Fermented Cannabinoids Maker Cellibre Closes $11.5M Series A Funding Round, Meet The CEO At Benzinga's Cannabis Capital Conference

CBD-focused cellular agriculture company Cellibre Inc. announced Wednesday that it has raised $11.5 million through an oversubscribed and upsized Series A financing round.

Based in San Diego, the company closed the round, which Merida Capital Holdings led with participation from Cellibre company founders, as well as Scott Gordon, Flatiron Venture Partners, L2V, Entourage Effect Capital and Delta Emerald Ventures.

As companies within the cannabis space look to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by making power on-site with renewables and other climate-friendly energy resources, Cellibre's patented technology is poised to reduce the resources required to make cannabinoid-based products by as much as 100-fold.

"Our cannabinoid platform is an extremely exciting application of employing biology as a manufacturing technology and is also a case study on why our scientific approach is fundamentally advantaged to the strategies employed by traditional synthetic biology companies," Ben Chiarelli, founder and CEO of Cellibre said. "By selecting organisms with the proper primary metabolism as a starting point for engineering, we believe we will transform how humans make an almost limitless number of products."

Mina Mishrikey, a senior partner at Merida Capital Holdings, expressed admiration for Cellibre.

"We have been monitoring this technology space for some time, and the Cellibre team has, in less time with fewer resources, developed a class-leading platform for cannabinoid production," Mishrikey said.

Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. acted as advisors and legal counsel to Cellibre for the transaction, while Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. served as legal counsel to Merida Capital Partners.

Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference

To learn more about Cellibre's future initiatives, secure your spot at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, which returns this week (Oct. 14-15) to New York's Marriott Marquis in Manhattan.

In addition to Ben Chiarelli, the conference will feature top CEOs, investors and leaders in the cannabis space.

Tickets are still available for both the in-person and virtual versions of the conference.

Photo: Courtesy of Cellibre Inc.