Cannabis Movers & Shakers: Ikänik, Curaleaf, Trees Corp, Fyllo

As Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference returns (April 20-21) in Miami, gathering top CEOs, investors, and leaders in the cannabis industry, let's scroll through the latest leadership changes within the space.

Ikänik Appoints Interim CEO As Brian Baca Resigns

Ikänik Farms, Inc. IKNK DFMA recently announced that Brian Baca has tendered his resignation as CEO and director of the company effective immediately.

Borja Sanz De Madrid has been appointed interim CEO. In addition, J.J. Thomas has also resigned as a director of the company.

Sanz de Madrid, president of Pideka SAS, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ikänik Farms and Ikänik Farms International, has led the company's operations in Latin America and recent funding activities.

Trees Corporation Announces Leadership Changes As It Closes Miraculo Acquisition

Canadian cannabis retailer Trees Corporation TREE completed its previously announced acquisition of Miraculo Inc. and has tapped Michael Klein, former CEO of Miraculo to serve as CEO of the combined entity.

Both Klein and G. Scott Paterson, one of Canada's most prominent entrepreneurs and financiers have been appointed to the company's board of directors.

"By combining Trees and Miraculo, we have created a 'next now' cannabis company at the intersection of content, community, and commerce," Klein explained. "Integrating our technology, data, storytelling, and fast-growing retail footprint, we aim to unlock and capture emerging consumer segments across our platforms."

Fyllo Names Advertising Industry Veteran Steve Katelman As Chief Partnership Officer

Cannabis compliance technology platform Fyllo announced that Steve Katelman is coming out of retirement to join the company as its chief partnership officer.

Katelman is well known for his pioneering digital vision while serving nearly three decades at Omnicom OMC, where he spent his last 14 years at Omnicom Media Group (OMG).

He was instrumental in launching the programmatic offerings within OMG as well as the technology and data division, Annalect.

He will join Fyllo as it continues to expand its SaaS platform and data solutions.

"Steve has made a career of innovating and disrupting the status quo with new technologies and ideas," Chad Bronstein, founder and CEO of Fyllo, told Benzinga. "The opportunity here was enough to bring a legend out of retirement, which underscores the potential Fyllo has to unlock entirely new ways of doing business in some of the most challenging, fragmented, and lucrative markets."

Curaleaf Names Neil Davidson As Interim CFO

Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. CURLF recently announced that it has appointed Neil Davidson as interim chief financial officer.

Davidson, who served as Curaleaf CFO from 2019-2020 and as a chief operating officer until now, will serve in the CFO role while the company searches for a permanent replacement.

Current CFO Ranjan Kalia is leaving the company to pursue other career opportunities.

Photo: Courtesy of Esteban Lopez on Unsplash