{"id":1476,"date":"2016-11-09T02:05:32","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T02:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/wurk-raises-1-million-to-help-cannabis-companies-manage-their-people.html"},"modified":"2016-11-09T02:05:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T02:05:32","slug":"wurk-raises-1-million-to-help-cannabis-companies-manage-their-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/wurk-raises-1-million-to-help-cannabis-companies-manage-their-people.html","title":{"rendered":"Wurk raises $1 million to help cannabis companies manage their people"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

A\u00a0\u201cpottech\u201d\u00a0company\u00a0called Wurk<\/a> has raised $1 million in seed funding to\u00a0help cannabis businesses such as dispensaries or growers comply with all the different regulations coming into play around the\u00a0burgeoning legal cannabis industry.<\/p>\n

The seed deal closed before various ballots issues were voted on today in the U.S., which could\u00a0make the sale and use of marijuana legal for adults in\u00a0a broad number of new markets.<\/p>\n

Wurk CEO Keegan Peterson said\u00a0his\u00a0company\u2019s software-as-a-service\u00a0helps cannabis businesses do everything from background checks of potential new hires, to managing employees\u2019\u00a0schedules, benefits and training, as well as making sure they get paid on time.<\/p>\n

When\u00a0HR tech, including platforms to manage employees, abound, why did the cannabis industry need to, er, roll its own?<\/p>\n

\u201cFor one, banking in this industry is virtually impossible,\u201d the CEO said.<\/p>\n

Cannabis is still deemed a Schedule I controlled\u00a0substance at the federal level, so large banks aren\u2019t permitted to finance (most) cannabis companies.<\/p>\n

Peterson also said, \u201cWhere it is legal for medical or recreational use, there\u2019s a marijuana division in\u00a0every state, a governing body that establishes the rules businesses have to comply with\u2026 So alongside all the regular Department of Labor rules, etc. etc., cannabis businesses have to do a whole different layer of reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Keegan<\/p>\n

Keegan Peterson, CEO of Wurk.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wurk has developed relationships with local state banks or credit unions that are permitted to finance cannabis companies, and developed a network of these financial services firms to help cannabis companies handle all their payroll issues as they grow.<\/p>\n

Investors in Wurk\u2019s seed round\u00a0include members of an investing organization called the Arcview Group<\/a>, which is comprised of hundreds of high-net-worth individuals evaluating\u00a0deals in the emerging legal cannabis industry.\u00a0Other backers include\u00a0CanopyBoulder<\/a>, and Poseidon Asset Management.<\/a><\/p>\n

Arcview Group CEO\u00a0Troy Dayton\u00a0said, \u201cIf Wurk can get the growing number of dispensaries and cultivation centers to unplug whatever they were hobbling together before to run their businesses, all you have to do is look at the industry growth curve and extrapolate. They will be able to build a business that is long-term sustainable and delivers great returns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dayton also said not many companies are building tech to help cannabis companies\u00a0handle operations. Most have focused on cultivation of cannabis, or sales, marketing and \u201cfront-end\u201d concerns instead.<\/p>\n

Peterson\u00a0said his Denver-based startup\u00a0will use its seed funding primarily for sales and marketing of its software-as-a-service. He also wants\u00a0to participate in the national discussion about cannabis, connecting with\u00a0regulators who may want to consider legalizing or expanding legal use of marijuana in their states, or even at the federal level, he said.<\/p>\n

Prior to closing its seed round, Wurk graduated from Canopy,<\/a>\u00a0the cannabis industry\u2019s specialized accelerator in Boulder, Colorado.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunchIt\/~3\/ZAG_BEi1DKw\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0\u201cpottech\u201d\u00a0company\u00a0called Wurk has raised $1 million in seed funding to\u00a0help cannabis businesses such as dispensaries or growers comply with all the different regulations coming into play around the\u00a0burgeoning legal cannabis <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-1476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enterprise-software","tag-enterprise"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t