Cannabis delivery giant Eaze.com recently launched the second year of its business accelerator program called Momentum, opening applications nationally for its 2021 class. The program will include a grant of $50,000 (no equity taken), participation in a twelve-week education program led by industry leaders, and have access to the wealth of business, marketing, and retail services via the ecosystem of Eaze.
“Eaze is looking for underrepresented entrepreneurs who have faced hurdles entering the cannabis industry. If you are a Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, or Veteran founder, don’t miss out on your chance for $50K and an industry-defining experience to help your business grow with Momentum!”
–Ishaq Ali
Senior Social Impact Manager at Eaze
Sponsored by Playboy, Leune, Cann, Ritual, and Vertosa, the search for the next Momentum cohort of cannabis entrepreneurs is underway, on the tails of an incredible team effort. Eaze is getting us ALL one step closer to creating a more equitable cannabis industry. People of color, women, LGBTQ+ community members, veterans, previously incarcerated, or folks who have been impacted by the Drug War and face major barriers to joining the industry are all encouraged to apply. NBA Champ Matt Barnes recently joined Momentum as a senior advisor on policy, social impact, and industry relations to its Board of Directors. He will also chair the Social Equity Advisory Board of Eaze and joins the Momentum Advisory Board, alongside these industry leaders:
- Kristi Palmer, co-founder of Kiva Confections
- Austin Stevenson, chief innovation officer at Vertosa
- Malaki Amen, president and CEO of California Urban Partnership
- Ramon Garcia, co-founder of Padre Mu Delivery and Distribution, Sanctuary Farms LLC
- Steven Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
- LaWanda Knox, CEO of Make Green Go and president of The Allyance
- Mary Pryor, co-founder of Cannaclusive and chief marketing officer of Tonic CBD
- Ford Smith, founding partner of Ultranative
Participants will pitch to these and other industry investors via Momentum for the chance to raise additional funds to expand their companies. “When I think about urban neighborhoods across the country, so many families were ripped apart because of the criminalization of cannabis. I want to create innovative products that educate and reduce the stigma,” Barnes says.
Ishaq Ali, Senior Social Impact Manager at Eaze shares, Momentum launched in 2019, as a part of their mission to help diversify an industry still feeling the longtail impacts of the war on drugs. Not only did Momentum’s first cohort in the business accelerator help win Eaze the Weed Week’s “Socially Responsible Company” Award in 2020, it also kicked-up the velocity to expand the program nationally. Last year, the Momentum Board heard some of the most inspiring stories of resilient, passionate, and talented individuals in California, and are now opening Momentum applications up across the US. One day we may see one of last year’s cohorts found on the Eaze menu.
Ishaq Continues to boast about the social equity work of his team including Darius Kemp, Head of Equity and Community Change, who set out last year to create a pathway for equity and black-owned cannabis businesses. This resulted in Eaze’s “Equity Carousel” which can be found on the LA & SF Eaze menus including brands like SF Roots, KGB Reserve, Blaqstar Farms, James Henry SF, Dreamt, Oakland Extracts, and Cloud 9, can be found on the Social Equity Partners page at Eaze.com
Through this program, Eaze’s Equity Menu has been awarded LA Weekly’s “Best Support of Equality in the Cannabis Industry” and to date customers have purchased nearly $2M in Equity product. The goal to assist these brands in scaling and succeeding with Eaze and beyond.
Applications for the Momentum business accelerator are open today and the submission deadline is December 15th, 2020. On the Momentum landing page, you can learn more and apply now with this link.
