Green Flower Media Secures $20 Million Series A Funding to Expand Cannabis Education Platform

On June 19, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Green Flower Media (Green Flower), a U.S.-based cannabis education platform, announced the completion of a $20 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Tuatara Capital, with participation from Poseidon Asset Management and Phyto Partners. Green Flower will use the proceeds to develop additional certificate courses, expand its subscription services by increasing original content on the platform, establish deeper strategic partnerships with other companies and associations, and scale up its team.

Green Flower, established in 2014, is a global cannabis education media platform featuring high-quality educational videos contributed by over 700 leading cannabis experts, including physicians, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and pioneers in the field. With more than 2,000 hours of video content, the platform covers all aspects of cannabis industry training and education, such as medicinal cannabis use, cannabis business operations and compliance, and cannabis cultivation. It provides essential professional knowledge to thousands of students and job seekers worldwide, helping them enter and succeed in the legal cannabis industry. Leading cannabis companies and mainstream enterprises also leverage these video courses to train employees in a cost-effective manner, thereby fostering business growth.

Green Flower’s upcoming certificate programs cover cannabis business, medical applications of cannabis, regulations and compliance, cannabis extraction, cannabis plants, CBD (cannabidiol), and cannabis sales. These courses address critical training needs across various sectors of the legal cannabis industry. Employees and entrepreneurs in the cannabis sector often lack the knowledge and credibility necessary for career success. This poses a significant challenge for both career changers seeking to enter the industry and new or untrained employees.

Green Flower’s streaming video subscription service will launch four new original channels featuring content on cannabis in the areas of health and wellness, business, cultivation, and culture. World-class experts will share their cannabis expertise with a global audience seeking professional insights through Green Flower’s platform. The new subscription service will be launched in the third quarter of 2019 via a new mobile app and an OTT channel.

Following the completion of this financing round, Green Flower’s team will expand from 25 to 75 employees. The company plans to grow its marketing, operations, and sales teams through recruitment and will establish a higher education division. Green Flower is also significantly expanding its in-house production team, with plans to hire a Vice President of Content Production, instructional designers, content producers, and technical editors.

Max Simon, CEO and founder of Green Flower, said, “This funding will support our singular mission—to popularize cannabis knowledge worldwide. If cannabis were only being discovered today, this plant would be listed as one of the most important medical discoveries of the 21st century.”

Stephanie Graziano, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Green Flower, stated, “In the ever-evolving cannabis industry, nothing is more important than education. Green Flower is committed to empowering consumers with greater discernment, equipping sales teams with enhanced professionalism, and helping businesses make more informed commercial decisions through its educational programs.”

Tuatara Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, USA. The company focuses on exploring a range of investment opportunities across the cannabis industry supply chain, including cannabis research, cultivation, technology, industrial services, and sales. Tuatara primarily invests in early-stage companies operating within the legal cannabis sector.

Poseidon Asset Management, established in 2013, manages two funds with investment scopes covering all aspects of the cannabis industry—from technological solutions to vertically integrated operations (cultivation, processing, distribution, branding, and retail), as well as industrial hemp processing. The firm’s inaugural fund, launched in 2014, has participated in over 100 investment rounds, including a series of debt and preferred equity investments. Its second fund, established in 2018, primarily focuses on venture capital investments from Series A onwards.

Phyto Partners, established in 2015 and headquartered in Florida, USA, is a private equity investment firm. The company is dedicated to investing in the cannabis industry, primarily targeting early- and late-stage companies through debt, private equity, and venture financing. Phyto Partners provides its portfolio companies with capital, operational, and managerial support to accelerate the development of the cannabis industry.

(Compiled by Tang Lulu)