the number of licensed producers (LPs) to 54. Health Canada had issued six licenses in the previous five months.

The increase in cultivators has positioned the industry to better meet the nation’s growing demand for medical marijuana. The number of registered MMJ patients has tripled

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Marijuana cultivators up 20% in Canada as industry scrambles to meet growing demand is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Canada’s Maricann buys biotech firm, raises CA$35M to up capacity

Maricann Group announced a double-dose of positive news this week.

The Toronto medical marijuana producer and distributor (Canadian Securities Exchange: MARI) said it agreed to purchase biotech company NanoLeaf Technologies for 38.5 million Canadian dollars ($30 million).

Maricann also secured up to CA$35 million in funding through a private placement of convertible debt.

Under the acquisition, shareholders of Toronto-based NanoLeaf will receive some 18.3 million common shares of Maricann stock at CA$2.10 per share. Maricann will also loan NanoLeaf CA$1.6 million in cash.

NanoLeaf, through its licensing agreement with Vesifact AG of Switzerland, has

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Canada’s Maricann buys biotech firm, raises CA$35M to up capacity is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MassRoots acquires CannaRegs in $12 million stock deal

Cannabis social media platform MassRoots announced Wednesday it has acquired CannaRegs, a website dedicated to helping marijuana companies stay on top of ever-changing industry regulations.

MassRoots – which trades on over-the-counter markets under the ticker symbol MSRT – purchased CannaRegs in a stock deal valued at roughly $12 million, according to a news release.

CannaRegs is cash flow positive and has annual revenue of at least $450,000 through client contracts, according to the release.

MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich said the acquisition will help his company ramp up their “compliance offerings” to customers while also helping his company bolster

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MassRoots acquires CannaRegs in $12 million stock deal is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

MA regulatory board appointee opposed recreational cannabis

A Democratic state senator who opposed the ballot question that legalized recreational marijuana in Massachusetts was appointed Wednesday to the regulatory board that will oversee the state’s cannabis industry.

Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, the first appointee to the five-member Cannabis Control Commission, will serve as an associate commissioner beginning Sept. 1, after she resigns from her Senate seat.

The Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) will oversee both recreational and medical marijuana and is charged with screening and licensing applicants for retail stores that are expected to begin opening in mid-2018.

The choice of Gov. Charlie Baker, Flanagan opposed marijuana initiative on the November

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MA regulatory board appointee opposed recreational cannabis is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Alaska seeks public comment on onsite marijuana consumption

Alaska regulators plan to take public comment through Oct. 27 on a proposal that would allow authorized recreational marijuana shops to provide a place for people to consume the cannabis products they buy.

Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board has gone back and forth on whether to allow onsite consumption but agreed once again to seek comment on draft rules.

The proposed regulations include giving local governments the right to protest a store’s application for onsite use.

Rec marijuana retailers are pushing for onsite use to give the 1 million-plus tourists who come to Alaska annually somewhere to

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Alaska seeks public comment on onsite marijuana consumption is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

California county may nix planned cannabis-centric attraction

A company’s plans to convert the small California desert town of Nipton into a marijuana tourist hub may have hit an insurmountable obstacle.

An existing law in San Bernardino County, where Nipton is located, “bars all sales, distribution and production of cannabis,” according to Capitol Weekly.

That means the $5 million that Arizona-based American Green spent to acquire the town may have been in vain.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office notified American Green about the cannabis ban on Aug. 9 – six days after the sale was announced – and stressed that the

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California county may nix planned cannabis-centric attraction is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

What happened to Women Grow? Rapid growth, strategic changes contributed to contraction

By John Schroyer

In February 2016, Grammy winner Melissa Etheridge delivered a keynote to 1,200 attendees of a leadership summit hosted by Women Grow. The buzz and excitement underscored the organization’s speedy rise to prominence in the marijuana industry, and the future seemed bright.

But less than a year after the summit, Women Grow started to stumble.

What happened to Women Grow? Rapid growth, strategic changes contributed to contraction is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs