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Green Bits, a cannabis startup backed by Tiger Global, quietly terminated over 40 employees in a bid to cut costs

Mar 18, 2020, 00:10 IST
REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonAn employee shows shatter concentrate cannabis to a customer at Harbor Collective legal dispensary in San Diego, California.

A cannabis-tech startup backed by a behemoth investment firm let go of about 40 employees in March, Business Insider has learned.

Green Bits, a Silicon Valley-based software platform that provides point-of-sale and retail-management services to cannabis dispensaries in California and other states where the substance is legal, cut the workers on March 9 in an effort to reduce costs.

A company spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to Business Insider.

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"This week, we made the difficult and painful decision to part ways with some of our colleagues. This best positions Green Bits for its next stage of growth and does not reflect our gratitude for the contributions of these team members," the company said in a statement.

Here's the company's full statement:

"We are proud of what our Green Bits team has accomplished. Our platform has rapidly grown to serve more than 1,100 locations across 13 states and process $3.3 billion per year in legal cannabis sales. In the last several months, we installed a new CEO, who is a veteran of Silicon Valley tech companies that help small businesses. And, earlier this month, we announced our expansion to Illinois and launched a quarterly data report on retail cannabis trends. Green Bits has never been in a stronger position, and we will continue innovating to help our customers run and grow their businesses."

Once a darling for investors looking to back cannabis tech, Green Bits landed a $17 million Series A funding round - led by Tiger Global Management, a hedge fund and family office founded by Julian Robertson - in April of 2018.

In December, the company replaced its founding CEO, Ben Curren, with Barry Saik, a tech-industry veteran, and former chief operating officer at HealthTap, as Business Insider previously reported.

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Like other cannabis and cannabis-adjacent startups, Green Bits had to lay off employees and cut costs as the industry suffered headwinds including capital constraints, the fallout from the spate of vape-related illnesses, legalization moving slower than some investors expected, and now the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February, cannabis vapes and accessories company Greenlane Holdings laid off 31 employees and the company's CMO, Sasha Kadey, departed. Acreage Holdings as well eliminated 40 workers after a strategic review in February, as Business Insider reported.

And cannabis retailer MedMen cut 128 employees in February and shuttered its Arizona operations, as the company's stock dropped to 12 cents per share.

Got a tip regarding Green Bits or another cannabis company? Contact this reporter via email jberke@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM @jfberke. Encrypted messaging app Signal number available upon request.

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