Layoffs at marijuana investment firm Privateer Holdings

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(This story has been updated from an earlier version to clarify Privateer’s relationship with Marley Natural.)

Privateer Holdings, a marijuana-focused private equity company, has laid off a portion of its workforce, only weeks after its subsidiary Leafly cut 15 employees.

The Seattle-based cannabis investment firm did not reveal how many staffers were eliminated, according to GeekWire.

Layoffs by a prominent cannabis company like Privateer might strike industry watchers as strange, especially considering workforce reductions are a rarity in the growing marijuana industry.

Here’s what you need to know:

  • Privateer eliminated jobs in its information technology, human resource and legal departments.
  • The investment company has 136 employees, and more than 500 work at all the companies under its umbrella.
  • Besides Leafly, Privateer owns Tilray, a British Columbia-based medical marijuana brand; and Marley Natural, a California-based cannabis brand created in partnership with the family of iconic reggae musician Bob Marley.