Lulu Founder Considers IPO for Medicinal Cannabis Startup

Alexandra Chong, founder of Lulu, is considering an IPO for her cannabis firm Jacana after raising $20 million for the company in 2018.

When Lulu first launched in 2013, its USP was that it allowed women to rate men using hashtags like “#NeverSleepsOver” and “#LifeOfTheParty”.

It received criticism from major publications including Forbes, who ran a story titled “Why We Should All Be Scared of Lulu App”.

It also saw impressive growth, however, attracting 200,000 users in 8 weeks early on and over 6 million in total.

The platform raised $15 million, before being acquired by Badoo three years ago. Andrey Andreev’s umbrella converted it into a white label platform with a more typical dating app interface.

Chong has now moved into the cannabis space, seeing opportunity as medicinal use was legalised in the UK recently.

She told City A.M.: “We’re exploring all avenues to help us grow the business, including an initial public offering (IPO), but there is no timeline on that”.

“Although legalisation of recreational cannabis may be a way off, we’re positioning ourselves to succeed in that market as well.”

The entrepreneur calls the venture her “passion project”, and wants to create the “champagne of cannabis”.

The business has over 60 employees between the UK and Jamaica.

Read more here.