Scooping up a recent bundle of investments worth $13 million, marijuana delivery app Eaze is officially the highest-funded pot startup in the world. The new infusion of cash–courtesy of Fresh VC, DMC Ventures, Tusk Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and more–brings the young firm’s capital to nearly $25 million. Eaze, based in San Francisco, and active in 100 cities in California, connects medical marijuana patients to local dispensaries. Some call it the “Uber for Weed.”

“Eaze remains committed to providing the best patient experience and will use the latest financing to accelerate product innovation, grow its world-class team, and expand its technology to additional markets,” the company said in a press release announcing its  new investments.

The funding comes at a potentially lucrative time for the cannabis industry in California. On November 8, California residents will vote on Proposition 64, a ballot measure that, if passed, would legalize recreational marijuana in the state. If the drug is legalized, some predict that the legal marijuana market in California will grow from $2.8 billion today, which only includes medical marijuana, to $6.5 billion in total by 2020. Early polls indicate the legalization measure will likely pass.

Eaze CEO Keith McCarty is looking forward to the marijuana market’s future growth: “We’re thrilled with the growth we’ve achieved and are poised to accelerate as the market hits an inflection point,” he said.

The federal designation of pot as an illicit substance and a Schedule I drug renders any pot delivery service illegal. And even according to local laws, only some of the areas where Eaze delivers is technically legal. (At the local level, at least. Federally, delivering pot is illegal and will remain so until the government legalizes it). Delivery services like Eaze, which launched in July 2014, had a bigger gap to fill in California’s medical market after voters passed a measure that banned dispensaries in Los Angeles from delivering their products.

Despite the legal contradictions of marijuana laws at the federal and state level, McCarty is excited about the opportunities moving forward. “This is a critical time for the marijuana industry. Adult use is on the precipice of becoming legal in California, the largest marijuana market in the United States,” he said, adding that his firm is “best positioned to educate and service the future market.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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There’s a hot, new startup in town and it’s solving a problem that has long gone unanswered–how to get medical marijuana delivered to you. It’s called Eaze and it’s being promoted as Uber for weed. As more and more states legalize marijuana, and many more allow the substance to be used for medicinal purposes, the commercial industry is going to continue booming. Eaze wants a piece of that–and from the looks of it, so do Eaze’s many investors.

The San Francisco-based company has already gotten quite a bit of funding. In its series A funding round–essentially its first big push for venture capital money–it received a very impressive grand total of $10 million. One of the more prominent investors is Casa Verde Capital. For those of you for whom that doesn’t ring a bell, that’s the name of the venture capital fund run by Snoop Dogg. Although this was Eaze’s first major funding push, it also received $1.5 million at the beginning of last year to get started.

Calling Eaze the Uber of weed, or at least medical marijuana, seems pretty much spot on. Users can order the drug with the click of a button, and Eaze promises a ten minute or less turn-around time. The company connects already-existing dispensaries with customers, and has a fleet of drivers ready to transport the orders. Eaze also allows customers to look through what each dispensary offers, including lab results, in order to find a good match between customer and product.

The business certainly has some kinks to work out, but they seem to be relatively minor. TechCrunch’s Ryan Lawler tried it out over the weekend and pointed out that right now it only accepts cash, which can be viewed as inconvenience for anyone who operates mostly in plastic.

Eaze isn’t the only business trying to capitalize on medical marijuana, however. There are plenty of others that have similar ideas and business plans. Some of the more well known include Nestdrop, Meadow, Grassp, Dave, and Canary, each of which have slightly different business models, platforms, and markets.

Moreover, that’s only considering the weed delivery industry. Other pot-based startups have already begun to try to break off chunks of what will inevitably end up being a gigantic market. For example, Privateer Holdings, based in Seattle, recently raised $75 million in funding for its many endeavors in the marijuana market. Privateer Holdings already has a hold on the Canadian medical marijuana market, and plans on “branding” marijuana to sell in the United States. One of those brands will be “Marley Natural“–based on the late Bob Marley. The business will involve his family and estate.

Now that the tide really does seem to be turning both for medical and recreational weed, it seems like there’s no good reason for funders not to back some of these projects. After all, legal marijuana has been named the fastest growing industry in the United States. A company like Eaze has the potential to become massively profitable, given the convenience of having items delivered to your door, as well as its ability to prevent any sort of “high” driving. Snoop Dogg’s investment is probably a pretty good one, and with that kind of backing, we should expect to see Eaze expand with this growing market.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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