AMASS Invests in Hemp-Derived THC Beverage Brand Afterdream

LOS ANGELES – AMASS Brands Group, a California-based multi-category beverage platform, has entered into a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) in Afterdream, a hemp-derived THC beverage brand. The agreement grants AMASS the right to at least a 15.67% fully diluted ownership interest in Afterdream once a qualifying financing or liquidity event occurs.

Under SAFE structures, no shares change hands and no stockholder dilution takes effect at signing. Conversion is triggered by a future financing round or comparable event, and the agreement carries no interest rate, maturity date or repayment obligation. In a dissolution or earlier liquidity event, AMASS is entitled to either its invested principal or the as-converted equity value, whichever is greater, with that claim ranked ahead of common stockholders.

Afterdream produces a non-alcoholic microdose beverage built around hemp-derived THC extract, organic lion’s mane mushrooms and L-theanine, formulated to deliver calm and mental clarity without next-day effects. The line comes in Calamansi Lime, Tangerine and Tropical flavors and has picked up coverage from GQ, Delish and The Quality Edit. Distribution currently spans seven states, including Florida, Georgia, Texas and New Jersey, across more than 100 retail and on-premise accounts.

Mark Thomas Lynn, founder and chief executive of AMASS, framed the deal as a strategic foothold rather than a one-off bet. “Afterdream represents exactly the kind of investment we want to be making right now,” Lynn said, citing rising consumer demand for hemp-derived THC drinks. AMASS structured the SAFE to preserve room for a larger ownership stake later, regardless of how state and federal cannabinoid rules shift over the coming years.

The agreement lands at a moment when hemp-derived THC beverages have become one of the fastest-expanding segments in adult drinks, with U.S. annual sales now topping $1.1 billion. AMASS already operates non-alcoholic and an electrolyte mixer line, positioning Afterdream within a broader portfolio built around moderation-minded and functional drinking occasions rather than traditional alcohol.

For an industry watching the boundaries between alcohol, wellness and Cannabis blur in real time, this deal offers a clean data point. A publicly traded beverage company with no prior Cannabis exposure chose a SAFE, not an outright acquisition, to gain a meaningful equity claim in a hemp-derived THC brand while keeping the door open to scale that position later.

That structure reveals how traditional beverage capital is approaching cannabinoid products right now: cautious enough to avoid early dilution risk, confident enough to lock in upside ahead of a still-unsettled regulatory picture for hemp-derived THC at the state and federal level. Afterdream’s retail footprint remains modest next to established Cannabis beverage brands, but its inclusion in a Nasdaq-listed platform’s portfolio gives it a distribution and capital advantage few standalone THC beverage startups can access on their own.