It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for October 12, 2021. 

On The Site

Flowhub

Cannabis retail point-of-sale company Flowhub, has raised $19 million with some help from Headline, Poseidon, and a personal investment from world-renowned rapper, entrepreneur, and entertainment mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. The company has so far raised to nearly $50 million and is currently valued at over $200 million. 

MJBiz vs. Unpacked

Before COVID, the MJ Business Daily Conference in Las Vegas was the “go to” event for people in the cannabis industry. Over 30,000 people attended the last pre-pandemic conference as a testament to its popularity. Also in the past during the MJBiz event, there have been several other events that have tried to ride the coattails of the massive conference. The thought behind such a strategy is that if so many industry people are going to be there, why not try to capitalize on that?   So there have been investor events, women-focused events, etc. However, they mostly complemented the main event versus competing head-on. That has changed this year. Former MJ Biz executive George Jage, who is often credited with making the MJ Biz event so successful, is hosting his own conference called MJ Unpacked. During the same time and at the literal opposite side of Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay hotel. The biggest difference between the two is that Unpacked is narrowly targeted on retail and brands with a  vetted investor attendance, while MJBiz has something for everyone. Although it could be argued that the exhibitor floor tends to skew heavily towards cultivation and production. 

PharmaCann

Privately-held PharmaCann Inc. is buying Colorado-based LivWell Enlightened Health for an undisclosed amount. Once the deal is closed, PharmaCann and LivWell would operate approximately 60 dispensaries and 11 cultivation and production facilities across eight states. LivWell has grown from a single location to a  multi-state cannabis company with operations in Colorado and Michigan. LivWell is a vertically integrated seed-to-sale cannabis retailer. In addition to cultivating cannabis, LivWell researches, extracts, and manufactures its own brands to consistently bring its customers quality products across multiple categories including topicals, edibles, tinctures, CBD pet tinctures, concentrates, and vaporizers.

In Other News

MedMen Founders

Law360 reported that a company run by the ousted co-founders of cannabis giant MedMen has voluntarily dismissed a pair of suits against a California dispensary chain it had invested in, Coastal Holding Co., which they had accused of planning to sell off the company without consulting the shareholders. “LMAJ LLC’s one-page dismissal notices, filed Thursday in both cases, do not indicate why the entity opted to drop the suits. The dismissals come the same week that Jay-Z-backed California cannabis company the Parent Co. announced its plans to acquire Coastal for up to $56.2 million in cash and company shares.”

Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte’s Web Holdings (OTCQX: CWBHF) announced that its corporate farm acreage, and its 137,000 sq. ft. Louisville, a Colo.-based manufacturing and R&D facility, earned U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic certification. This certification paves the way for several product lines to carry the USDA Organic Seal.

“Farming is governed by a natural law based on give and take, and we have learned the more we give to our soil through organic and regenerative practices, the more we get back,” said Ray Sitorius, Director of Farming Operations. “Earning organic certification validates our land stewardship and Charlotte’s Web’s ongoing commitment to farm in balance with nature and our living soil.”