Highly Objective

Eaze is a delivery focused multi-state cannabis operator. Eaze have over 1,500 employees nationwide, we’re the largest cannabis retailer in CA with over 1,000 employees, #3 retailer in colorado with full vertical integration and a growing presence in Michigan and Florida.

Marc Beginin is the founder and CEO of Prodigy Processing Solutions, a cannabis extraction equipment and technology industry. Before starting Prodigy, Beginin led Precision Extraction Solutions, a cutting-edge extraction equipment company he established in 2014, which was acquired by Agrify Corporation (NASDAQ: AGFY) in October 2021.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beginin/

Re-launched as its own standalone company in 2020, the AlphaRoot story actually started early on in the growth of its now sister company, Founder Shield. Around the same time Founder Shield began to really gain a foothold in emerging industries, the legal cannabis industry began to take off. Given the Founder Shield team’s expertise in working in emerging markets that most traditional insurance companies could not understand, they launched the AlphaRoot brand as a way to market to these new legally operating companies.

While the cannabis book of business did grow moderately over the next few years, there was a need for a team dedicated solely to the space to really understand not only the insurance needs of these companies but what the cannabis industry as a whole was experiencing. At this juncture, our management team of Isaac Bock and Eric Schneider put together a strategy of how to make AlphaRoot its own standalone entity.

The plan was to leverage Isaac’s knowledge of the cannabis industry in general as well as his experience of handling 90% of the Founder Shield cannabis book of business with Eric’s network of business development partners he had made in the industry to create a unique insurance buying experience for our clients. The way to achieve this was to become members of the cannabis community first and foremost and use this expertise to help create insurance programs that actually meet our clients’ needs.

The team has a passion for what they do on a day-to-day basis and view themselves not as an insurance brokerage who happens to do cannabis, but as an operator who just happens to be in insurance.

Sunderstorm is currently in CA, NV, CO, and MA. The company plans to launch in IL soon. The company also announced in December 2022 plans to enter Thailand through an agreement with THCG Group Ltd. (THCG), a Thailand-based, vertically integrated medical cannabis license holder with existing cultivation, distribution and retail operations, including wellness centers. The company expects this market entry to bring meaningful revenue, and similar to being in Las Vegas, an important one to build the brand.

Summary:

Curio Wellness is the leading wholesaler in most recent adult-use market in Maryland. They're also one of the only cannabis operators with FDA approved safety certifications for manufacturing. Focused on product innovation to introduce first to market cutting edge brands like terpene chews. The company also has a franchising program and fund aimed at helping minority entrepreneurs with its Far & Dotter retail banner.

Hemper launched in 2015 as a curator of monthly, limited-run cannabis accessory boxes and now has ~33,000 monthly subscribers (different packaing and products) with more than 500,000 boxes shipped to date. The company's limited-run boxes include celebrity-designed and curated editions with original artwork that have become collectors' items. The company also designs and manufactures its own smoking accessories, selling them through its online store and in more than 1,000 retail stores nationwide. The company self distributes to over 2,000 stores but wholesale to 200+ distributor and probably 3,000 additional retailers (smoke shops). Self distributing to over 7,000 stores (Cormark, EB Brown opens them up to 5,000+ retailers).

HARA Supply started in 2018, given a pre-roll cone shortage, one of their pre-roll partners offered a chance for them to enter a new product category. The Company directly operates 14 manufacturing sites, spanning over 250,000 square feet of the highest-quality pre-rolled cone production using the world’s finest European rolling paper. Hara Supply currently has over 4,000 personnel based in India, along with HQ office and warehouse located in Las Vegas, Nevada. HARA Supply currently produces over a billion pre-rolled cones per year for the cannabis industry’s largest entities.

Zach Marburger is Cresco Labs' Chief Information Officer. He oversees the technology and data infrastructure throughout the organization and is responsible for designing, scaling and implementing technological systems and data platforms to optimize the customer experience. Throughout his tenure with the company, Mr. Marburger has worked in various executive roles supporting Retail, Operations and Technology functions. Among his many accomplishments, he and his team have engineered a proprietary internal ERP platform, responsible for driving operational adherence and over $2 billion in commercial sales across retail and wholesale operations.

Before joining Cresco Labs, Mr. Marburger served as the co-founder and CEO of Topple Track, a startup providing a scalable, self-serve, content monitoring platform for musicians and record labels. In 2015, it was acquired by Symphonic Distribution, a music distributor and media services company.

X/Twitter: @chapelhillgreen

Willow Industries is the industry leader in cannabis kill step and post-harvest microbial decontamination technology. Founded in 2015 by CEO Jill Ellsworth, the company is built on one simple principle: cultivators should be equipped with resources to provide patients and consumers with consistently safe cannabis. Based in Denver, CO, Willow's services are currently available to all licensed cultivators in the United States and across the globe, where they implement an innovative and accessible leasing model that employs a holistic, turnkey approach for their partners. Their patented WillowPure systems use organic, ozone-based technology that is scientifically proven to reduce or eliminate contaminants such as yeast, mold and bacteria from cannabis, while protecting the medicinal properties of the plant. Willow's modern technology and in-house team of microbiology experts ensure cultivators employ best practices and quality control from start to finish.

As of June 30th, 2023, Naturae has 3 brands and ~30 SKUs selling at 15 of the 16 opened adult-use dispensaries in New York. We discuss Challenges and evolution of the company from CBD to Cannabis; Development of in-house brands while also running a vertically integrated company (excluding retail); Strategy to defend their brands in the market as more brands and MSOs enter. Naturae is focused on providing excellent service, offering quality products at competitive prices, and forming partnerships with dispensaries; How they met their largest investor Brian Hinchcliffe (Kirkland Lake Gold), who has been a significant figure in the company's growth and success; Self-distribution as a necessity for now but were open to exploring third-party distribution options if they could maintain control and meet their delivery requirements; Maintaining a 5% market share in the near term; Why the Company will have a brand in every category but flower.

Jane Technologies Launches Revolutionary New Point-Of-Sale Platform to Transform Dispensary Operations

Leverages leading, proprietary e-commerce technology to enhance in-store shopping experience and empower retailers

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., June 21, 2023 – Jane Technologies, Inc. (“Jane”), the cannabis industry’s leading e-commerce provider and creator of the largest online cannabis marketplace, today announced the forthcoming launch of its new point-of-sale (POS) system to connect the online and in-store cannabis experience.

The Jane POS utilizes industry-first features exclusive to the Jane platform, such as its extensive product catalog, integration capabilities, e-commerce IP and ads engine to provide unparalleled personalized in-store customer experiences. The company envisions the future of retail to be digital, which will unlock a level of in-store curation and connectivity that up until now could only be experienced online. The team at Jane believes that merging online and in-store customer experiences will become the standard for other industries too.

In a constantly changing marketplace, cannabis retailers require a POS they can trust to address the demands of an expanding consumer base. In response, the Jane POS blends the best offline and online retail experience functions. Just as consumers use Jane online for personalized recommendations, the Jane POS provides a first-of-its-kind, personalized in-store shopping experience, leading directly to increased retention and higher average order values. Improved tooling specific for retail staff means enhanced in-store performance and a better customer shopping experience. With Jane, retail staff can source verified reviews for each product from the online platform and make smart recommendations that are curated for each individual shopper that walks through their doors. 

By offering enhanced POS capabilities like catalog management and seamless inventory ingestion, Jane allows retailers to enter the future with improved operational efficiencies. Whenever brands launch new products, the Jane POS will automatically update the Jane Universal Product Catalog (UPC), removing the need for retailers to chase brands down for assets. The time it takes to switch or update POS software is trimmed from weeks to hours due to Jane’s comprehensive product and inventory data which can be automatically ingested into the new Jane POS. Jane offers improved analytics by compiling online and in-store data under a consistent dataset, which helps retailers transform disparate data into a holistic view of omnichannel insights. In the spirit of serving as the hub of all dispensary operations, the open infrastructure of the Jane POS enables retailers to integrate any third-party software and build a digital suite that fits their store’s exact needs.  In-store kiosk capabilities offer customers an easy way to skip the line, and product recommendations built into the system serve as a virtual budtender. Switching or upgrading POS systems is easy with the Jane UPC database of  preloaded product photos, descriptions and more. Finally, the integration of the Jane UPC and inventory management allows retailers to ingest wholesale orders at scale and on time. Dispensaries that leverage the Jane POS can take advantage of seamless integration into the Jane UPC, which hosts over 1.5 million products from thousands of brands.