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This story was reprinted with permission from Crain’s Detroit Business and was written by Rachel Watson.
GRAND RAPIDS — A cannabis company that opened its first dispensary last week has secured $15 million from a Virginia investment firm.
Noxx, whose two owners live in metro Detroit and Grand Rapids, announced Thursday that it closed on a $15 million debt raise from McLean, Virginia-based Altmore Capital, a specialty firm that invests in the U.S. cannabis industry.
The deal will help the company fund capital expenditures and future acquisitions and expansion. The company declined to provide the interest rate and duration of the loan.
CEO Tommy Nafso and his business partner Darel Ross, a Grand Rapids entrepreneur who also owns Forty Acres Enterprises, opened the first of three planned Noxx dispensaries at 2440 28th St. SE in Grand Rapids last month. The other two are underway on Ann Street NW and Plainfield Avenue NE.
The partners previously told Crain’s that their company will be a “hyper-local” cannabis retailer focused on helping Grand Rapids residents overly impacted by the war on drugs. They hope to nurture Black cannabis entrepreneurs and eventually seed new Black-owned operations in Michigan.
The dispensaries will carry Ross’s line of cannabis products, Forty Acres House of Cannabis, as well as flower, pre-rolls, edibles, and concentrates from about 100 other brands. The locations will offer delivery, in-person and to-go sales.
Nafso and Ross said they will hire 150 employees across the three Noxx locations, with at least 75 percent of the talent sourced from neighborhoods with disparate economic outcomes. They committed to hiring Black and brown employees as the other 25 percent and have contracted with the Black-owned Grand Rapids firm Phenix Security for the dispensary. They also plan to stock products and promote the services of Black entrepreneurs.
“Noxx is committed to building one of the most innovative and inclusive companies in cannabis,” Nafso said in the release. “…Together with Altmore Capital, Noxx is poised to become a dominant force in reimagining how consumers shop for cannabis.”
Steve Ham, the managing partner at Altmore Capital, said in the release his investment firm seeks to fund operators with “a growth strategy built around longevity and a proven track record of success in the market” as the cannabis industry gets more competitive.
“NOXX represents all of this, and we’re thrilled to add the company to our portfolio of top-tier cannabis operators,” Ham said.
