Illustration:Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Marijuana delivery service Eaze is in the process of closing $65 million in venture capital funding that would give it a valuation in excess of $300 million, Axios has learned.
The bottom line: This is basically Uber for pot, except the actual delivery workers are legally required to be W-2 employees. And, like Uber in the early days, it's beginning to raise big money.
San Francisco-based Eaze is familiar to many in California, particularly in Los Angeles where it has giant billboards with taglines like "for super chill vibes" and "for pesky hangovers."
- The San Francisco-based company only currently delivers within California, but did recently launch a marketplace for shipping cannabidiol products to 41 states and Washington, D.C.
- A source close to the deal says he expects Eaze to primarily focus its on-the-ground expansion to states that have legalized recreational marijuana, as that's viewed as a much larger long-term market than medicinal. In California it does both.
The largest new investor is serial entrepreneur Jim Clark, who co-founded both Silicon Graphic and Netscape. Return backers include VC firm DCM, whose partner David Chao sits on the Eaze board of directors and is a user of medicinal marijuana.
An Eaze spokesperson declined comment.