Cannabis investment firm Canopy has announced $180,000 in investments to nine cannabis startups who will participate in a 16-week entrepreneurial boot camp in Berkeley, California as part of the company’s marijuana businesses accelerator program.
The startups represent the fourth class to participate in the program; the previous 29 companies have raised nearly $15 million total from a variety of investors. Entrepreneurs selected for the program receive $20,000 in seed capital and up to $50,000 in follow-on investment from the Canopy investment fund. Canopy receives a 6 percent to 9.5 percent equity stake return.
Included in the Fall class:
- Grass-Pass, a method for dispensaries to incentivize and attract new customers.
- The Peak Beyond, streamlined point-of-sale systems with interactive smart tables to help educate customers.
- HookItUp, a cannabis-friendly, but not cannabis-specific, professional social network.
- Blu Jays, rolling paper packs that include pre-rolled papers and herbal storage.
- Campfire, a cannabis event-centric mobile app.
- MyStrain, a standardized database for the most popular strains to help increase consumer-recognition.
- Gupta-Daniel, marketing and sales data visualizations to help dispensary owners identify trends and acquisition options.
- AcroVape, a battery-powered vaporizer for concentrates.
- Printabowl, 3D-printed smoking accessories.
“The teams accepted into the Canopy program in Berkeley will have a unique opportunity to capitalize on the California legalization movement,” Canopy CEO Patrick Rea said in the release. “Now is the time to launch a cannabis business.”