Continuing a trend of cannabis technology companies adding firepower, Canadian cannabis retailer Fire & Flower has snapped up PotGuide.com for USD $8.5 million in a cash and share deal, according to a news release.
Recent cannabis technology news includes Jane’s massive capital raise, Weedmaps partnership with NBA star Kevin Durant and Leafly’s go-public announcement.
Huddle ‘round the Hifyre
PotGuide is one of the “most visited” cannabis websites in North America, says the release. The acquisition is part of a larger strategy to turn Fire & Flower’s Hifyre digital network into the largest cannabis platform in the world, and includes the company’s purchase of Wikileaf earlier this month.
“Now that we are strategically acquiring two of the most visited cannabis online websites, PotGuide and Wikileaf, we have established Fire & Flower and Hifyre as leading global players in digital cannabis traffic and believe we can offer even greater value to these high-demand properties,” said CEO Trevor Fencott.
The details
PotGuide will receive $4 million in cash and the rest in shares. PotGuide CEO Jeremy Bamford said the plan is to convert the massive number of visitors to the website to a seamless cannabis-buying experience powered by Hifyre.
“The ability to leverage the significant web traffic of PotGuide.com with Hifyre’s cannabis e-commerce technology will enable us to offer an increased value proposition to our users and enhance the growth strategy of our business.”
What’s next
PotGuide and Wikileaf have a combined 225,000 subscribers who will be invited to join Fire & Flower’s Spark Perks™ discount and loyalty program, which reportedly already has 300,000 subscribers. Members can benefit from rewards while feeding data to the Hifyre platform to help inform future R&D and offerings.
