Keith McCarty doesn’t smoke weed, but he sure is riding high on the marijuana wave.
TechCrunch reports that the co-founder and former CEO of marijuana delivery startup Eaze has raised a $5m seed round for a new company that specializes in logistics for the electric lettuce.
Keith McCarty, who mysteriously stepped down from Eaze 2 years ago, launched WAYV, a B2B cannabis logistics platform that delivers inventory to weed-tailers — an idea that came to McCarty after witnessing the hardship of supply chain logistics at Eaze.
The LA-based company connects cannabis companies to brands and provides next-day delivery of cannabis products — because, just like consumers, dispensaries also need weed dealers.
In other words, WAYV is essentially Eaze for the cannabis enterprise, not the consumer.
Now that the majority of Americans favor legalization (90% in favor of medical “prescribed by a doctor,” and over 60% for recreational), weed is a rising corporate star. But, B2B weed-delivery is just the stem of the flower.
Recently, hedge fund Tiger Global led the funding round for cannabis-tracking company Metrc, a software developer that keeps track of marijuana through the commercial supply chain — a pertinent niche, as the US continues to wrestle over regulations.
And, as VC investment in cannabis startups continues to grow ($700m raised since 2014), you can bet there’s more green in weed startups’ futures.