Oakland’s Harborside plans expansion in cannabis shops with $5 million financial backing

CEO of Harborside Health Center, Steve DeAngelo (right), makes the first sale at 6 a.m. to Henry Wyckowski on the first day of recreational marijuana sales in California on Monday, January 1, 2018 in Oakland, California. less CEO of Harborside Health Center, Steve DeAngelo (right), makes the first sale at 6 a.m. to Henry Wyckowski on the first day of recreational marijuana sales in California on Monday, January 1, 2018 in Oakland, ... more Photo: Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle Photo: Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland’s Harborside plans expansion in cannabis shops with $5 million financial backing 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Dispensary behemoth Harborside, already one of the country’s biggest cannabis outfits since opening in Oakland more than a decade ago, plans to expand anew with $5 million in equity financing, the company said Tuesday.

The capital, which is part of a broader first round of financing — some $6.5 million in all — will go toward building out Harborside’s cultivation facility, expanding retail management to its clients and growing its corporate development, among other uses.

Harborside is likely to expand its product offerings — things like capsules, oils, packaged flower and cartridges — with the new capital, said Derrek Higgins, chief financial officer of parent company FLRish Inc.

He said Harborside is looking at a “full pipeline of dispensary opportunities” in Northern and Southern California that could range from taking on ownership roles to setting up branding agreements with shops.

“The real impact is making sure that we are active in managing the retail shelf space that’s attached to those licenses,” Higgins said.

The company recently upped its raw product stream with a farm expansion in Salinas.

It was only two years ago that Harborside escaped federal prosecution that had begun under the Obama administration in a bid to shut down the dispensary and others like it across California. The U.S. attorney’s office had attempted to seize the buildings belonging to what federal officials deemed “marijuana superstores.”

Harborside, founded by Steve DeAngelo, also operates in San Jose and recently won a permit to open in San Leandro. In Oakland, it’s one of 16 dispensaries allowed by the city.

“With the advent of adult-use on January 1, 2018, it was important to me to raise capital for the company to enable our expansion and to take advantage of the many compelling opportunities that I was seeing,” DeAngelo said in a statement.

Andrew Berman, former Mill Valley mayor and now CEO of FLRish Inc., said the company will do more in the burgeoning “branded products” market.

“Trusted brands will become increasingly important for our consumer,” Berman said in a statement. “As one of the first dispensaries to voluntarily advocate for and implement cannabis product testing, Harborside has always been committed to building and maintaining the trust of our patients, and now, adult-use customers.”

Harborside’s investors, which focus on cannabis ventures, are Cresco Capital Partners, Quinsam Capital Corp. and Murray Field & Co. LLC.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov