Highlyte by Amnesia, an AI-driven cannabis marketing compliance platform, announced today it has closed on $1 million in seed funding from cannabis venture capital firms Poseidon Investment Management, Argonautic Ventures, JourneyOne Ventures and other angel investors.
As cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, social media sites ban much cannabis messaging, and closely scrutinize marketing content surrounding cannabis. Meanwhile, states offer a bewildering thicket of diverse regulations constraining cannabis content and marketing. Highlyte by AMNESIA alerts cannabis companies to potentially non-compliant text, images and video before each posting goes live. The platform also mitigates risk by protecting against damaging account deactivations and so-called “shadowban” practices that can be financially disastrous. By helping cannabis companies maintain rigorous compliance to state regulations and social media restrictions, Highlyte by AMNESIA drives a culture of responsibility and safety for cannabis brands and the entire industry.
“Highlyte is able to support cannabis marketers from start-to-finish in reducing their risk of deplatforming or regulatory fines. I’m excited for our investors to join us in supporting cannabis brands and marketers in creating compelling and compliant content,” said Highlyte Founder and CEO Courtney Wu.
Developed by regulatory compliance experts from the digital gaming industry, Highlyte empowers cannabis brands to navigate the complex world of cannabis marketing compliance and avoid the risks of potentially debilitating penalties—and even cannabis license revocation—from unintentional marketing content missteps.
“With this financing, we’re excited to help Highlyte expand its successful beta launch and push the boundaries of content management, content moderation and advertising compliance,” noted Patrick Rea, Managing Director, Poseidon.
“Cannabis marketing compliance is existential risk for our business, our clients and our marketing partners,” said Jesse Burns, Chief Marketing Officer at Grasslands. “Highlyte enables us to stay ahead of potential content violations under multiple state regulations and big tech’s terms of use. It's like having an algorithm-expert robot sitting in our marketing meetings with us. And once you begin using Highlyte to better understand cannabis marketing compliance, you can't unsee it, and the mistakes so many cannabis brands are making online become glaring.”
