(Instagram Photo via @deweyscientific)

Dewey Scientific, the Pullman, Wash.-based agtech startup that is leveraging genomics, data science and more to improve the quality and genetic diversity of cannabis crops, has raised $3.2 million in new funding.

The Series A cash announced on Monday comes from The Hawthorne Collective, a new cannabis industry investment arm of Scotts Miracle-Gro.

Dewey plans to use the funds to acquire new equipment and expand on its research and development. The company will be working with Selway Holdings to secure use of a planned $1.8 million cannabis greenhouse.

The startup, which provides scientific services to cannabis cultivators as well as proprietary cannabis genetics, was founded in 2018 by three PhD plant scientists out of Washington State University. Dewey CEO Dr. Jordan Zager and co-founder Dr. Paul Mihalyov studied at WSU under Dr. Mark Lange, who serves as Dewey’s chief scientific officer. Lange is known as an expert on terpenes, which are scented compounds secreted by plants that may play a role in the effects that different cannabis strains have on people.

Zager said in a news release that the company has plans for a new franchise system to work with cultivators across the U.S. and license its genetics.

Dewey Scientific previously raised $1.25 million in an October 2019 seed round. The company employs 16 and plans to boost its scientific staff in the coming months.

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