Debra Borchardt
Cannabis workforce software company Wurk announced that it has raised $3.2 million in a bridge funding round. The funding round included participation from both new and returning investors, including Poseidon Asset Management, which led the round, as well as Phyto Partners, Altitude Investment Partners, Arcview Investor Network and Arcadian Fund.
“The cannabis industry has made huge strides since Wurk was founded in 2015, making the jump from a fringe economy into a legitimate industry,” said Keegan Peterson, Founder, and CEO of Wurk. “As the industry continues to grow, companies in the space need legitimate HR infrastructures to protect what they’ve built and set themselves up for growth and enable future expansion. ”
Peterson said that the current workforce solutions in the market didn’t address the specific needs of the cannabis companies. Since each state has its own set of rules and regulations for the industry, WURK specifically addresses those conditions in its software for its clients. Other mainstream products are standardized and don’t write custom code for each state.
Another problem for cannabis companies that WURK addresses is the payroll issue and banking. “Being able to move money is an issue with cannabis,” said Peterson. “A big issue with the other companies is the banking issue that they don’t resolve. We’ve partnered with institutions that can move money legally for payroll.”
WURK’s investors seem happy with their initial investment into the company as many came back. The company is growing so quickly it has needed the additional capital to make new hires to keep up with the demand.
“After participating in Wurk’s previous two funding rounds, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to invest in the company yet again,” said Emily Paxhia, Managing Partner at Poseidon Asset Management. “As investors focused on the cannabis space, we regularly see the HR, accounting, and tax challenges that cannabis startups face on a frequent basis. Wurk’s solution helps ease that massive burden on the industry and creates a huge investment opportunity in doing so.”
Peterson said they’ve already begun putting the money to work with the hiring of a new Chief Technical Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In addition to that, they plan on hiring more sales reps and service reps.
