Ojai Energetics is a cannabis technology company focused on the numerous applications for the plant. In 2013, founder Will Kleidon was looking for a quality CBD product that he felt good about using himself, and after having no luck set out to develop his own. Working with a PhD in Microfluidics from Princeton, they were able to crack the code and create a water-soluble process and composition that does not utilize synthetics or other harmful ingredients, can be certified organic and blends perfectly into food, beverage and other consumer product applications. In addition to water-soluble patents, Will developed numerous other patents including the antidote to THC over-intoxication, opioid addiction treatment and energy storage applications, to name a few.
In 2018 Will partnered with long-time CPG leaders, Tom Hicks and Alan George, to help develop and execute his vision. Tom and Alan joined Will full-time in mid-2019.
The Company is set up with Ojai Energetics PBC as the IP holding company. While initial focus is on building out the Ojai Energetics branded consumer products and ingredient supply businesses, the Company will establish subsidiaries and either build teams to commercialize specific lines of IP (of which there are hundreds) or license / sell them.
The Company anticipates this fundraise will be the last investment in the IP holding company with access to the entire patent portfolio. Subsequent rounds are expected to be done in subsidiaries with specific lines of IP.
Will Kleidon has been described as a savant, an innovator and a high-flying visionary with both feet on the ground. With deep roots in the core practices of cannabis innovation, Will brings a unique and unifying expertise in cannabis that stems from his earlier days out in the field as a man of nature, and reaches forward to the boardrooms of industry-leading organizations, making the Founder/CEO he is today.
At the beginning of his career, at the age of 17, Will Kleidon organized and implemented a sustainability fair which drew over 25 organizations and 500 attendees. Will studied permaculture in Australia and achieved the second highest nationally accredited certification in Permaculture Design.
Will has collected one of the most interesting executive boards in the world that includes famous athletes, doctors, and well-connected members of the entertainment industry. Featured in Cheddar, MSNBC, Forbes, Inc, Money, Entrepreneur, The LA Times, and a regular keynote at the Cannabis Forum and Bevnet, Will is a subject matter expert when it comes to the art, science, and technology of the cannabis business, the history of hemp, and what it can mean to our future.
Will believes hemp is a major catalyst for aiding humans to create regenerative systems that will help us live in symbiosis with the planet. He has developed the most robust IP catalog for cannabis which includes the antidote to THC intoxication, cannabinoids for space travel, generating super-capacitors from hemp, and 30 second acting edibles.
Will currently resides in Ojai with his wife Caroline.
CGO - Classically trained CGP Marketer and Revenue generator. Proctor and Gamble, Frito-Lay early in his career. Co-Founded Fantasia Fresh Juice Company in Chicago sold to North Castle Partners as a part of a Juice roll-up, return to investors was north of 4.5x in just 3 years. President of Naked Juice from 2003-2007, with a successful exit to PepsiCo. Ran a division of Monster Energy that was sold to Coke 3 years later for a significant return.
Alan started his career in investment banking at JP Morgan in New York. Moved to private equity at North Castle Partners, focusing on investments in food, beverage and personal care. Led successful sale of Naked Juice to PepsiCo in 2007. Ran finance operations for Hansen’s Natural division of Monster Energy and later sold division to Coca-Cola. Prior to joining Ojai Energetics, ran finance for e.l.f. Cosmetics, a TPG-growth backed portfolio company, and ultimately took e.l.f. public creating a significant return for shareholders.
There is a lot of information out there on the expected size of the cannabis market. Initially, our focus is on building out our consumer products business through select Ojai Energetics branded product lines as well as an ingredient supplier to the broader CPG space. The beverage market alone is expected to be north of $2B by 2023. According to Rich Maturo, VP of Cannabis at Nielsen, “the 2020 CBD market is expected to reach 2.25-2.75 billion in 2020 despite FDA rulings and other possible speed bumps for Hemp-CBD.” We are currently in various stages of R&D with numerous food, beverage and personal care companies.
Our team has deep connectivity throughout food, beverage and personal care and is leveraging a long and successful history in the consumer products world. Our patented CBD emulsion is the best in the industry. Many beverage companies have tried other, often cheaper, CBD ingredients only to tell us we are far superior, irrespective of the fact that we own the IP for water-soluble products in this space. Our product blends and homogenizes perfectly and does not separate or impact stability. No other CBD in the market does this and we have patents issued for not only process but composition.
Our team is seasoned with strong knowledge in the CPG arena. Our CFO came from Investment Banking (JP Morgan) and Private Equity (North Castle Partners) and our Chief Growth Officer is a P&G, Frito-Lay trained executive and has had three successful exits from startups and turnarounds. Our CEO if an award-winning pioneer and futurist of the Cannabis industry who had the foresight to begin filing patents across the cannabis plant beginning in 2014, putting Ojai well ahead of the competition from an intellectual property standpoint.
Ojai Energetics (OE) is a cannabis technology company that owns unique patents for numerous uses around the cannabis plant. This includes issued patents (both method and composition) for water-soluble cannabinoids. Our water-soluble technology provides a solution to consumer products companies looking for a cannabis ingredient that blends and homogenizes perfectly while delivering fast onset and higher bio-availability than the competition. In addition, the compnay hold patents for numerous other applications, including the antidote to THC over-intoxication, opioid addiction treatment and energy storage, to name a few. All patents have been filed by Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, the leading life-sciences IP firm globally.
We are in various stages of R&D, from initial product development to formal launch, with a number of consumer products companies, including major beverage companies. We also are in the process of launching a joint venture, using our water-soluble technology, with a large U.S. beer / alcohol company to develop and market THC-infused beverages in Canada.
We are set up as a public benefit corporation (PBC) and our #1 focus is to “Do Good while Doing Well” meaning we believe we can have a very positive impact on the current health of the world, while building a very strong, successful and profitable company.
Funds will be used to develop and execute our marketing plan, verticalize manufacturing, invest in working capital and personnel (key hires in sales, marketing, ops, etc.). The company currently employs 5 fulltime and 4 part time employees.
