Green Mountain CBD, a Vermont-based hemp farming, processing, and manufacturing operation, has raised $7 million in funding from One Better Ventures, in exchange for a minority stake in the company. At the same time, Green Mountain CBD announced it will be changing its name to Sunsoil early next year.
Co-founded by friends Jacob Goldstein and Alejandro Bergad in Hardwick, Vermont, in 2016, Green Mountain grew 40 acres of hemp this season, however, the company is also a processor, manufacturing hemp oil, CBD capsules, and tinctures on site, which includes an assembly line that produces 60,000 capsules per day, and 1,000 bottles per hour, and a 20,000-square-foot drying facility able to dry hemp plants in 24 hours.
Since the state of Vermont approved the cultivation of hemp in 2013, growers of the crop have been expanding, with statewide acreage of hemp quadrupling this year compared to 2017.
“There’s going to be a very large hemp economy in the country and we really want Vermont to get a good piece of that,” said Alejandro Bergad, co-founder, Green Mountain CBD.
One Better
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and founded in 2013, One Better Ventures is a mission-driven impact investor looking to back companies founded on breakthrough sustainable business models that can benefit the world and the environment.
Having already backed names such as Burt’s Bees and Seventh Generation, One Better works under a strong commitment to service and community, donating 10 percent of its profits to charity, and another 10 percent to an employee bonus pool. And in September of this year, One Better itself was on the receiving end of funding, raising $5.1 million from 29 investors.
What drew the firm’s attention to Green Mountain (soon-to-be Sunsoil), as is often the case, was the team leading the company.
“What attracted us to Sunsoil was Alejandro and Jake’s unwavering commitment to product quality,” Jim Geikie, a partner at One Better Ventures, told VT Digger. “They are intentional about everything they do and every detail matters. The market usually rewards this approach.”
Expansion
Over the course of 2017 and 2018, Green Mountain CBD built three new greenhouses, two 2,400 square-foot production buildings, and a two-story 20,000-square-foot drying facility. This past summer the company also secured organic certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and is currently in the process of gaining status as a B corporation, stating that over the coming five year its prices would be cut by 50 percent.
However, with the new capital provided by One Better Ventures, plans are in place to double its acreage to 100 acres next year in Hardwick, and in Hyde Park where the company has leased land from High Mowing Seeds.
Furthermore, Bergad told VT Digger that a portion of the funding is being earmarked to acquire 300 acres, possibly in the Champlain Valley for the growing of more hemp, the first of which would be harvested in 2020.
This round also stands as a signal to the industry and investors alike that Vermont’s hemp farming industry is a valid and growing investment channel worthy of attention.
“Seeing that kind of money put into Vermont is a validation of this industry and an illustration of the strength of the Vermont brand,” Carl Christianson, CEO of Northeast Processing, the largest hemp processing lab in Vermont, told VT Digger.
In the U.S. last year, Americans spent $367 million on CBD products, a market that is expected to see sales of $1 billion by 2020, according to New Frontier Data, a market researcher focused on the legal cannabis space. And companies across the state are competing for a slice of that growth, producing CBD-infused honey, tinctures, balms, chocolate, cold-brew coffee, tea, tea-juice blends, capsules, gummies, sparkling water, sodas, dog treats, body creams, and candies.
-Lynda Kiernan