Tech companies are selling up in the cannabis sector at the moment.
Here’s another one
Technology company Forian said it is selling cannabis software provider BioTrack for $30 million in cash to Alleaves and exiting the marijuana industry to focus on health care.
The transaction is the second in just over two weeks in which a notable tech company has decided to leave the cannabis industry in the face of stiff competition, widespread layoffs and falling wholesale prices for marijuana products.
Akerna Corp., the parent company of pioneering seed-to-sale tracking provider MJ Freeway, on Jan. 27 announced a $4 million cash deal to sell its cannabis software business to POSaBIT Systems Corp. and exit the marijuana industry.
At the same time, Denver-based Akerna said it was merging with cryptocurrency business Gryphon Digital Mining in an all-stock deal allowing the latter company to go public on the Nasdaq.
BioTrack was recently chosen by New York regulators to provide seed-to-sale tracking software for that state’s new adult-use marijuana market.
The company’s cannabis software is used in more than three dozen states.
Forian, which trades as FORA on the Nasdaq, said in a news release it will focus on its “healthcare information business and will no longer provide software solutions to the cannabis industry.”
It will retain a license for certain “cannabinoid-based data” to enhance its health care-information offerings, according to the Newtown, Pennsylvania-based company.
“This transaction allows us to focus our efforts on our healthcare information business, which has been the key driver of our growth to date and will further accelerate our path to positive Adjusted EBITDA,” Forian Executive Chair Max Wygod said in the news release.
The sales comes after Alleaves – a cannabis software provider based in Deerfield Beach, Florida – closed a $40 million Series A funding round last year to accelerate a multistate commercial rollout.
The company signaled it was interested in purchasing cannabis-focused tech companies that provide seed-to-sale and point-of-sale (POS) software.
In a news release last July announcing the funding, Alleaves laid out plans to acquire cannabis tech platforms to expand its customer base and create a “seamless, real-time seed-to-sale software, transaction, and compliance platform.”
Forian was established in March 2021 through a combination of BioTrackTHC, Cannalytics producer Helix Technologies and Medical Outcomes Research Analytics.
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