A few months ago, MarketWatch reported that marijuana delivery startup Eaze was burning through $1 million a month. That isn’t uncommon for a startup frequently lining its coffers with venture capital money. (Eaze just secured another $27 million in funding.) But it does highlight the disparity between a company like Eaze and the countless cannabis startups led by people of color that receive little to no funding.
It seems appropriate, then, that over the next three years, Eaze is putting $1 million toward “social equity efforts in the Bay Area cannabis industry.” The first step of that is partnering with the Hood Incubator, an Oakland-based nonprofit that offers resources and support to entrepreneurs of color in cannabis. Together, they will identify and try to address the most pressing issues facing black and Latinx communities in the Bay Area. From the sound of it, this partnership is also intended to help the Hood Incubator—which has 2,000 members about a year after launch—grow and go national.
Read more about the diversity issues facing the cannabis industry here.
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