Sometimes funding rounds are put together to fund acquisitions. And that seems to be the case with Bend startup dutchie, which just announced a $200 million Series C and the acquisition of two partners. All of that equates to one thing. There’s a unicorn in Oregon with a valuation of $1.7 billion.
Read MoreTag: Cannabis
Dutchie Bros: Bend-based ecommerce company finds success in solving problem for cannabis dispensaries
Sorry. The headline just jumped to mind so I had to write this up really quickly. If only to take credit for the bad pun — but distinctly Oregon — headline. (And with all due respect to Dutch Bros.) Anyway… according to Techcrunch, Bend based and brother founded Dutchie just raised a Series A round for their ecommerce platform designed to serve cannabis dispensaries.
Read MorePortland’s startup accelerator for women led cannabis businesses reveals first class
Startups can always use more support. So it’s always nice to see new startup accelerators in Portland. And while I’ve written about the concept of The Initiative before, it’s now an actual thing with startups and stuff. Nine woman led cannabis companies, in fact.
[UPDATE] Every aspect of creativity can be brought to bear on startups in the cannabis industry — later
[UPDATE] Unfortunately, an unforeseen travel conflict for the speaker is going to require Design Museum Portland to reschedule this event.
In the cannabis industry — where it often seems that 90% of the dispensaries have chosen green as their main color — the case for imbuing the industry with more creativity and design talent is a compelling one. Because, as we’ve seen before, enabling consumers to differentiate among brands in a increasingly crowded marketplace may be the difference between success and failure — especially for startups.