MassRoots receives $1.1 million in new funding

Cannabis-centric social media site MassRoots received $1.1 million in funding on Friday, mostly from new investors, and disclosed it slashed the salaries of its top executives to cut costs.

MassRoots’ founder and CEO, Isaac Dietrich, led the latest funding round, with former MyPoints.com CEO Steve Markowitz also among the contributors. The announcement came as the company closed on $3.2 million in equity financing under an offering that was launched in August.

Dietrich said in a news release he expects the funds to make the Denver company “cash-flow positive” and allow it to scale up to reach a larger audience.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the MassRoots’ board of directors cut the annual salaries of top executives on Oct. 5:

• Dietrich’s pay was reduced to $95,000 a year from $130,000.
• Chief Operating Officer Dan Hunt’s was cut to $90,000 from $130,000.
• Chief Technology Officer Lance Galey’s was lowered to $60,000 from $150,000.

This comes in the wake of the September news that MassRoots was struggling to pay off creditors, followed by last week’s announcement that the company was able to pay back nearly $1 million in debts.

MassRoots has more than 900,000 registered users.