Cellibre Snags $11.5M For Cannabis Biotech Effort

San Diego-based Cellibre, which says it is developing ways to produce cannabinoids using pharmaceutical cell lines rather than traditional agriculture, has raised $11.5M in a Series A funding. The company said the funding was led by Merida Capital Holdings, and also included Scott Gordon, Flatiron Venture Partners, L2V, Entourage Effect Capital, and Delta Emerald Ventures. The company said it has developed proprietary cells which produce pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids via fermentation. The company claims the use of its technology will reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of US cannabis production, and also reduce resources required to make cannabinoid-based products by as much as 100-fold.