Delivery app Eaze, which has raised $166M, is scrambling for cash, TechCrunch reports.
The so-called “Uber of Pot,” recently closed a $15M bridge round “to keep the lights on… amid problems with making decent margins on its current business model, lawsuits, payment processing issues and internal disorganization.” The story is based on interviews with nine sources familiar with Eaze’s situation.
- Eaze is raising a new round of funding to support the company’s “verticalization” pivot to become a plant touching business. It currently operates as a platform to connect delivery customers and third party vendors.
- The company operates in Oregon and California.
- In a pitch deck obtained by TechCrunch, the company describes itself as the largest direct to consumer cannabis retailer in California.
- TechCrunch: “Eaze is suffering from a problem rampant in the marijuana industry: a lack of working capital. Because banks often won’t issue working capital loans to weed-related business, deliverers like Eaze can experience delays in paying back vendors. Another source says late payments have pushed some brands to stop selling through Eaze.”
In other corporate news…
- The N.Y. Post checked in on High Times, which is also betting the company on a pivot to retail.
- Rumors swirled on social media that California MSO MedMen is trying to restructure its debt. MedMen did not immediately return WeedWeek’s request for comment.
Grizzle - Florida’s dominant MED player Trulieve is suing Grizzly Research (not to be confused with the web site Grizzle) for defamation in an attempt to tank Trulieve’s stock. A Wall Street analyst dismissed Grizzly’s assessment of Trulieve’s accounting as “rookie analysis.”
MJBiz - A terrific story in the East Bay Express looks at the great cannabis crash of 2019, why it happened and what comes next.
- A stock analyst found Canadian producers aren’t good at predicting future performance, except when they made negative predictions. ��WW Canada has more.
Bloomberg
A veteran Mendocino county grower reflects on who’s still standing.
Cannabis Now
