Cann has a can-do spirit about giving consumers a buzz without spirits, and $27 million in new funding certainly helps.

The cannabis beverage brand announced yesterday it closed a Series A, bringing its total $$ raised to date to about $40 million. In addition to Imaginary Ventures, a slew of celebs, including Adam Devine, Nina Dobrev, and Rosario Dawson, got in on the round.

• As a THC brand, Cann can’t always legally rely on traditional marketing, so its celebrity investors have given it a boost, co-founder Luke Anderson told Retail Brew. Plus, Dawson, who joined the brand’s board last year, is “an advocate for women of color in cannabis” and will be involved in upcoming storytelling projects, he said.

High time: The funding comes as the company notched 2.6x sales growth YoY in 2021 and sold nearly 10 million cans of Cann (price point: $18 per six-pack) since its 2019 debut. But co-founder Jake Bullock said growing distribution in a “highly restricted” category can be costly.

“We have to go state-by-state, market-by-market and build that supply chain and manufacturing capability, make that product in each state,” he said. “That becomes really expensive, and can be challenging for folks.”

• In the US, it’s sold in dispensaries in six states, recently adding Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Arizona.

Get buzzy

With the new $$, Cann will head north to Canada through a new production partnership with Truss Beverage Co.—a joint venture between MolsonCoors Canada and cannabis producer HEXO Corp. Ontario is up first, with British Columbia, Alberta, and more to follow. It’s the first place Cann is entering where microdosed beverages have been on the market before, Bullock noted.

“It’ll be exciting to go in and not have to start defining what we are, but why we’re different,” he explained.

• Bullock added that the partnership with the beer giant will also help its future positioning among alcoholic bevs in grocery and liquor stores.

Can it: Cann is also working to secure traditional retail placement with new THC- and CBD-free innovations like Cann Unspiked, which hit stores like Foxtrot and Erewhon last year. The moves were encouraging for investors in its Series A, Anderson said.

“One of the reasons that investors really doubled down hard now is this signals a moment where Cann is not just a cannabis company; it’s a beverage company.”—EC

With an entire business based on delivering products to consumers’ doors, a “sustainable” DTC brand can sound like an oxymoron. Despite an emphasis on upcycled goods and eco-friendly materials, shipping and freight remain among the greatest polluters in the retail industry.

• A 2021 report from Pacific Environment and Stand.earth found that 15 major corporations, including Walmart, Ikea, and Amazon, emit as much pollution via overseas shipping as 1.5 million US homes.

Some companies are making moves to address these emissions. And yesterday, ESW, which offers DTC e-comm tools like customer service and online exchanges, announced it will provide carbon-neutral shipping for its brands.

• The company, fka eShopWorld, partners with the likes of Gucci, Kering, and J. Crew, among others.

How it’s done: ESW said all nodes of the shipping process will be carbon neutral, from transcontinental air freight to first, middle, and last-mile delivery. It will achieve the offsets by funding wind farm projects, and, therefore, boosting renewable energy production.

It joins services like Cloverly, which work with online storefronts to offer carbon-neutral delivery options.

Bonus points: The company’s goal is green and lean operations. According to ESW, it can help merchants and brands enter new worlds (er, global markets) in “as little as six weeks,” which it claims is “up to six times faster than if they attempted to do so on their own.” Plus, brands own the customer data “collected during the shopping process.”—JG

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Brian McEuen is founder of On Brand, a startup that’s helping men find their personal style by matching them with the right brands and products for them. As a former director of merchandising for Banana Republic, you could say he knows a thing or two about clothes.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I’m a founder of a company that makes shopping online easier and more personalized. Imagine having a Spotify playlist, but for your clothes.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I’ll go out on a limb and say how much of an “in-person” person I am. I love being in the office (or any space), working with people face-to-face.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? At Banana Republic, I launched many complexes of pants that became customer favorites like the Traveler Pant, the Rapid Movement Chino, and the Core Temp Pant.

The emerging trend that you’re most excited about: Personalization, for sure. There are so many products and brands online, retailers are going to have to cut through all the noise to match their customers with those products and brands that suit them best.

Hands down, the best fast-food restaurant chain is…Chipotle—is that fast food? Okay fine, McDonald’s.

Today’s top retail reads.

Cell by: Companies making cell-based meat are popping up left and right, but only about 700 people in the world have actually tried it. And the food industry has mixed feelings. “I’m not excited about it, but I wouldn’t bet against it,” restaurateur Danny Meyer said. (The New York Times)

Fresh cup: How 172-year-old Folgers is working to revamp its image, starting with swapping its classic jingle for “Bad Reputation.” (Food Dive)

Rinse and repeat: Inside The Ordinary’s new hair-care line—and why it isn’t shying away from sulfates. (Business of Fashion)

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Alt-chicken maker Next Gen Foods scores $100 million in funding and heads to the US
• How retailers can welcome the “inclusive consumer” at every step
• Tips for brands to make smart moves into the metaverse