Monday, September 7, 2015

Stoner Network Looks Like A Cool Place To Hang Out

AFP   Marijuana may not be America’s largest cash crop, as was long rumored, but it’s still probably a $4 billion annual business.  As of last year, it’s also legal to grow, own, and use recreationally Colorado and Washington, with Alaska, the District of Columbia, and Oregon soon to follow. It’s approved for medical and other limited use in 18 more states. Entrepreneurs are racing to take advantage of the new laws and changing attitudes toward the drug. Here are the players and startups you need to watch.      Privateer Holdings is a private equity firm that’s making big investments in marijuana startups. Its CEO is 42-year-old Yale graduate Brendan Kennedy, and it counts Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund among its investors.      Source: Business Insider, Quartz    Based out of Seattle, Leafly was one of the first new marijuana businesses, founded in 2010. It’s like Yelp for reviewing different strains of pot and dispensaries. This is a screenshot of the company’s periodic table of pot strains. Privateer bought the company in 2011.       Leafly    Marley Natural, backed by reggae star Bob Marley’s heirs and Privateer Holdings, aims to be the world’s first global cannabis company, selling smokeable weed, topical oils, and accessories. It’s based in New York.       Marley Natural    Eaze is a mobile app that lets you get medical marijuana delivered to your door. You have to prove you have a medical card. It was founded by Keith McCarty, who was one of the first employees at Yammer, and recently raised $10 million from several investors including rapper Snoop Dogg.      Eaze    Weedmaps shows you where the nearest pot dispensaries are located. It’s based in Denver.      Weedmaps    Meadow is another medical pot delivery service based in SF. It also recommends doctors who will issue a medical marijuana card, and has a blog with helpful info like a video on how to roll a joint. It counts startup accelerator Y Combinator as an investor.      Meadow    MassRoots is a “semi-anonymous” social network for pot users. It’s raised over $1 million in funding, according to Crunchbase, and is based in Denver.      Massroots    High There is basically like Tinder for pot users.       HighThere.    Grassp is another pot-delivery app. It’s based out of LA and has raised $1.5 million in funding.      Grassp    Arcview is a San Francisco based group that connects investors with marijuana startups.       The Arcview Group    Tilray is a legal provider of medical marijuana in Canada. It’s also received funding from Privateer.      Tilray    Canadian Cannabis Corp is another company focusing on medical distribution in Canada. It’s got $1.5 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase.      CCC    But what about the other kind of green?      26 MORE tech skills worth a $100,000 salary>>    Read more stories on Business Insider, Malaysian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business and technology news website.

Good Day World!

It was only a matter of time.

Finally, a social network for stoners.

As an old hippie, I never thought I’d see the day when the majority of Americans were for marijuana legalization.

With 23 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC and Oregon becoming the fourth state to legalize recreational marijuana, the writing is on the wall: Legal marijuana is finally having it’s day in the sun.

Sometimes I feel like pinching myself when I read stories like this stoner network article:

MassRoots (^MSRT), which launched in 2013 and went public on the over-the-counter market in April of this year, has filed an application to have its shares listed on the Nasdaq.

The company bills itself as one of the "largest and most active communities of cannabis consumers," a place where people can find smoking buddies, share experiences and connect with local dispensaries.

MassRoots hopes a move to the Nasdaq will help it garner more interest from institutional investors and help bring legitimacy to a burgeoning legal American marijuana industry that’s still operating in the shadows even as public sentiment toward the drug is changing.

But MassRoots still has to win the Nasdaq's approval, a process that can take weeks and requires the company's share price to rise above $3, among other requirements. MassRoots shares were trading at around $1.38 a share on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of around $60 million.”

FOR THE RECORD

There’s two other cannabis-related companies, GW Pharmaceuticals (^GWPH) and Insys Therapeautics (^INSY) — both medical marijuana companies — that already trade on the Nasdaq.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

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