EXITS
Fullerton-based cannabis technology company MyJane has been acquired on undisclosed terms by Commerce-based cannabis distribution and compliance solution provider MJIC Inc.
MyJane released its personalized cannabis recommendation service for women last month, after acquiring the assets of defunct Laguna Hills-based women-only ride-sharing service SeeJaneGo in 2017.
Company founder and Chief Executive Kim Kovacs said she didn’t start MyJane with the intent to sell so soon.
“The market is highly regulated, it’s highly fractured,” she said. “It became clear to me if we wanted to expand across the state quickly, we needed to rely on a bigger partner.”
MyJane isn’t a licensed dispensary, so it partners with other local companies like Santa Ana-based ShowGrow to distribute cannabis products. MyJane has 12 employees and will continue to be headquartered in Orange County post-acquisition, the details of which have not been released.
MJIC has disclosed plans for an IPO this year with Canadian investment bank Haywood Securities Inc. acting as financial adviser; specifics of the stock offering haven’t been disclosed.
Southern California investor network Tech Coast Angels said it has completed its sixth highest exit ever with the recent acquisition of CaseStack by Illinois-based freight transportation management company Hub Group Inc.
CaseStack provides logistics and shipping software for consumer packaged goods companies and warehousing firms.
The Santa Monica-based company received an investment from TCA in 2003. Frank Singer, one of the TCA Orange County founders, was a CaseStack investor. He said he received a 15 times return from his $25,000 investment, bringing it near $375,000. He cautions that the return was over 15 years, but said it was still “much better than a poke in the eye.”
NEW OFFICE
Irvine-based consumer feedback startup Reviews.io last week opened an office in Sydney.
Reviews.io collects reviews from consumers who have made purchases on various platforms online and aggregates them.
The company is one of only seven in the world that has a review publishing license with Google, Chief Executive Callum McKeefery said, which allows it to publish reviews directly into Google’s Seller Ratings.
Reviews.io was founded in 2015 by McKeefery and his wife, Marketing Director Nikki Albano. There are eight employees at the company’s Irvine headquarters, but McKeefery said they are planning to grow to 30 this year. The company is self-funded.
NEW HIRES
Newport Beach-based event ticketing and insurance startup Protecht Inc. has announced several new additions to its executive team.
Chase Finnell, former consultant with Beijing-based Aon PLC and N.Y.-based Mercer, has joined the company as executive vice president of insurance.
Gerwin Martin, former managing partner and senior consultant with Woodland, Texas-based Opexa Ltd., has been selected to serve as executive vice president, head of product and technology.
Former Wells Fargo Vice President Lindsey Callinsky has been appointed senior vice president of brands and creative.
The company also recently announced a new partnership with Irvine-based event ticketing platform Paciolan to provide ticket inventory monitoring and ticket insurance for its users. Paciolan helps with ticket sales at more than 500 live entertainment organizations that sell over 120 million tickets per year.
Protecht last month announced a similar partnership with Tickets.com.
Protecht launched in 2016, and raised an $8 million Series A round last year.
Tech Coast Angels has appointed Tony Sarris its executive director, a new position.
Sarris, an Orange County native, has spent years working in the startup ecosystem and consulting for technology and artificial intelligence companies such as Canadian company Primal and San Juan Capistrano-based Maana.
Sarris said it was the right time to bring in someone full time because of OC’s vibrant startup ecosystem.
Currently, TCA members who are interested in investing in a startup do a lot of the groundwork to help orchestrate a deal, including due diligence and providing pitch feedback.
Sarris said his job is to help facilitate and automate deal flow, and make sure everyone’s time is being invested wisely.
“It’s not all about volume, we’re focused on quality deal flow,” he said. “We do want to increase our volume if we can, but the most important thing is that deals that we do take through the pipeline are sound deals.”
Sarris started his role last week, and is working out of University of California-Irvine’s The Cove.
LAUNCH
Irvine-based digital wine content startup I Like This Grape released its first product, a book called “Drive Through Napa: Your Ultimate Companion to Napa Valley’s Wine Regions.”
The book breaks down Napa Valley’s 16 subregions to show what makes each region and its wines unique. Written by wine journalist Paul Hodgins and designed by motion graphics animator Kathy Lajvardi, the book is planned as the first release in a series.
ILTG Chief Executive and Drive Through series Editor Naushad Huda said he wanted to create a product that would help make wine more accessible to young people.
“As more millennials … get into wine, it becomes tougher and tougher for them to find outlets that are relatable to them in order to get educated about it,” he said.
ILTG began in 2016, and has had seed funding from Napa-based direct-to-consumer solutions provider Wine Direct.
FUNDING
Irvine-based food startup Good Culture LLC has announced the closing of an $8 million Series B funding round, led by Santa Monica-based CAVU Venture Partners, with significant investment from Minneapolis-based 301 Inc., General Mills’ new business development unit, and N.Y.-based Almanac Insights, an early stage consumer packaged goods investment firm.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Jesse Merrill started the company in 2015 with co-founder and company Chairman Anders Eisner. The company produces cottage cheese and other cultured dairy products from pasture-raised cows without additives or preservatives.
The funding will be used for consumer marketing and development of new products, as well as to expand the 16-person team. Good Culture recently brought on two new executives, vice president of sales Kristy Vigil, formerly of Chicago-based Conagra Foods, and vice president of marketing Patrick Jammet, formerly of N.Y.-based Sir Kensington’s Condiments.
Good Culture previously raised a $6 million Series A round in 2016. Its products are currently sold nationally in 11,000 stores.
