Denver-based cannabis company 1906 has closed a new round of funding that will help boost its recent product launch and fuel market expansion.
1906 announced Monday that it closed an $18 million funding round led by New York City's Navy Capital.
With this funding, the company will expand its offerings outside of Colorado, starting first with Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan.
"We are very impressed with the company whose fast-acting formulations represent the cutting edge of cannabis," Navy Capital portfolio manager Sean Stiefel said in a statement. "Our investment will help 1906 become one of the leading brands in the new adult use markets of Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan."
1906 recently launched Drops, its line of pressed tablets that combine medicinal cannabis with plant medicines for targeted effects, like helping users sleep, relax or boost cognitive performance.
Using the company's patented lipid microencapsulation technology, users can feel the impacts of Drops within 20 minutes, the company said.
"With Drops, cannabis medicine has finally arrived," 1906 founder Peter Barsoom said in a statement. "For far too long, consumers and patients have had to rely on smoking cannabis in order to get fast onset time and specific effects. After years of R&D, we have finally brought a healthier, more effective product to the cannabis marketplace."
There are six varieties of drops that combine THC, CBD and herbs to boost energy, arousal, relaxation, sleep, focus and mood.
Prior to its expansion announcement, 1906's line of cannabis products was available in over 200 Colorado dispensaries.
This is the second major cannabis-focused investment in Denver this month, as cannabis tech startup Flowhub closed a $23 million Series A round on Oct. 23.
Unlike 1906's cannabis product focus, Flowhub helps dispensaries by delivering compliance, point of sale, inventory tracking and business intelligence data from a customizable platform.
