The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Jan 2021

The Blinc Group is a New York City–headquartered designer and provider of premium, customized and bespoke vaporizer technologies and hardware. The company offers a “Powered By Blinc” certified manufacturing process with China-based production that provides full quality control and traceability across the supply chain. Blinc complements hardware with R&D, testing, standard operating procedures, training, and go-to-market and brand consulting for multi-state operators and licensed producers. The company played an advisory role during the 2019 vape crisis and worked with regulators and Colorado’s Science & Policy Committee on new testing standards. In 2020 Blinc more than tripled its orders, posting over 330% year-over-year growth and its best quarter amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Clients include Canadian customers that require Health Canada–level standards, a capability the company cites as differentiating. The Blinc Group is a distribution-centric incubator focused on launching and scaling vapor and cannabis products. It delivers full-cycle support to startups through tailored branding, marketing, sales and engagement programs rooted in data and proprietary research. The group leverages collective expertise and its network to position member companies as thought leaders in their industry segments. It develops foundations for scaling through the largest distribution channels across the American, European and Asian markets. Led by Chief Strategy Officer Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, the company aims to build quality brands that reshape retailers, dispensaries, head shops and vape shops globally. The Blinc Group recently closed its first financing round and plans to deploy the funds into day-to-day operations including operations, marketing, business development and lobbying.

Participated · Series A · Dec 2020

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Los Alamos, New Mexico, UbiQD is a global leader in quantum dot manufacturing and technology. Its core products leverage proprietary quantum dots to manipulate light, most notably through UbiGro®, a greenhouse film that fluoresces to create a crop-optimizing light spectrum. The company is expanding production to meet growing demand across agriculture and clean-energy markets and recently signed a long-term supply agreement with First Solar. To finance this scale-up, UbiQD previously closed a $20 million Series B round and has now added venture debt to its capital stack. The new funds will support facility upgrades and specialized manufacturing equipment in New Mexico. UbiQD’s leadership team was further strengthened by the appointment of Tony Beams—whose background spans AppHarvest, Plenty, Netflix, and Headspace—as Chief Financial Officer. With additional capital and seasoned financial leadership, UbiQD is positioning itself for accelerated commercial growth while maintaining capital efficiency.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2020

Trym offers commercial cannabis growers a software platform to track and forecast crops from seed to sale, with features including integration with the regulatory platform Metrc and environmental sensors. The system provides comprehensive analytics and operations-management tools to help growers increase yield and reduce the bookkeeping needed to stay current with regulations. Trym says it is expanding its software offering and announced a $3.1 million seed round to support that growth. Of the $3.1 million, $1 million came from friends and family and $2.1 million was a preferred round co-led by 7thirty Capital and Delta Emerald Ventures. Welcan Capital, Arcview Collective Fund and others also participated, and the company said the round was oversubscribed. CEO and co-founder Matt Mayberry said the investors understand that connectivity is the future of cannabis agriculture and that Trym is helping drive a market disruption.