OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vertosa, an innovative cannabis technology company providing customized emulsion systems for infused products, today announced it has closed a $6 million Series Seed Funding Round co-led by the California-based AFI Capital Partners and the New York-based Welcan Capital. Vertosa will use the new capital to continue to scale strategically, solidify their integral role within the infused products supply chain, and assist their partner brands in growing both nationally and globally.
“We purposefully designed this fundraising round to be collaborative and diverse,” said Vertosa CEO Ben Larson. “As a relatively young B2B business, we’re thrilled to have garnered a strong network of investors who recognize Vertosa’s early achievements, are confident in our growth potential, and actively support our vision and values. We’re proud to have the support of investors from all related categories in which we serve in a multitude of geographic markets.”
Diverse Network of Investors
To bridge the gap between the mainstream consumer market and the cannabis industry, Vertosa sought out investments from key players in food and beverage – including alcohol and consumer packaged goods – as well as in cannabis and beyond. AFI Capital Partners and Welcan Capital exemplify the company’s goals for this latest raise. AFI Managing Director Chi-Chien Hou (who has also been named a Vertosa Board Member) has a strong background in consumer packaged goods, while Managing Director Nico Richardson is the former Director of Investment and Corporate Development at Privateer Holdings, whose specialty is the legal cannabis industry; Richardson is also a Board Member at Headset, the leading provider of data and analytics to the cannabis industry. Welcan is a cannabis-focused venture capital firm based in New York and is led by Partner Vikas Desai, who comes from a traditional investment background and has actively invested across the cannabis ecosystem. Collectively, AFI and Welcan have invested in over 25 cannabis companies across the country.
Additional investment groups who contributed include Goat Rodeo Capital, which has a diversified portfolio of alcohol and cannabis investments; San Francisco’s Big Rock Partners, known for its network of cannabis, hospitality and media brands; along with other investors active in general consumer businesses, including Finn Capital Partners and JamJar Investments.
Advanced Infusion Technology Partner
Based in Oakland, California, Vertosa engineers solutions meticulously customized to the needs of food, beverage, health, beauty and other partners. Their team of accomplished scientists, led by CSO and Founder Dr. Harold Han, develops homogenous and stable cannabis-infused products that maximize bioavailability, while tailoring color, clarity, texture and taste to fit the desired experience and manufacturing needs of each product. With patent-pending formulas that are built to scale, Vertosa strives to ensure the infused product development process can be navigated with ease from concept to customer.
The funding announcement comes on the heels of the company rebranding and adopting their current name, Vertosa. First founded in August 2018 as Nanogen Labs, the rebrand reflects their best-in-class products, service and scientific expertise while paving the way for long-term vision and growth, including internal expansion with several new hires representing top talent in tech, food and beverage, cosmetics, health and cannabis fields. Vertosa has quickly established itself as the go-to cannabis and hemp infusion partner for both mainstream and niche brands, including startups House of Saka wine, Tinley Beverage Co and GoodDay Beverages, and household names like Humphry Slocombe ice cream and VitaCoco.
“Our success in this Series Seed funding round is a testament to the incredible work our team has done over the past year to serve both the licensed cannabis and hemp markets while developing our industry-leading technology,” said Larson. “We set ourselves apart from the competition through a relentless dedication to building and maintaining strong relationships with our partners, and a science-first approach to implementing technology and product development. This new capital empowers us to make our services even better.”
For more information on Vertosa, its technology and client roster, please visit vertosa.com.
About Vertosa
Vertosa creates industry-leading active ingredients for infused product makers. Their patent pending nano- and micro-emulsions are carefully designed for the specific needs of each customer, with pre-suspended aqueous solutions that create incredibly homogeneous and stable products while maximizing bioavailability, clarity, and taste. Vertosa works closely with their lab partners and clients of all sizes throughout the manufacturing process to achieve target potency and accelerate products to market. Learn more about Vertosa at vertosa.com, and connect on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
