In the News: Canopy Buys Wana Brands, Drake partners with Bullrider, Dutchie Raises $350M, MJ Biz & MJ Unpacked

Welcome to our cannabis weekly rundown on the biggest stories for the week and upcoming events for the week ahead.

Canopy Growth Corporation acquires Wana Brand

Canopy Growth Corporation acquires the right to purchase Wana Brands, the largest edible brand in North America, for $297.5M USD when THC becomes federally legal in the United States.  

Wana Brands was founded by Nancy Whiteman in 2010, manufactures and sells cannabis edibles in the Colorado state, and licenses its brand and formulation to partners in 12 US states such as Arizona, California, Florida, and Michigan and Canada.

“Today’s announcement reflects the culmination of more than a decade of hard work, dedication and vision put forth by our employees and partners, as well as an unwavering commitment to the plant and -our customers,” said Nancy Whiteman, CEO and Cofounder of Wana Brands.

Canopy Growth Corporation is building a roadmap to the US with the recent acquisition of Wana Brands, which complements the 2019 acquisition of Acreage Holdings.

Drake is back in Cannabis

That didn't take long.  Earlier this summer, music superstar and lifestyle mogul Drake and Canopy Growth Corporation ended thier More Life joint cannabis venture. The joint venture was launched in 2019 and ended less than two years with minimal traction and presence in the Canadian cannabis market.

Drake is now partnering with Noah "40" Shebib, his longtime music producer and collaborator as a partner, advisor, and equity owner of Bullrider.  Drake joins the existing partnership, including cannabis veteran Maxim Zavet, Lorne Greenberg and master grower Jef Tek.

"I've always viewed 40 as the expert when it comes to cannabis so I'm very excited to invest, partner and contribute to setting a new standard for a premium cannabis experience." - Drake

“It’s not just another cannabis brand, Bullrider has a deep reverence for quality cannabis and its medicinal properties which I’ve always been extremely passionate about.” - 40

Noah "40" Shebib credits the high-myrcene cannabis strain with helping him manage his symptoms with multiple sclerosis.  

We're happy to see Drake back in the cannabis business, and with the current partners in Bllrider, we see a lot of promise and opportunities with the brand.

And who knows, maybe Canopy Growth Corporation will buy them for hundreds of millions of dollars next year.

Dutchie raises $350M in Series D funding, doubling thier valuation to 3.75B

Oregon-based technology company Dutchie raised $350M less than eight months after raising $200M, effectively doubling their valuation.

Founded in 2017 by brothers Zach and Ross Lipson, Dutchie is a technology company that helps retailers with e-commerce solutions, payment processing, and point of sale solutions to 5,000+ dispensaries and more than $14B in sales.

Tiger Global, Casa Verde, Thrive Capital, and Dragonneer provided the new round of funding.

The new funding will be used for market expansion, new products and adding additional members to thier team.

Dutchie is currently actively hiring and looking for new people to join their team.

MJ Biz and MJ Unpacked this week in Vegas

The biggest and most anticipated cannabis event this week in Vegas brings together thousands of exhibitors on 250K square feet exhibition space and 80+ international speakers and presenters.

This year, the keynote speaker is Daymond John, Founder of FUBU and star of ABC's Shark Tank.   MJ Biz takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Centre from October 20th - 22nd

Also taking place in Las Vegas this week is MJ Unpacked, an intimate gathering of brands and retailers exclusively for executives and accredited investors.  This is their premier event and will be at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino from October 21st - 22nd.

Another big week in cannabis ahead. Stay safe and safe travels to everyone descending to Vegas this week

Canopy Growth Buys Wana Brands, Drake & Bllrdr, Dutchie's $3.75B valuation & MJ Biz in Vegas

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