In 2014, Dixie Brands, then known as Dixie Elixirs, was valued at $40mm at the time it raised $8mm. In an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Tripp Keber suggested that the company will be valued at $160-180mm at its next raise, which is projected to take place before year-end. Keber is on a mission to become the first billion-dollar cannabis brand.
Since its founding in 2010, the company has expanded from its initial cannabis beverage product to over 170 different products, and it has extended beyond Colorado with licensing deals. According to Keber, the most popular product Dixie Brands sells is a topical product, the Synergy Relief Balm.
Keber discussed the many challenges the company has faced, including lack of access to banking and the inability to process cash and the recent threat of a proposed ballot initiative in Colorado that would have capped the potency of products, crippling the cannabis industry.
Bloomberg’s article included an additional ten-minute audio interview segment that covered several other topics, including consumption by employees, the strict background check requirements to attain an occupational badge from Colorado, packaging requirements and the challenges of marketing, Keber’s own consumption history, his views on cannabis, especially relative to alcohol, and his dashed dreams of becoming a naval aviator.
Read Jennifer Kaplan’s “An Edible Marijuana Pioneer Is Ready for Billion-Dollar Cannabis Brands”: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-04/an-edible-marijuana-pioneer-is-ready-for-billion-dollar-cannabis-brands
