Cloverdale, CA, Jan. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Garden Society, a popular women-owned Wine Country cannabis brand featuring craft gummies, gourmet chocolates, and rosette pre-rolls, today announced it has secured more than $7 million in Series A funding. Led by RJ Primo LLC, the funding will be used to scale product offerings, modernize manufacturing, and further expand its team to meet the growing demand throughout California, as well as to expand into other states in 2022. In addition to the primary funding, the round included an oversubscribed SPV composed of strategic female and BIPOC angel investors. Additionally, Brooke Carpenter, former head of sales for Flow Cannabis, has joined the Garden Society team as head of sales to help drive the company forward.
“This new capital will allow us to focus on executing our growth plans as we charge out of the post-pandemic gates,” said Erin Gore, founder and CEO of Garden Society. “Despite a crazy past two years in 2021 we were able to continue to realize rapid growth with a focus on profitability. With this infusion we can further scale production, launch new products, and hire the team to meet the demand we have worked so hard to build over the past five years.”
California-based Garden Society’s mission is to offer quality products to those in search of new, more holistic ways to rejuvenate from the rigors of daily life and to help normalize cannabis use, especially with women. Garden Society’s award-winning products include cannabis edibles and sun-grown pre-rolls and are sold in hundreds of California dispensaries as well as all major delivery platforms including Eaze and Sava.
Garden Society’s lead Series A investor, RJ Primo LLC, is a private investment firm focused on the cannabis industry since 2013 whose portfolio companies include Beboe, Dosist, Green Thumb, and Pax to name a few.
“Few young cannabis companies can cite the quality of their leadership team, operations, brand, and products. We value their vision and see them as a best-in-class operator with significant opportunity for growth,” said John P. O’Rourke, managing partner of RJ Primo LLC.
The oversubscribed $320K SPV allocation in Garden Society’s Series A financing round was led by Janna Meyrowitz Turner, with the explicit goal of diversifying cannabis investing. Gore and her co-founder, Karli Warner, are active members of the California cannabis community and fearless advocates for women-owned cannabis businesses, equally dedicated to empowering other women in the industry, as well as breaking the stigma and rewriting the script around the plant.
Said Turner: “There is a huge market opportunity for Garden Society as both a brand and as a highly reputable operator and partner manufacturer. Steady growth, a stellar reputation in California, and industry leadership, as well as investments in impact and DEI infrastructure make it a beloved company selling a product that consumers love.”
“The addition of this SPV is very meaningful to us,” said Garden Society co-founder Karli Warner. “Erin and I have always wanted to share in our success, and yet we are the ones who are already winning. Our ‘Ladies’ Slate’ is composed of amazing entrepreneurs and C-level executive women in both cannabis and mainstream industries who are already helping us build a stronger business. It’s powerful.”
New Capital Will Help Meet Demand, Drive Expansion and Multi-State Operations
Last month, the company announced a new line of fast-acting, full spectrum gummies inspired by Wine Country. Incorporating a proprietary cannabis extract to enable its rapid effect, and infused with real wine concentrate, the edibles are available in three flavors: Tart Cherry Pinot Noir, Peach Prosecco, and Sparkling Strawberry Rosé. Each has a varying blend of THC + CBD that provides a desired effect, from relaxing to uplifting, in around 15 minutes.
In addition to their own products, Garden Society has utilized their manufacturing expertise to further drive revenues, collaborating with other leading cannabis brands to both bring new products to California and help current brands scale. In early 2021, the company substantially grew its production team for manufacturing pre-rolls to both meet the current demand as well as to manage other manufacturing contracts. The company also has plans to become a multi-state operator in 2022, taking an innovative approach by leading with their manufacturing expertise to bring Garden Society products to these new markets.
Seasoned Cannabis Sales Executive Joins Team
Brooke Carpenter joined the Garden Society team in November as Head of Sales. Brooke has 10+ years of experience building and leading teams, including being a sales leader in the largest cannabis market in the world, where she pushed for ethical business practices and standards creation in a nascent industry. Most recently she comes from Flow Cannabis Co., where she built and led Flow Cannabis Co.’s wholesale sales division from the ground up, managing a team of 20+ people, and overseeing distribution into over 500 individual sales locations.
In this role, Brooke will manage and oversee the Garden Society sales teams and all sales operations, provide field team sales support, develop and cultivate relationships with dispensaries, and continue to identify key opportunities for growth with current and new customers.
For more information about Garden Society, visit the website.
According to data from Euromonitor, legal U.S. cannabis sales grew 30% to $22 billion last year, more than the $17.5 billion Americans spent on wine (source: Reuters). With the recent wave of new state legalizations the U.S. market forecast is projected to reach up to $30B in 2022 (source: Headset July 2021). Previous investors in Garden Society include Big Rock Partners and other private investors.
About Garden Society
Based in Sonoma, California, Garden Society is a women-owned Wine Country cannabis brand and B-Corporation with a purpose to promote the health and welfare of women through education and responsibly sourced products, and such other public benefits while operating in a responsible and sustainable manner. Garden Society strives for exceedingly great products, made with uncompromising quality. The company creates artisanal edibles and sun-grown pre-roll Rosettes that connect responsible farming, sustainable ingredients, and strain-specific cannabis.
Headquartered in Sonoma County since 2016, the company was founded by Erin Gore, named one of the most powerful and innovative women in cannabis by Forbes. She, along with her co-founder Karli Warner, are dedicated to creating a community of cannabis lovers who support and empower each other to explore and enjoy the plant. For more information, visit the Garden Society website, or follow on Instagram or Facebook.
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