| Building a brand in the face of adversity, House of Wise Founder & CEO Amanda Goetz successfully raised two rounds of institutional capital—joining the <3% of VC dollars that went to female founders—while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, homeschooling her three kids as a single mother, and cultivating a community of women focused on dismantling the stigmas against cannabis and the double standards women face today. The series seed round was led by Sugar Capital, with participation from Selva Ventures, Max Ventures, Dream Ventures, and notable strategic angels NBA Star Baron Davis, Fabletics Co-founder Jack McCue, Former President & COO of Focus Brands, Kat Cole, and leading millennial women’s podcast platform Dear Media. The funding will be used to drive House of Wise’s strategy and growth in building the leading CBD brand at the thoughtful intersection of community, content and commerce. “Through their thoughtful strategy around product development, technology, and community, House of Wise is positioned for tremendous growth with a highly invested network supporting them at every milestone. House of Wise is reshaping the way we think about e-commerce, as well as how to successfully approach direct-to-consumer branding and growth,” said Brian Sugar, Founder of Sugar Capital & House of Wise Lead investor. “Amanda Goetz is a force, and her vision for House of Wise goes far beyond the high-quality products she’s formulated. Amanda is fostering a movement, powered by her authentic voice and amplified by the highly engaged House of Wise community. As soon as we met her, we knew we wanted to be a part of what she’s building.” Innovation is a core component of the House of Wise brand, both out of necessity and to combat the unregulated CBD space at large. As CBD emerged into more mainstream culture we witnessed a “green rush” resulting in a flood of unregulated and inconsistent white-labeled products coming to market. House of Wise is different. House of Wise understands the high-performing woman cannot risk a groggy morning or sleepy afternoon. House of Wise collaborated with a team of organic farmers, chemists and an award-winning chef to develop original product formulations focused on delivering the highest quality cannabinoid varieties, thoughtfully paired with active ingredients to focus on efficacy and consistency. Inspired by Amanda’s first-hand experiences with CBD and cannabis, as well as dedication to her own health and wellness, House of Wise products were developed with trust and reliability in mind. Each House of Wise product features a handcrafted, proprietary formula paired with thoughtfully selected active ingredients and culinary excellence in mind to deliver best in class taste and experience. The collection of five originally formulated products with active ingredients and high-quality, full-spectrum CBD empower women to take control of their sleep, stress, and sexual wellness: SEX Gummies, SLEEP Gummies, SLEEP Drops, STRESS Gummies, STRESS Drops, along with curated product bundles for a complete wellness routine. House of Wise CBD is certified organic, cGMP, and NSF certified, and made with responsibly sourced ingredients. Each item is tested for quality through a robust third-party procedure, holding their complete line of products to the same high-standards they hold the brand at large. “I’ve lived a lot of life in the past decade. I’ve faced infertility, miscarriage, divorce, single parenting in a pandemic, being an ACE certified personal trainer, and now being a non-traditional VC-backed founder,” said Amanda Goetz, House of Wise Founder & CEO. “I believe it’s important for women to transform what society has deemed ‘shameful’ into empowerment. We can’t ‘have it all’ without help. House of Wise is a brand designed to break down these stigmas and provide a supportive community using products that make a meaningful difference in their daily routine.” The stigmas of CBD run deep. Small businesses often rely on major tech platforms and search engines to help them grow. However, CBD brands are frequently blocked from advertising and ecommerce payment processing platforms, despite the growing acceptance and legalization of CBD and cannabis. These hurdles only drove further digital and distribution innovation for House of Wise. Taking an alternate and innovative approach to the traditional DTC model, House of Wise works with its brand loyalists through their #WiseWoman programming, which promotes cannabis education, financial literacy and community support, for the majority of their distribution. “Wise Women” are passionate about the House of Wise brand and enthusiastic about the product offerings; they share their genuine experiences using the products with friends, family, and followers, earning a high commission from the sales of any House of Wise product using a custom affiliate sales link. At launch, House of Wise already has hundreds of women across the country ready to share the news of how they’ve achieved better sleep, sex and lower stress. “All women are influential, and I believe this distribution strategy is critical to mass adoption of cannabis as well as shattering the stigma around needing help in areas like sleep, sex, and stress,” Amanda said. “When someone sees me, a founder and mom of three toddlers with a corporate background, talking about my health and wellness routine which includes things like cannabis and masturbation, they are more inclined to listen and adopt the products and routines that help me not only manage my sleep, sex, and stress, but thrive in these areas.” | 
