The Venture Codex

Participated · Series C · Nov 2021

Chicago-based Fyllo, led by founder and CEO Chad Bronstein, delivers the Compliance Cloud, a suite of software and services that simplifies regulatory management for companies operating in tightly controlled sectors like cannabis. Its offering combines compliance monitoring, data services and marketing tools, and is complemented by the Fyllo Data Marketplace, which lets mainstream advertisers target cannabis and CBD consumers. The company is expanding its capabilities through M&A, including the February 2021 acquisition of retail and marketing platform DataOwl. Fyllo plans to continue strategic acquisitions and aggressive hiring to bolster its technology stack. Year-to-date in 2021 the business has grown revenue more than 100% and expanded headcount by roughly 275%, adding executives from firms such as Twitter and Salesforce. These metrics underscore rising demand for compliance-first SaaS in regulated markets, positioning Fyllo for continued growth.

Led · Equity · Feb 2021

Coda Signature crafts premium cannabis-infused edibles, topicals and sensory products for medicinal and adult-use markets. Founded in 2015, the company was an early adopter of technological innovation combined with confectionery artistry and natural ingredients to produce high-end products. Its products are available in over 800 dispensaries across Colorado and California, and the company holds licenses in both states. Coda plans expansion into other emerging North American markets and will use a recent $6M funding infusion to support expansion, R&D of new technologically innovative products, and to bring new expertise into the team. The company has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including Forbes’ Best Startup Employers 2020 and several cannabis cup awards. CEO Lisa McClung, who joined the board in March 2020 and became CEO in October 2020, is credited with bringing CPG discipline and corporate best-practices to the business. Coda Signature crafts premium cannabis-infused edibles, topicals and concentrates for medicinal and adult-use markets. Founded in 2015, the company has received 17 industry awards and holds No. 1 market share in Colorado for adult-use edibles per BDS Analytics; its products are available at over 600 dispensaries in Colorado. Coda Signature is licensed in California and Colorado and is pursuing expansion into other North American markets, including California and Canada. In July the company will launch operations from a 20,000 square-foot facility in Oakland and plans to add more than 50 jobs through the end of 2019. The brand emphasizes natural ingredients, bold flavor combinations and product innovation. Proceeds from the Series A will be used to accelerate expansion into emerging North American markets and for strategic additions to the management team.

Led · Seed · Apr 2020

Equilibria is a Chicago-based company that sells premium, farm-fresh, full-spectrum CBD products including topical creams, ingestible oils, and softgels targeted to women. The brand differentiates itself with personalized dosage support delivered by cannabis educators and on‑staff pharmacists. It maintains an exclusive farm-level partnership to ensure product quality without fillers or isolates. Equilibria’s mission is to help women achieve balance and live their fullest lives. The company is scaling within the fast-growing CBD market and plans to use new capital to expand distribution. There are no operating metrics disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2019

PathogenDx offers DNA-based testing via an advanced microarray testing platform for the cannabis, hemp, agriculture, food and beverage industries. Its technology can identify and detect up to 50 pathogens in a single test in about six hours, providing triplicate data per analyte for result certainty. The company sells DNA-testing products branded DetectX™, QuantX™ and EnviroX™ that identify, detect and quantify pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella and Aspergillus. Led by CEO Milan Patel, PathogenDx serves a portfolio of domestic and international clients in the cannabis industry. The company raised $7.5M in a Series B to support expansion into food and agriculture testing and to build on its cannabis-market position. PathogenDx develops DNA-based pathogen testing kits and solutions for the cannabis, botanical, food, and agricultural markets. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the company’s technology scales from individual plants to large agricultural fields. Its platform delivers real-time data to growers, processors, producers and ancillary service providers to detect fungi, molds, viruses and mildew. PathogenDx emphasizes simplicity, cost-effectiveness and adaptable scale for both large and small testing facilities. Management said a recent strategic investment from Salveo Capital will support growth, market expansion and continued focus on product safety. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2019

Front Range Biosciences specializes in next-generation plant breeding, plant tissue culture, and cannabis seed development to improve the reliability and quality of industrial hemp and medical cannabis genetics. The company runs a Clean Stock program that supplies disease- and pathogen-free plants and seeds backed by data-driven breeding solutions. FRB operates facilities in Colorado, California and Wisconsin and maintains a partnership with the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics in Barcelona, Spain, giving it global reach. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Lafayette, Colorado, the company positions itself as a market-leading R&D program in hemp and cannabis genetics. FRB is currently raising a $30M Series B financing round and has attracted investment from KEY Investment Partners, which will act as a strategic partner. KEY founding partner Pete Karabas is joining Front Range Biosciences' board as a board observer. Front Range Biosciences is a Lafayette, Colorado–based agricultural biotech that provides technology for breeding and producing new plant varieties and seeds in hemp, coffee and regulated cannabis. The company raised $8.5M in funding to support continued expansion of its hemp and cannabis portfolio. FRB plans to expand hemp seed production both nationally and globally and scale its young plant program, with production capabilities expected to multiply in 2020. Led by CEO and Co‑Founder Jon Vaught, the company has operated for a little more than three years. During that time FRB built over 160,000 square feet of facilities across Colorado, California and Wisconsin, acquired a cannabis genomics team and shipped millions of plants to farmers and growers nationwide. The new funds are intended to accelerate those production and portfolio expansion efforts. Front Range Biosciences develops Clean Stock® plant material using tissue culture, a sterile propagation technique, to address disease, inefficiency, inconsistency and scale for high-value crops. Its core product is sterile, duplicated baby plants on a defined nutrient medium for crops such as hemp, cannabis and coffee. The company supplies Clean Stock to growers and has partnerships to expand production, including with Frinj Coffee for coffee cuttings and Faith and Family Farms for cannabis in California. Led by CEO and co-founder Dr. Jonathan Vaught, Front Range is expanding Clean Stock production into California and taking orders for late 2018. It plans to use new funding to accelerate its Clean Stock program across Colorado, California and Canada, pursue IP development, and resource its varietal development program for hemp and cannabis. Front Range Biosciences specializes in tissue culture propagation of high-value crops, aiming to resolve cultivators' operational problems such as disease, inefficiency, inconsistency and limited scale. The company runs a varietal improvement program that leverages sequencing technology to map cannabis genetics and develop commercially relevant traits, including disease resistance, oil and resin yield, and desirable cannabinoid profiles. Front Range is led by CEO and co-founder Dr. Jon Vaught and COO and co-founder Nick Hofmeister. The company intends to use recent funding to scale its processes and expand into California and other legal cannabis states in the U.S. Its core product and R&D focus combine propagation services with genetic improvement to deliver more reliable, higher-yielding plant varieties for cultivators. Front Range Biosciences offers industrial-scale tissue culture propagation and an advanced breeding platform aimed at improving cannabis clone consistency and commercial traits. Its flagship product is tissue culture propagation for scalable, consistent clone production. The company also develops breeding tools to identify and enhance commercially relevant traits. Front Range will use new funding to build out its team and expand its tissue culture offering to improve efficiency and consistency for clone production. The company participated in the CanopyBoulder accelerator program for cannabis startups last year. It recently closed a $1.5 million seed round to support these efforts.