Dan Novaes

As we are days away from launching Melt in Florida and online in 45 states, we’ve learned just how complex it is to build a Shopify-compliant checkout for hemp-derived TH🌊 beverages. Shopify doesn’t allow TH🌊 brands to use its built-in payment system — and it still charges platform fees. So, we partnered with an approved vendor, Bankful, which specializes in compliant processing for high-risk categories. Approval takes time and paperwork - a few weeks and about 6–8% total in transaction costs between Shopify and Bankful. Age gates and shipping rules aren’t automatic. Every state restriction must be built manually, and each compliance app adds monthly cost and complexity. Testing takes longer than building. Every flow — cart, checkout, email, and order alert — needs to be perfect before launch. Bottom line: A third-party cart setup runs about $500–$650 upfront and $100–$150/month ongoing. A bit of a hassle — but worth it for a compliant, age-gated, and reliable checkout experience. If you’re building in this space let me know what else to look out for. #Shopify #Bankful #THCBeverages #Ecommerce #DTC #MeltCubes

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Here’s how increased access to cannabis led to Sparkplug’s explosive growth… The startup — a LAUNCH portfolio company — offers a SaaS product that educates and rewards and benefits the dispensary clerks and “budtenders” who actually sell cannabis to clients, incentivizing them to sell more and allowing them to share in the proceeds. It turns out, as more and more states decriminalize cannabis and offer consumers a pathway to making legal purchases… it has lit a fire under Sparkplug and other companies in the cannabis space. Hear straight from CEO Andrew Duffy about how limiting unnecessary regulations opens up now doorways for innovative companies — and why the cannabis business in general might be on the precipice of a breakout moment — in this clip from our first-ever This Week in Cannabis expert roundtable.

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Check out the latest funding news from across the Techstars portfolio. → Zipline (Techstars 2011), a drone delivery and logistics startup, raises more than $600M in new funding, boosting its valuation to $7.6B, as it expands commercial deployments. → Language learning startup Preply (Techstars 2015) raises $150M and becomes the 23rd known unicorn from Techstars accelerators. → Hydrosat (Techstars 2019) raises $60M in Series B funding → Tive (Techstars 2017) receives a $20M investment, valuing the shipment-tracking systems developer at slightly more than $500M. → Parambil (Techstars 2023) raises an additional $6M in seed funding ($8M to date). → Seasats (Techstars 2021) receives $24M in Department of War APFIT funding to accelerate the fielding of its autonomous surface vessels. → Hawaiian Airlines’ newly announced $600M Kahuʻewai Hawai‘i Investment Plan features a strategic investment in Ampaire (Techstars 2018) to support hybrid-electric aviation in the islands. → Fintalo (Techstars 2025) secures $500K+ in oversubscribed Pre-Seed funding. → PraxisPro (Techstars 2024) closes an oversubscribed $6M seed round. → Samara Aerospace (Techstars 2024) closes $10M seed round to help bring more stability to sats in orbit. → MyARC (Techstars 2022), a platform that enables fitness creators to train their communities at scale, secures £1.5M investment. Massive congratulations to these incredible portfolio companies!   🔗  Read more at https://lnkd.in/dxtCTvrg 

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“After your second purchase, please do not purchase on my store anymore.” That was one of the most surprising things Andrew Andriano, founder of Flourish, said during our conversation. It sounds crazy in a world where founders are constantly told: Build DTC. Own the customer. Protect your margins. But Andrew saw things differently. When an accelerator asked him to apply, they wanted the usual things: Business plan Financial projections Market sizing Andrew’s response: “How about I send you a video of myself… if you want me you can have me… but I’m not filling out this crap.” So he filmed a video on his iPhone explaining the business. At the time Flourish was doing a few hundred thousand in revenue. And in the video he confidently said: “Next year I’m going to do 100 million.” The accelerator accepted him anyway. Today Flourish is the #1 pancake mix brand in Canada. What really stuck with me about Andrew’s thinking was his philosophy on DTC. For Flourish, direct-to-consumer was never the destination. It was simply the front of the train but a way to drive awareness and trial. Once customers loved the product, the goal was retail distribution at scale. That really struck me because it goes against everything I had learned earlier in my career. I was CEO of LATAM for Jeffree Star Cosmetics during the period the company grew from $0 to over $100M in less than three years, largely powered by direct-to-consumer. In that world the playbook was simple: Drive traffic. Own the customer. Maximize DTC. Andrew’s approach flips that logic on its head. Great founders don’t follow playbooks. They rewrite them. Full episode with Andrew Andriano is live. Link in the comments. #entrepreneurship #startups #founderstory #ecommerce #directtoconsumer #podcast

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𝐌𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 #𝟐𝟖 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬— 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 🇺🇸 But this rise isn’t luck. It’s the work of relentless founders, visionary civic leaders, and a community committed to building—not just talking. According to StartupBlink’s 2025 Index, Miami’s ecosystem is growing at 28.5% annually—outpacing cities across the U.S. and globally. Still, let’s not sugarcoat it: — Raising early capital is hard — Talent is rising, but still thin — The real builders are grinding in silence, not headlines And yet, this city is proving something powerful: Miami isn’t just a vibe—it’s a venture lab for the future. For every founder who’s still in the arena— This momentum is yours. 🚀 Article by Nancy Dahlberg ⬇️

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Miami this week at CannaBev Summit! I’m speaking on retail infrastructure and why the next phase of beverage growth will be defined by hemp optionality inside disciplined retail environments. At Sèchey, we see the data in real time: Consumers don’t want a binary choice between alcohol and alternatives. They want a portfolio. They want flexibility. They want trusted curation. Hemp-derived beverages are not a fringe adjacency, they are a proven part of the broader reallocation happening across adult beverage. The capital that understands this early will shape distribution, compliance standards, and brand equity for the next decade. What the market needs now: • Federal and state clarity • Responsible retail frameworks • Scalable infrastructure We are actively building for all three — and positioning Sèchey as the platform infrastructure layer for the converging alcohol-free, functional, and hemp beverage economy. Exciting inflection point for the category. #CannaBev #ModernBeverage #RetailStrategy #AlcoholFlexibility #CPG

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When I open this app I keep seeing people say we need collaboration, not consolidation in the cannabis industry. I think that framing misses the point entirely. When two major companies combine — like Wyld and Grön — their partners don’t get left behind. They get pulled into a bigger ecosystem with more resources and higher expectations. Suddenly the supplier that served one company is now critical infrastructure for both. That is collaboration CREATED by consolidation. But the reality is we DO need consolidation. We have lots of companies that should be products, lots of good assets being under leveraged, lots of talented people working for too many companies. We as an industry need to evolve out of a mindset that every company has a right to exist. Business is darwinism. The strong acquire and grow, the weak get acquired, or die. I’m a huge believer that cannabis and its participants can become a much stronger industry if we all try to find the right dance partners for the next phase. Big, big players (tobacco, alcohol, pharma) are lurking and they will move fast once rescheduling is complete. A fragmented industry with no consolidated value is easy to pick apart. The companies building real partnerships inside larger structures will be the ones still standing. Everyone else will be waiting for someone to save them. Don’t lose sight of where we are in the market maturation cycle. This is the consolidation phase.

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𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥-𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. 🌿 We’re intentionally building offline touchpoints too. Even though we’re operating in medical cannabis – a highly regulated space – the market is competitive. That’s why building a strong brand has been our focus from day one. Medical cannabis is a product that needs explanation. And because our target audience is so broad, we have to be present across multiple channels. Offline, we reach audiences that are hard to access digitally. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝: 🌿 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞 Physically available in pharmacies and at fairs – used to help people better understand our products 🌿 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 It’s more than just brand awareness. It’s about real relationships. We talk to both pharmacists and patients, educating them on medical cannabis and our portfolio 🌿 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 They showcase each product, active compounds, possible effects and more. A practical tool that helps patients understand their therapy and explore their options 🌿 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲: 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 Until recently, the es not the case. But things changed and we provide them to selected pharmacies: patients now receive their medication in original enua baggies. It’s direct brand visibility, exactly where it matters: at the point of care To us, branding means being recognizable where it truly counts. Online and offline. 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

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🚀 Every.io partners with Draper University's Hero Training Program Company formation and back-office setup shouldn't distract founders from building great products. Today, I'm announcing Every.io's partnership with Draper University to support their Hero Training program, where some of the most ambitious founders take their first entrepreneurial steps. Key partnership elements: - Day 0 integration with direct access to Every's platform - Week 1 workshops on company formation fundamentals - Special offers on formation, banking, payroll, accounting, taxes, and much more. As someone who's scaled venture-backed companies, I wish I'd had this level of infrastructure support from day one. Want to learn more? Chat with us here: https://lnkd.in/ggjPP43x Looking forward to working personally with the Summer 2025 cohort this May in San Mateo! Thank you, Waleed Arshad, for your collaboration on making this happen. #DraperUniversity #HeroTraining #Startups #BuildWithEvery

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I'm excited to share that Fieldstone Bio has just closed a new $5m seed round, led by Ubiquity Ventures alongside E14 Fund (Calvin Chin and Habib Haddad) and LDV Capital (Evan Nisselson)! Fieldstone Bio is a "software beyond the screen" company that has figured out how to turn microbes like bacteria into living sensors for environmental surveillance! The company works with customers across agriculture, defense and more to employ Fieldstone's living sensors to identify target chemicals, nutrients, pollutants, or pathogens in the environment with high precision at millimeter scales across vast areas. These microbes translate chemical data into visual maps using hyperspectral imaging and AI, enabling detection via drones, planes and satellites. I think this startup very elegantly weaves together the best of on-the-ground testing with the scalability of remote sensing — two technologies that were previously impossible to connect! Congratulations on the new funding to co-founders Patrick Stone and Brandon Fields (hence Field-Stone :) Check out the company's exclusive funding announcement in TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/gdX5XM6c #agtech #defensetech #remotesensing #biotech

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🎙️ CannaDiva Conversations: Special Episode – BioTrack, Compliance & NY Cannabis The CannaDiva In this special episode, I sit down with Anne Forkutza from BioTrack, New York’s official seed-to-sale tracking provider, for a candid and informative conversation on compliance, accountability, and the realities of track-and-trace in New York State’s cannabis industry. Whether you're a cultivator, processor, distributor, or retailer, this episode is packed with critical insights to help you navigate the transition to BioTrack — with clarity, calm, and community in mind. We discuss: What BioTrack is and how it integrates with NYS OCM Why seed-to-sale traceability matters and who’s responsible The compliance timeline for license holders Common challenges and how to prepare Equity, scale, and supporting small operators in the transition This conversation is a must-listen for anyone in the NY cannabis space looking to stay compliant and informed. Resource Links: Digital Inventory Tag Guide https://lnkd.in/g_vB3jEM https://lnkd.in/guJNmAzt OCM Seed-to-Sale Page https://lnkd.in/g8-uvfVM BioTrack https://lnkd.in/g3CWeVwz https://lnkd.in/gUsFq93a Follow on Instagram @biotrackthc @thecannadiva https://lnkd.in/gr8VDH9q

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At Vibe Capital, we believe the venture landscape is bifurcating. The reason is simple: reality is full of drunk cats. "Drunk Cats" are the emergent, second-order effects that arise from simple rules. They can tank a product, entire system, or an entire country. The ability to see -and master - these drunk cats reveals the true split in startups today. It is no longer between software and hardware, but between "impressionistic" founders who map the world as it is, and "mechanistic" founders who can reverse-engineer reality from first principles. My latest Dave's Quick Hits newsletter provides the playbook for identifying and funding these mechanistic architects. It is about a fundamental shift from describing effects to mastering cause. I break down the three core stages of the Mechanistic Playbook: 1. See the System: Identifying the hidden rules and emergent flaws in any complex system, from software to biology. 2. Debug the System: Using technology to patch the legacy "bugs" of a previous industrial paradigm. 3. Architect a New System: Building with true primitives, like DNA, to program matter itself. The next trillion-dollar companies won't be built by operators chasing surface-level trends. They'll be built by system-thinkers who can see, debug, and architect reality’s source code. You can read the full analysis and the investment theses here: https://lnkd.in/dkhkBUwh #VentureCapital #DeepTech #FrontierTech #Investing #Strategy #Biotechnology #Nanotechnology #vibecap #vibecapital #drunkcats

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Miami has done a great job attracting tech companies and investment over the past few years. The city’s energy, ambition, and momentum are undeniable. Miami’s path to becoming a global tech hub depends on continuing to attract tech companies, which will require 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞, the people who will power those companies (and create new, “homegrown” ones). The way to do that is by embedding access locally, in the community colleges, state schools, and universities that anchor the region and already serve the majority of the students. This kind of place-based work is how true systems change happens. When given the right support, these schools become engines of opportunity. They’re where the next generation of engineers will be trained, which makes it the area where we can make the greatest impact. CodePath has already seen what’s possible in Miami. We’re now serving about 16% of all computer science students in South Florida and we’re on track toward our goal of 700% growth in the region over the next five years. Not only that, our graduates who pursue software engineering careers are leaving with job offers averaging $92,000 in first-year salaries. Miami is proving the power of aligning higher education, philanthropy, and employers around talent. It’s a blueprint for how regions everywhere can unlock talent at scale. We know that if opportunity is confined to a handful of elite universities, we’re leaving talent on the table AND holding back entire regions from shaping the industries of the future. Grateful to Opportunity Miami and Rodrick Miller, Suzette Laboy, and team for spotlighting this work and for leading the conversation on how cities and regions can transform their economies through education. Check out our conversation here https://lnkd.in/gN4MUp-r

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