Eaze, a big player in California’s marijuana delivery industry, said it raised $35 million in its bid to become a vertically integrated company and launch its own cannabis retail brands.
The raise, which comes after the San Francisco-based company laid off about 20% of its workforce last October, comes in two forms:
- A $20 million Series D funding led by FoundersJT.
- A $15 million bridge loan led by Eaze stakeholder Rose Capital and DCM.
The company also has the ability to raise another $20 million in Series D funding.
While Eaze will continue to deliver marijuana products from other companies, its new strategy will provide a “more sustainable and profitable” path as it expands its existing business, CEO Ro Choy said in a statement.
“Verticalization is Eaze’s second act,” he noted.
To get a foothold in the new business direction, Eaze said that, in January, it acquired DionyMed’s rights to California marijuana retailer Hometown Heart, which has outlets in Oakland and San Francisco.
Toronto-based DionyMed filed a lawsuit against Eaze last June, alleging the delivery service used wire and bank fraud to process credit card and debit card payments from customers buying marijuana though its online platform. Eaze denied the charges.
Eaze said that in the coming weeks it will launch its own line of brands in partnership with licensed marijuana retailers across California.
On its website, Eaze says it has more than 600,000 registered customers and has completed more than 5 million marijuana deliveries.
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