Wana Brands continues C-suite shakeup with new CFO

BOULDER — Wana Brands is expanding into another state. The Boulder-based edibles company has partnered with High Life Farms to bring its products to Michigan. “We chose to license Wana products to High Life Farms because they are proven operators with a very strong team and a great facility,” Nancy Whiteman, CEO and founder of Wana, said in a prepared statement. “We know from their experience and portfolio of other high-quality cannabis products, this is the team that will be effective in distributing Wana products throughout the state of Michigan.” She added that Michigan has strong potential for success. The state has new regulations for cannabis going into effect on Jan. 1. There are already 300,000 residents with a medical-use card and the state’s $1.7 billion adult-use program is expected to come online in 2020. “Michigan has nearly double the population of Colorado and already has established a solid medical marijuana patient base,” she said. “If you add in the state’s reasonable regulatory framework and tax structuring, Michigan becomes an important Midwest position for any cannabis company aiming for national coverage.” Wana Brands’ gummies will be available in Michigan medical dispensaries in 2019. Each package of various strains and flavors contains 10 gummies that are each 10 milligrams of THC. Wana said it expects to release some of its other products — Wana Drops, WanaCaps and disposable vapes — by 2020. “We knew Wana Brands was well aligned with High Life Farms’ desire to deliver a premium product and we’re looking forward to adding the brand to our offerings,” said Jason Pasko, COO of High Life Farms, in a statement. “High Life Farms understands the importance of delivering medical marijuana patients quality and consistency they can count on. We test our products to ensure the safety of our patients.” Wana Brands products are available in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona and soon will be available in Illinois and Florida as well as Michigan.

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BOULDER — CanopyBoulder, an accelerator for entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry, is hosting a public demo day and its Jumpstart Conference. Canopy will host its Jumpstart Conference from 4:30 to 7:25 p.m. on Jan. 15 at Galvanize in Boulder. The conference will feature a speaker and panels covering the state of the market, opportunities and what it takes to launch a cannabis startup. Dominique Mendiola, director of marijuana coordination for the state of Colorado, will deliver the keynote address. One panel will feature industry professionals discussing ways entrepreneurs can improve upon pain points they’re seeing in the cannabis industry. The second panel will feature cannabis entrepreneurs themselves speaking about best practices for starting a business in this field. “We have some fantastic speakers,” Patrick Rea, CEO and co-founder of CanopyBoulder, told BizWest. “If I were an entrepreneur or an investor, I would want to show up to soak in what’s really going on in the cannabis industry. Not just what’s in headlines, press releases or PR pushes but get the real scoop and inside story on how the industry is working.” Immediately after the conference will be Canopy’s public demo day, where Canopy’s current cohort of cannabis-related startups will pitch their ideas to the public. Those companies include: Abaca, which provides cannabis businesses with compliant bank accounts, electronic payments and other financial services. The company is based in Little Rock, Ark. Anna, built by FrostCorp, is the first AI-powered cannabis dispensary kiosk. FrostCorp is a Boston-based company. Azara Solutions Inc. of Boulder, a provider of web tools to streamline operations, hold staff accountable and permeate regulations Bello by Designed Technology, which cleans and simplifies the cannabis consumption process in order to improve the public perception of cannabis consumers. The company is working on an automated vaporizer. Buddle, a Boulder-based provider of automated legal services, legal documents and law experts in order to empower cannabis businesses to navigate the industry’s regulatory environment. Demeter, based in Boulder, which streamlines the communication between brands and influencers. The company’s registered name is Defining the Box Inc. Enabled Label, an Edmonton, Alberta-based company that offers origin certification for supply chains and uses technology to provide batch-level origin and quality verification in real-time. Green Genomix, which uses DNA-testing to make personalized cannabis recommendations. The company is based in Boulder. The Grove, a curated and cannabis consumption space that aims to be a social cannabis collective in Denver. L.A. Cannabis News, a media company dedicated to localized cannabis news, events and jobs. “There’s more investor interest in cannabis than ever,” Rea said, who added that the accelerator would be hosting several investor-only demos in Denver, San Francisco, Boulder and Los Angeles. “The timing is very good for these teams. We are seeing larger interest than ever before in our investors preview events and Demo Day.”

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