Technology has disrupted virtually every major sector out there. It has dominated the regular sectors and is now finding its way into the more obscure ones. Technology is now been used in the supply and distribution of cannabis which recently achieved a semi-legal status in some states in the US.
A few days ago a watershed moment in the Legal marijuana industry occurred when Dutchie, a startup company raised $200m from investors and is now valued at $1.7 billion.
The fascinating cannabis startup makes use of technology to facilitate safe and efficient dispensary of cannabis
READ: US House passes reform bill to decriminalize marijuana
The Dutchie Story
According to Crunchbase Dutchie was founded in 2017 as a online cannabis ordering platform that connects consumers to local cannabis retailers. The company was founded by brothers and co-founders, Ross Lipson and Zach Lipson in the city of Bend, Oregon USA.
Ross, the elder of the brothers initially founded a food delivery operation in Canada which later got acquired. The idea to find Dutchie struck him while waiting for his turn in a local weed dispensary shop. His younger brother, Zach joined the company as Senior Product Manager.
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Speaking to the Entrepreneur, Ross Lipson described the exact moment the idea to start Dutchie hit him.
He said, “Cannabis had just been legalized for recreational use in Oregon, so I and everyone else in my town lined up, sometimes for an hour, outside the busy dispensaries. When I finally got to the counter, I had mere minutes to read the menu and even less time to discuss it with the budtender and make an informed decision. It was a terrible customer experience.
“That’s when it hit me. What if I could just go online, educate myself about the products available at each dispensary, determine which was right for me, click a button, and have them delivered straight to my home?”
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$200 million raised, $1.7 billion valuation
Dutchie shattered the glass ceiling with the latest Series C funding it secured recently. It raised $200 million at a $1.7 billion from investors by convincing them to bet on the spread of the legalization of cannabis across various states in the US.
The Series C funding was led by an investment firm, Tiger Global and also included previous investors Casa Verde Capital, Dragoneer DFJ Growth and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
Dutchie has attracted a list of exciting investors over the years. According to Marijuana Business daily it raised $35 million in August 2020 from a group of investors that included Snoop Dog’s Casa Verde Capital, Thrive Capital, Gron Ventures, and Schultz.
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What you should know
- According to Business Insider, Cannabis has been legalized in 15 American states and Washington DC. Medical Marijuana has been legalized in 36 states!
- US analyst believe recreational Cannabis sale is set to hit a whopping $40 billion in the next 4 years!
- Dutchie works with 2,116 dispensaries and operates in 36 markets in the US and Canada.
- The collective net worth of the Lipson Brothers is still largely unknown but from the recent valuation of Dutchie and its prospective market growth, it is clear that the brothers are well on their way to the billionaires club.
