Cannabis Ecommerce Company Amuse Raises $12 Million

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Cannabis Ecommerce Company Amuse Raises $12 Million
A sealed cannabis delivery bag from Amuse.

Culver City-based cannabis ecommerce company Amuse Holdings Inc. has raised $12 million in Series A capital. The round was funded by Santa Monica-based cannabis industry private equity firm Gotham Green Partners.

Amuse sells a range of cannabis products for delivery through its online platform. The company, which was founded in January, began operations in a limited geographic area around its Lynwood distribution center in August. It now covers most of the Los Angeles metropolitan area with the exception of the San Fernando Valley, according to the company.


Amuse aims to set itself apart from other cannabis delivery services across California through seamless, “Amazon-like” fulfillment services, according to co-founder and Co-
President Alex Becker.


“We’re not revolutionizing ecommerce or delivery,” Becker said, “but we’re revolutionizing it in cannabis.”


He said that issues such as delayed orders and poor communication, which many consumers would find unacceptable on mainstream ecommerce platforms, are rampant in the cannabis industry.


“If you tell me you are going to be here in an hour, and it takes three to four hours, I don’t care that it took four hours,” he said. “I care that I could have done something else in that time.”


Many on Amuse’s team, according to Becker, have backgrounds in mainstream retail ecommerce and are focused on replicating that sector’s best practices in the cannabis category.


“We want the experience to really be no different than food delivery,” he said.
Amuse also plans to use its purported logistic prowess to outcompete other delivery services on price. The company also cuts costs on the supply front, Becker said, getting discounts from vendors based on its consistent on-time or advance payments on invoices.


“You would be amazed by how often people (in the cannabis industry) are late on their invoices or can’t pay,” he said.


Becker’s company plans to open an additional distribution center in Culver City in the fourth quarter. That additional capacity will allow Amuse to serve the San Fernando Valley by early 2021, according to Becker.


He added that the company plans to expand to additional locations in California next year and potentially to other legal cannabis states by early 2022. Most of the $12 million Series A capital will go toward expanding Amuse’s team to meet these goals.

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