Flow Kana Harvests $125M For Sustainable Cannabis

Marijuana producer and distributor Flow Kana has closed on a $125 million Series B in what is being touted as the largest private funding round for a US-based cannabis company.

It tops Acreage Holdings’ $119 million raise from last July.

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New York-based private equity firm Gotham Green Partners led Flow Kana’s latest round for a second time as it also headed up the company’s $22 million Series A last July. Unnamed private investors also participated in the latest financing, according to a Flow Kana news release.

“Since our initial investment, Flow Kana has continued to execute on its mission of developing a robust and inclusive California cannabis supply chain,” said Michael Henderson-Cohen, a principal at Gotham Green Partners, in the press release. “We are excited to participate in this recent raise, which will enable the company to…broaden its reach and message across the state.”

Redwood Valley-based Flow Kana is already considered to be one of the largest legitimate cannabis distributors in California. The latest financing will be used to “double down on the supply chain strategy and allow Flow Kana to expand into other categories,” CEO Michael Steinmetz told Marijuana Business Daily.  The company is focused on the Northern California region as it prepares for eventual federal legalization, according to the Business Daily.

Five-year-old Flow Kana distributes sun-grown organic cannabis from small craft farmers. The company has said it aims “to transform cannabis into the world’s first fully sustainable agricultural product, advancing a farming ecosystem rooted in transparency, integrity, and shared equity.” Originally from Caracas, Steinmetz previously built and sold a Venezuelan national food marketing and distribution company and worked as an investment analyst at Merrill Lynch as well as a data analyst at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory, according to his Crunchbase profile.

“We strongly believe the cannabis industry is a catalyst for social change and are grateful to have found investors and partners aligned with this vision,” Steinmetz said in the company’s news release.

Flow Kana said it is also on track to complete the buildout of its manufacturing operations at its Mendocino County headquarters, The Flow Cannabis Institute, which opened processing and white-label services last April.   

The raise marks the second large cannabis-related funding announcement in 2019 so far. In January, San Jose, California-based Caliva announced it had raised $75 million in an “oversubscribed” financing that included participation from Carol Bartz, former CEO of Yahoo and Autodesk, and three-time Super Bowl MVP and Pro-Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias