MassRoots, the marijuana focused social network, files for an IPO

by Garrett Reim
September 18, 2014
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Massroots, the Denver-based social network for marijuana, is heading to an IPO. The social network which revolves around sharing pictures, video and text about the use of cannabis will be selling 50.4 million shares on the OTCBB(Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board), a small stock exchange.
 
"I could not be more proud of our team," said MassRoots CEO Isaac Dietrich, in a statement. "Over the past 17 months, we've launched iOS and Android versions of MassRoots, grown the network to 170,000 users and gone public through an S-1 Registration Statement. We're all incredibly excited to continue growing our network as a publicly traded company."
 
A public offering is a strange financing move for an early days company like Massroots. Massroots has only been around since mid-2013 and retailing cannabis has only been legal in Colorado since January 1st of 2014. To date the company has raised $625,000 in seed funding.
 
The company also just announced that over the next several months, it plans on introducing a self-service advertising portal for cannabis-related businesses and an API for developers looking to develop apps, games and systems for the cannabis industry.
 
Massroots claims users like its social network because it allows them to discuss marijuana candidly, out of the more public setting of Facebook or Twitter. Rather than a general purpose social network, Massroots is solely focused on cannabis. The app is often used by campaigns and non-profits to organize support for the legalization of marijuana. 
 
As a first mover in a marijuana market fractured by state-by-state regulations Massroots has the potential to grab market share quickly and establish a dominant position. Currently, Washington and Colorado are the only two states that allow the legal consumption of marijuana, but Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia are considering legalization this November. If more and more regions of the country legalize companies like Massroots will have a product ready to serve consumers.
 

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