Meadow navigates rules to deliver pot
Weed is becoming a very serious business in the Bay Area.
With recreational marijuana sales becoming legal in January, dispensaries are scrambling to comply with new regulations on the horizon. San Francisco startup Meadow helps dispensaries navigate the complexities of the law so they can focus on their core business: weed.
“November was a wake-up call,” David Hua, the founder of Meadow, said of California voters’ 2016 approval of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational use of cannabis and will be implemented in stages.
Meadow started in 2014 as a way for people to get medical marijuana delivered to their door. Now, three years later, the startup touches nearly every aspect of the cannabis industry: delivery, inventory management and patient intake.
“Having a partner that pays attention to all of the delivery regulations is really helpful so we don’t have to,” said JP Noda, a delivery coordinator for San Francisco’s Apothecarium, one of about 80 dispensaries using Meadow.
With $2.2 million in funding and 10 employees, Meadow is trending on startup database Crunchbase this week because of the recent launch of its loyalty program that was profiled in TechCrunch. With this program, patients can rack up points at dispensaries they regularly visit, and then redeem those points for rewards.
Hua said the pot business combines aspects of several industries: online delivery, pharmaceuticals and — when it comes to needing a nuanced palate — wine. But with all of the excitement, Hua said, he’s taking lessons from other startups that grew too fast, too soon.
“We’re definitely learning from other industries,” he said. “After all, (Silicon Valley) is in our backyard.”
Also trending: Slyce
What it does: Provides consumer brands with a system to coordinate and approve social media posts by celebrity endorsers. What happened: Slyce was cofounded by Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry. Curry had a cameo in the season premiere of the HBO show “Ballers” in late July, during which he wore a Slyce T-shirt and dropped the name of the company. Slyce is also in the process of raising a additional $1 million, CEO Bryant Barr said. Why it matters: Brands are ex-
panding their digital presence and paying celebrities to promote their products. “People want to follow people, not necessarily brands,” Barr said. Slyce software simplifies a process that can otherwise be a jumble of emails with screenshots and links.
Headquarters: Palo Alto
Funding: $1.6 million, according to Barr.
Employees: 8
Lounge Buddy
What it does: A mobile app and website that give travelers pay-asyou-go access to airport lounges around the world.
What happened: LoungeBuddy is releasing a new version of its lounge-management system soon, said cofounder and CEO Tyler Dikman.
Why it matters: The number of airline travelers has been rising steadily for decades. And passengers are already used to paying more for services like meals, checked baggage and extra legroom — why not add lounge access, too?
Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: Between $5 million and $10 million, according to Dikman, who would not disclose the exact amount. (Crunchbase lists it as $4 million, which may not include the most recent investments.) Employees: 16
Nimble Collective
What it does: An online animation studio that operates in the cloud.
What happened: The company recently announced training tools for Pixar’s RenderMan 3-D-rendering software. CEO Rex Grignon said the company also got a lot of attention at the Siggraph computer graphics conference this month.
Why it matters: Setting up an animation studio comes with a lot of overhead costs: hardware, high-end workstations, licensing agreements and expensive software. With Nimble Collective’s cloud services, Grignon said, anyone can set up a virtual studio in minutes. (The company did not disclose pricing.) Headquarters: Mountain View Funding: $8 million, according to Grignon. Employees: 28
Stellar
What it does: A nonprofit, open-source blockchain system that allows users to easily transfer money across borders and currencies. What happened: Stellar is in conversations with high-profile partners in Southeast Asia, according to Chief Technology Officer Jed McCaleb. Why it matters: The flow of payments works fairly well in countries like the United States. But in developing nations where transferring money is a painful process, blockchain systems like Stellar have the potential to take root more quickly, McCaleb said. Headquarters: San Francisco Funding: $3 million, according to McCaleb Employees: 15