- Michael Gruber speaks on “The Cannabis Investment Conundrum” at Illinois Women in Cannabis
link to: https://ilwomenincannabis.org/event/the-cannabis-investment-conundrum/
-Michale Gruber spoke at CannaVest at MJBiz - “Lesson Learned, Challenges Faced & Value Creation” in Las Vegas 11/16/22
link to: https://mjbiz22.mapyourshow.com/8_0/sessions/session-details.cfm?scheduleid=3016
Curaleaf, acquirer of Grassroots (a Salveo Capital portfolio company), agreed to buy Emmac Life Sciences Ltd. for about $285 million, giving the company entry into Europe’s rapidly growing cannabis market.
“By doing this transaction, Curaleaf is indisputably the largest operator on a revenue and a footprint basis around the globe,” Executive Chairman Boris Jordan said. With a market capitalization about $11 billion, Curaleaf is already the largest U.S.-based multistate operator.
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Californian cannabis distributor HERBL, a Salveo Capital portfolio company, has hired Josh Held as the new chief strategy officer. In his new position, he will oversee the company’s short and long-term strategic initiatives, as well as resource allocation and merger and acquisitions.
Held is a founder of a formulation technology company, Chemistry Holdings, which he sold to Cure Pharma.Mike Beaudry, founder, and CEO of HERBL, is excited to welcome Held. “His is depth in corporate development, deal origination, business planning, and strategies makes him a great addition to our executive team,” Beaudry said.
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PathogenDx, a Salveo Capital portfolio company which has developed a multiplexed microarray DNA-based pathogen testing platform, announced the launch of their Clade Variant Adaptive Surveillance (CVAS) technology to identify SARS-CoV-2 variants in as little as four hours. PathogenDx has also entered phase two funding under the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech program. The additional funding will be used to support Clade Variant Array screening nationally, initially as an RUO (research use only) release, as well as expand pooled COVID-19 testing with its Detect-Rv test kits for schools, businesses and communities nationwide.
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HERBL, a Salveo Capital portfolio company, CEO Mike Beaudry clearly remembers the day he saw the true scale of the mountain he and his distribution company had set out to climb. In 2018, his staff unloaded a dozen filled trash bags from a delivery truck into the company’s headquarters. Confused, he asked the team, “Wait, is that loose trim? We’re supposed to get finished goods.”… “No,” they told him. “This is packaged flower. It just comes in trash bags.”
“I was stunned,” said the twenty-five-year veteran of the high-volume grocery distribution game. “That was when I realized as a distributor this early in cannabis, you have to teach backwards and forwards. We have to help our suppliers develop all the disciplines that you need to be a great supplier so we can then be the great support company in the middle.”
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All three of Cannabistry and M Plant - two Salveo Capital portfolio companies -brands were recognized at the High Times Cannabis Cup SoCal People’s Choice Awards. Over 150 products entered the competition across 60 different brands.
The brands (Tough Mama, Mistifi, and The Root of It All) were recognized in each of these categories: Pre-Rolls, Tinctures/Topicals/Capsules and Vapes + Carts.
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MedMen, a cannabis retailer with operations across the US, announced the signing of a definitive investment agreement with Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH), a Salveo Capital portfolio company, totaling up to approximately $73 million in MedMen’s subsidiary in the state of New York.
Following the investment, AWH will hold a controlling interest equal to approximately 87% of the equity in MedMen NY, and be provided with an option to acquire MedMen’s remaining interest in NY in the future.
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Fyllo, a Salveo Capital portfolio company and software/services provider focused on highly regulated industries like cannabis and CBD, has snagged a former high-level Twitter executive as its new chief operating officer. Katie Ford, who served as Twitter’s head of global brands, will take on the new role after serving on Fyllo’s board of directors — which she joined in 2019.
Fyllo has built "incredible products and proven their business model in a very short period of time," Ford says. "I look forward to being part of Fyllo’s success as we build breakthrough solutions for companies in highly regulated industries like cannabis, pharma, and alcohol," she added.
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Front Range Biosciences, a Salveo Capital portfolio company focused on cannabis/hemp genetics, leveraging next generation breeding technology and R&D, announced that two of its scientists, Dr. Reggie Gaudino and Dr. Daniela Vergara, have been named to the Cannabis Scientist Power List for the second year in a row. The annual award recognizes the top 25 scientists in the industry who have pioneered research initiatives in cannabis cultivation, processing, testing and medicine.
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Coda Signature, a Salveo Capital portfolio company, was named on Pioneer Intelligence 25 Hottest Cannabis Brands in 2020.
Pioneer data measures brand awareness & engagement across social media, earned media & web activities. The overall index is a weighted avg of the 3. This ranking is derived from the 52-wk-rolling-avg-scores of brands which were in Pioneer’s active pool for at least 26 wks. during 2020.
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Treez, a Salveo Capital portfolio company focused on retail automation and control for the cannabis industry supply chain, reported impressive 2020 year end results that cut through the challenges of 2020's difficult business climate.
The company's overall goal of doubling down on success in customer satisfaction translated into a near double of corporate revenue growth. Competitive displacement soared. Additionally, a 2X rise in gross merchandise value (GMV) to $2 Billion in retail sales was achieved through 4.5 million unique consumers.
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Coda Signature, a Salveo Capital portfolio company and Colorado-based edibles brand, is gearing up for more expansion. Coda announced an additional $6 million in funding from investment partners for North American expansion, as well as new hiring efforts and research and development into potential products.
The announcement quotes Lisa McClung, Coda CEO: “This is a very exciting time to be part of the cannabis industry, and I believe Coda is well-positioned to play an important role in introducing new consumers to cannabis by making it accessible and helping them discover the unlimited potential of the plant’s benefits to improve their lives."
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HERBL, a Salveo Capital portfolio company and California’s largest cannabis distributor/supply chain solutions company, announced it has appointed Tom Grillea as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Serving more than 850 storefront and non-storefront retail licensees, HERBL brings the state's leading cannabis retailers and top brands together through innovative technology, unparalleled service, and both high-security, state-of-the-art facilities and trucks.
Prior to HERBL, he served as the CEO of Threshold Enterprises, a wholesale distributor of dietary supplements and health products to the natural foods industry and health care professionals, as well as the parent company of SourceNaturals and Planetary Herbals brand supplements. He has also held numerous executive positions at United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), a multi-billion dollar retailer and distributor of natural and organic foods. Here he served as Divisional President for 10 years.
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Treez, a Salveo Capital portfolio company focused on retail automation and control for the cannabis industry supply chain, announced bookkeep.com™️ as a new partner, adding accounting automation to the Treez suite of available solutions.
John Yang, Treez CEO, stated that "as this robust market drives growth with our cannabis supply chain customers, Treez is pleased to provide innovative partner solutions. bookkeep.com™️ delivers cloud-based accounting tools that provide impressive automation support and are in use by leading retail operations."
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Fyllo, a Salveo Capital portfolio company focused on marketing and compliance, has acquired retail point-of-sale marketing company DataOwl. DataOwl’s retail solutions will be integrated into Fyllo’s Compliance Cloud, creating what's being touted as the industry’s first end-to-end, brand-safe marketing platform. DataOwl services some 320 cannabis retailers across 25 states, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica.
This is Fyllo's second acquisition in less than a year. The company recently purchased CannaRegs in 2020.
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To help local governments manage the process of writing their own policies and checking them against state and federal regulations, the cloud software company OpenGov has entered into a strategic partnership with Fyllo, a Salveo Capital portfolio company which makes compliance software for highly regulated industries.
“Fyllo is the market leader in regulatory compliance and will be able to give governments a broad view of the legislative landscape and intelligence about ongoing trends,” he said. “OpenGov will continue to ensure that services such as applying for a license or completing a facility inspection are efficient, safe and seamless for government staffers and community residents.”
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Among Chicago’s fastest growing startups are software companies focusing on serving plant-touching businesses. Salveo Capital, a venture firm founded in Chicago in 2015, has more than 21 portfolio companies that include ancillary and leaf-touching businesses.
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“Banking will have a safe harbor, allowing cannabis companies to have greater access to capital markets,” says longtime cannabis venture capitalist Michael Gruber, managing director of Salveo Capital. This includes groundwork for companies to now list or uplift on major US exchanges like NASDAQ or NYSE.”
Gruber added that he believes New York will be the next East Coast state to go legal, followed by Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
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Multi-state cannabis operator AWH, a Salveo Capital portfolio company, has had a "very strong year" in Illinois, where recreational marijuana was legalized in 2020, its chief revenue officer said.
The company's CEO, Abner Kurtin, told New Cannabis Ventures in May that by the middle of 2021, it expects to have 20-plus stores and a "run rate" of more than $400 million in sales and more than $150 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
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Salveo Capital's Michael Gruber says he believes Ascend Wellness's presence in key states like New Jersey means it will be well-positioned for growth. "We are an investor in the company and had added additional capital to our investment this year. The passing of adult-use in NJ this November is a huge step, and with NJ in our belief will be an amazingly good market," Gruber said in an email. "This will also likely be key impetus to spur NY, PA, and CT to legalize adult-use as well."
Gruber added that Salveo is "bullish in general on private MSOs that are focused on key limited license states and where they have gone deep within a limited number of states, and where management has been able to execute in an efficient manner."
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AWH , a Salveo Capital portfolio company, is pleased to announce construction has been completed at the flagship location in Boston. Once the final state licensing is received, Friend Street will open the doors and welcome customers.
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