DENVER — Simplifya, a developer of the cannabis industry’s leading regulatory compliance software, announced Thursday it has closed a lead investment of $1 million in its Series B financing from Merida Capital Partners, a private equity fund that targets fundamental growth drivers underpinning the rapid development of the cannabis industry. Additional investors are queued up to close the $3 million funding round.
Merida’s investment comes at an important time for Simplifya, which has been ramping up its compliance offerings in anticipation of California’s adult-use system coming online. It also highlights the critical role regulatory compliance is expected to play in the advancement of the state-legal cannabis industry. Simplifya will now be prepared to help more cannabis businesses remain compliant with state and local regulations, reducing the likelihood they will pique the interest of federal authorities.
“Simplifya’s compliance tool has helped companies across Colorado navigate a constantly evolving regulatory landscape and set an example for the rest of the nation,” said Simplifya CEO and co-founder Marion Mariathasan. “Our goal is to make complying with state and local regulations as easy and affordable as possible for everyone, from the smallest cultivation facility to the largest retail chain. This round of funding will allow us to expand into additional markets and develop more features to help cannabis businesses not just survive, but thrive.”
Coincidentally, the investment occurred just after Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded several Obama-era memos regarding federal marijuana enforcement.
“The recent DOJ marijuana policy shake-up might have raised concerns for some cannabis industry investors, but it strengthens the case for investing in Simplifya,” said Brian Vicente, a co-founder of Simplifya and founding partner of Vicente Sederberg LLC, one of the nation’s leading cannabis law firms. “The cannabis industry is a compliance industry. Now more than ever, businesses are going to want to be in clear compliance with state and local laws, and they are going to need assistance.”
Simplifya’s software provides businesses with a 360-degree view of their compliance and allows them to delegate, review, and proactively manage compliance tasks across all facilities and license types, including easy-to-use tools for audit management, scheduling, and tracking issues.
“Merida’s investment thesis is to identify and accelerate the growth of companies like Simplifya, which offer institutional strength tools in large market silos like compliance and process validation,” said Mitchell Baruchowitz, managing partner of Merida Capital Partners “The fact that Simplifya is backed by cannabis industry leaders like Vicente Sederberg and Hypur Ventures, and partnered with companies like New Frontier Data, just furthers our belief that they are going to play a key, long-term role in this nascent industry. Product trends will come and go, but regulatory compliance will always be of paramount importance to every successful cannabis company.”
