Cannabis beverage brand Uncle Arnie’s is planning to nearly double its team from 40 to 75 employees after closing a $7.5 million Series A investment round co-led by Mindset Capital and Delta Emerald Ventures.
The raise, announced Wednesday morning, “pours fuel on a fire that’s already blazing, with a management team ready to lead the category nationally,” said Mindset Capital CEO Aaron Edelheit in a statement. Joining the team as CMO is Brian Miesieski, a former marketing executive for SweetWater Brewing, High Rise Beverage, Diageo and AB InBev.
Existing strategic investor and founding partner of Boston Beer Company Harry Rubin also participated in the round and will join Uncle Arnie’s board of directors.
Previously, the brand had secured growth capital from Rubin and fellow Samuel Adams founder Lorenzo Lamadrid in June 2023. Former Ally Financial ALLY CEO Michael Carpenter and his son (and VC investor) Nick Carpenter also participated in that round. Mindset joined the cap table as part of a $4 million round in October 2024.
Launched in May 2020, the Marina Del Rey, California-based brand made its name through high-dose, marijuana-derived THC drinks sold at adult-use and medical dispensaries in California before expanding into similar markets.
In 2024, Uncle Arnie’s portfolio expanded to include hemp-derived shots and canned beverages in 2.5 mg and 10 mg THC versions, sold online and in traditional beverage channels like liquor stores.
“Hemp is exponentially growing,” Uncle Arnie’s CEO Theo Terris told BevNET on Wednesday. “May was the first month that our hemp [beverage] revenue surpassed the regulated, recreational side of the business. That being said, the recreational side is also growing quite considerably because we’re grabbing more and more market share. There’s just less competition.”
Terris reported that the company will be “doubling and tripling down” on its sales teams in New Jersey, Minnesota and Florida where demand for hemp beverages is growing fastest.
“If I look at the next 12 to 24 months, we may expand into it handful more on states on the recreational side and we may be in a dozen more states on the hemp side,” he added.
Within the next year or two, Terris believes more “large-scale retailers” in mass, club and grocery will start to enter the category. Uncle Arnie’s is preparing for that by bringing onboard another alcohol industry executive, John Bastuga as GM of National Accounts, who will focus on building relationships with those larger chains.
Uncle Arnie’s will also be hiring additional marketing team members to support the brand’s sales goals as looks to the on-premise opportunity at music festivals and sporting events as a key driver of expanding its consumer base.
According to the release, Uncle Arnie’s has achieved nearly 100% year-over-year growth since its inception and expects that trajectory to continue into 2026.
In a Q2 2025 survey conducted by Brightfield Group, 13.4% of consumers were aware of Uncle Arnie’s, putting it in the bottom half of brands included in the questionnaire; the average awareness level from brands in that group was 16.9%. The brand also scored in the bottom half for purchasing and loyalty. Still, that’s a 56% quarter-over-quarter improvement from Q1 2025, suggesting solid growth.
The $7.5 million represents one of the more significant raises for a THC beverage brand. In comparison, Cann has raised over $43 million to date, according to data from FABID, with the most recent tranche arriving via a $27 million round in 2022.
However, there may be more to come: on Tuesday, Brez founder Aaron Nosbisch announced on X that his company is conducting “our first and only raise” with a target of $25 million. The brand’s Friends & Family Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) opened today.