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Cannabis Dispensaries' Online Sales are Up, and Dutchie is Benefiting
Dutchie, a nearly three-year-old, Bend, Ore.-based software company focused on connecting consumers with cannabis dispensaries that pay it a monthly subscription fee to create and maintain their websites, process their orders, and track what needs to be ready for pickup, has raised $35 million in Series B funding. The capital came both new investors Thrive Capital and Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, along with earlier backers, including Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures and the cannabis-focused fund Casa Verde Capital.
The money comes hot on the heels of Dutchie’s first major round of funding — $15 million that it closed last September — and suggests that the cannabis industry has fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than people outside the industry might imagine.
We had a fast chat yesterday with the company’s cofounder and CEO, Ross Lipson, about the year that Dutchie is having.
We’d seen recently that Dutchie has added contactless payments.
Yes, when the pandemic hit, virtually all of our dispensaries shifted to a curbside pickup model. We built a solution that allows customers to select curbside at checkout, and also includes a way to notify the dispensary when they arrive and provides them information on how to locate their vehicle.
A year ago, there were more than 30 states where cannabis was either medically legal or that had legalized the recreational use of marijuana. How has that changed?
We now work with over 1,300 dispensaries in 32 markets. By comparison, a year ago we were only operating in 9 markets. Nationwide, 47 out of 50 states now allow some form of legal cannabis, and 2020 could bring full legalization in major markets such as New Jersey and Arizona.
Can you put that into context? How many dispensaries are there in the U.S.?
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Massive Fundings
Attabotics, a four-year-old, Alberta, Canada-based 3D robotics supply chain company, has raised $50 million in Series C funding led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, with participation from Honeywell. TechCrunch has more here.
Keeper Security, an 11-year-old, Chicago-based password management platform, has raised $60 million in funding from Insight Partners in the company's first outside round. Crain's Chicago Business has more here.
Tango Therapeutics, a six-year-old, Cambridge, Ma.-based biotechnology company focused on targeted cancer therapies, has raised $50 million in funding led by Casdin Capital, with participation from Boxer Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, and Gilead Sciences. Xconomy has more here.
Big-But-Not-Crazy-Big Fundings
Aerin Medical, a nine-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based maker of non-invasive nasal airway treatments that have been cleared by the FDA, has raised $48 million in funding led by Questa Capital, with participation from OrbiMed and CK Group. The WSJ has more here.
Buildkite, a seven-year-old, Melbourne, Australia-based company that provides a hybrid continuous integration and continuous delivery platform for software developers, has raised AUD $28 million (about $20.2 million) in Series A funding led by OpenView, with participation from General Catalyst. TechCrunch has more here.
Bridge Connector, a four-year-old, Nashville, Tn.-based interoperability platform that helps its customers connect to the healthcare vendors they use, has raised $25.5 million in Series B funding. Axioma Ventures led the round, joined by other investors. The company has now raised roughly $45 million altogether.
Carrot Fertility, a five-year-old, San Francisco-based startup that provides employee fertility benefits, raised $24 million in Series B funding led by U.S. Venture Partners, with participation from F-Prime Capital. The company has now raised $40 million altogether. MedCity News has more here.
Chili Piper, a four-year-old, San Francisco-based startup whose software automates the scheduling and email that cause friction in the sales process, has raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Gradient Ventures. More here.
DayDayCook, an eight-year-old, Hong Kong-based cooking site that provides recipes, videos, cooking classes, and a product line of its own branded food products that are sold online and make up 80% of its revenues, has raised $20 million led by Talis Capital in London, with participation from Hong Kong’s Ironfire Ventures. TechCrunch has more here.
Fetch, a four-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based last-mile delivery startup focused on apartment communities, has raised $18 million in Series B funding led by Iron Gate Capital and Pando Ventures, with participation from earlier backers Signal Peak Ventures, Silverton Partners, Seamless, and Venn Ventures. More here.
Movable Ink, a nearly 10-year-old, New York-based company that helps businesses deliver more personalized and relevant email marketing, has raised $30 million in Series C funding from Contour Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Silver Lake. TechCrunch has more here.
Seated, a three-year-old, New York-based restaurant rewards platform, has raised $30 million in funding and acquired another startup, a digital event booking platform called VenueBook. Insight Partners led the round, joined by Craft Ventures, Greycroft, and Rho Capital Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
SpyCloud, a four-year-old, Austin, Tex.-based anti-fraud platform focused on guarding against account takeovers, just raised $30 million in Series C funding led by Centana Growth Partners, with additional participation from M12, Altos Ventures, Silverton Partners, and March Capital Partners. VentureBeat has more here.
Smaller Fundings
Birdie, a two-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based customer analytics firm that counts Samsung and P&G as customers, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding led by the Brazilian venture firm ASTELLA. Business Insider has more here.
Claimsforce, a two-year-old, Hamburg, Germany-based insurance claims management platform, has raised €7 million ($8.3 million) in Series A funding led by Notion Capital, with participation from Fly Ventures, Point Nine, and La Famiglia. EU Startups has more here.
Cyware, a four-year-old, New York-based cybersecurity startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Prelude Fund and the endpoint management company Tanium led the round, joined by Emerald Development Managers and Great Road Holdings. Verdict has more here.
HelloTeam, a four-year-old, Boston-based performance management and employee engagement platform, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Underscore VC led the round, joined by Osage Venture Partners and Ventureforgood. American Inno has more here.
Lemon Perfect, a three-year-old, Lemon Grove, Ca.-based cold-pressed lemon water brand, has raised $6.6 million in funding. Among the participants in the round: Beechwood Capital, The Big Squeeze, Goat Rodeo Capital, LivWell Ventures, Melitas Ventures, R3 Venture Partners, the RCV Frontline Fund, the Stage 1 Fund, and Skyview Capital. Forbes has more here.
Moov Financial, a two-year-old, Cedar Falls, Ia.-based which has an open-source platform for adding banking and payment functionality to apps (it says it's trying to help retail banks digitize their back offices, has raised $5.5 million in seed funding led by Bain Capital Ventures. Barron's has more here.
The Nudge, a 3.5-year-old, San Francisco-based text-based planning service, has raised $2 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners and NextView Ventures. Crunchbase News has more here.
Spenmo, a year-old, Singapore-based fintech founded by former Grab executive Mohandass Kalaichelvan, has raised $2 million in seed funding, including from Y Combinator, Rocket Internet, Iterative Capital and angel investors from XA Network. Nikkei Asian Review has more here.
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IPOs
SPAC mania continues. One, a tech-focused blank check company founded by Eventbrite cofounder Kevin Hartz, has raised $200 million in an IPO of 20 million units priced at $10. Hartz compares the rise of such special-purpose acquisition companies to the early days of venture capital in the Financial Times.
Tailwind Acquisition, a blank check company formed by Casper CEO Philip Krim and targeting a tech business, filed today with the SEC to raise up to $300 million in an IPO. The L.A.-based company plans to raise $300 million by offering 30 million units at a price of $10. Renaissance Capital has more here.
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Exits
ViacomCBS is in talks to sell tech news and reviews site CNET to Red Ventures, a digital-media holding company that operates the consumer websites Bankrate and Reviews.com, says the WSJ. It reports the price being discussed is about $500 million. More here.
India's Reliance Retail has bought a 60% stake in pharma marketplace Netmeds’ parent firm Vitalic for about $83.2 million, it said today, as India’s largest retail chain looks to expand into new categories and compete more closely with American e-commerce group Amazon. TechCrunch has more here.
Hustle, a six-year-old, San Francisco-based startup whose peer-to-peer text communication tools create connections between organizations and their contacts, has been acquired by Social Capital, the tech holding company founded by Chamath Palihapitiya. Terms were not disclosed but LinkedIn shows the company has roughly 85 employees. According to Crunchbase, Hustle raised $41 million from investors over the years, including GV, Salesforce Ventures, and Insight Partners. TechCrunch has much more here.
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People
As Tesla shares surged 11% yesterday, closing at a record high, Elon Musk’s net rose worth by $7.8 billion and he became the world's fourth richest person, vaulting past French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. In fact, Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and the rest of the"Oligarchic Dozen" have now reached a "disturbing milestone."
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Sponsored By . . .
At Wizeline, we know that great software is built by great teams. We retain and develop top global talent and foster a working environment that celebrates creativity, encourages skill development, and allows for multidisciplinary collaboration. Need to accelerate your product roadmap? Learn more or reach out to consulting@wizeline.com today.
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Essential Reads
From today's New York Times: "Uber and Lyft, which are facing mounting pressure to classify their freelance drivers as employees in California, are looking for another way. One option that both companies are seriously discussing is licensing their brands to operators of vehicle fleets in California, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The change would resemble an independently operated franchise, allowing Uber and Lyft to keep an arms-length association with drivers so that the companies would not need to employ them and pay their benefits."
According to the WSJ, Amazon is expanding its physical offices in six U.S. cities and adding thousands of corporate jobs in those areas, an indication it's making long-term plans around in-office work.
For years, Apple received special treatment in China. That's changing fast, reports The Information.
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