Cannabis delivery giant Eaze secured $10 million in Series B funding to restart operations across four states, an unexpected revival that comes just weeks after its owners announced plans to wind down the business by year-end.
The newly formed company plans to reopen 70 locations, including 57 retail stores, according to an announcement made Tuesday, following the August sale of Eaze Technologies’ assets to tech billionaire and Netscape-founder James Clark‘s FoundersJT LLC for $54 million.
The funding announcement follows recent turmoil at subsidiary Green Dragon, which filed notices in October to lay off workers and shutter operations in Florida and in Colorado by year-end, according to Cannabis Business Times. Last month, Eaze also announced it would wind down its cannabis delivery operations and lay off roughly 500 union workers across California and Michigan, with CEO Cory Azzalino citing “ongoing challenges of the California cannabis market.”
The company did not specify in Tuesday’s announcement whether previously announced layoffs and closures would be reversed under the new funding plan.
Andrew Levine, a former owner of Green Dragon, sued Eaze on the day of the August auction, alleging Clark and stockholder Thomas Jermoluk conspired to acquire company assets below market value, according to court filings. In response, Eaze accused Levine of being a “serial litigator” who improperly accessed company records. The dispute stems from Eaze’s 2021 acquisition of Green Dragon, when the company was closer to a billion-dollar valuation than not.
The new investment will help expand Florida production capacity and launch new marketing campaigns highlighting scheduled delivery capabilities, the company said. Eaze said it plans to hire more than 1,000 workers across California, Colorado, Florida and Michigan while building new brand partnerships and developing market-specific products.
Adam Jackson writes about the cannabis industry for the Green Market Report. He previously covered the Missouri Statehouse for the Columbia Missourian and has written for the Missouri Independent. He most recently covered retail, restaurants and other consumer companies for Bloomberg Business News. You can find him on Twitter at @adam_sjackson and email him at adam.jackson@crain.com.
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The Green Market Report focuses on the financial news of the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Our target approach filters out the daily noise and does a deep dive into the financial, business and economic side of the cannabis industry. Our team is cultivating the industry’s critical news into one source and providing open source insights and data analysis
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