PORTLAND, Ore. — Markowitz Herbold PC announced that all claims against Nitin Khanna related to a lawsuit brought by investors in CBD company Sentia Wellness have been voluntarily dismissed and withdrawn. The lawsuit was filed by certain investors in Sentia including Boris Jordan from Measure 8 Ventures, Wilder Ramsey from Gron Ventures, Igor Gimelshtein from Zola Global Investors, and Sunny Puri from Anson Advisors.
“I am thrilled with this outcome,” said Nitin Khanna, founder of Cura Partners and Sentia Wellness. “I look forward to putting this entire episode in the rearview mirror.”
In a public statement (see below), the investors declared that they purchased debentures in Cura Partners in 2018 “largely due to Nitin’s business acumen, inspirational leadership, and history of success.” This investment led to the then-largest cannabis merger in history between Cura Partners and Curaleaf. This investment also spawned Sentia Wellness. The statement goes on to state that the investors purchased debentures in Sentia in 2019 because of “Nitin’s expertise, leadership, and knack for success.”
Sentia was a CBD cannabis startup that failed to achieve its promise and was sold because of substantial changes in the regulatory environment due to the FDA’s 2019 guidance, the impact of COVID-19 on retail sales and interference by the very investors who brought the suit. Two of the investors, Boris Jordan and Sunny Puri, sat on Sentia’s board.
The difference in opinion regarding how the company was managed through these hard times resulted in $1.5 billion and $150 million countersuits by Khanna and Sentia respectively. All lawsuits have been dismissed.
“It’s a fantastic result for claims that should never have been brought in the first place,” said Vivek Kothari, Khanna’s attorney.
The previously mentioned investors, among others, provided a public statement (full statement below) that includes the following:
“Despite differences of opinion, now withdrawn and forgotten, the Investors have the same impression of Nitin that they did when they first bought debentures from Cura Partners in 2018. Nitin is a talented businessman, a steadfast and dependable leader, and a charismatic entrepreneur with a future that is even brighter than his past. The Investors look forward to watching, and hopefully profiting from, Nitin’s future endeavors, in the cannabis industry and beyond.”
Public Statement re: Measure 8, et al. v. Khanna, et al.
December 11, 2023
Measure 8 Ventures, LP, Gron Ventures Fund I, LP, Zola Global Investors Ltd., Anson Advisors Inc., Serendipity SPC – Trimble Fund SP, Lapid US Investments LLC, and Hadron Healthcare and Consumer Special Opportunities Master Fund (the “Investors”) and Nitin Khanna have voluntarily dismissed and withdrawn all of their claims against each other related to Sentia Wellness.
The Investors purchased debentures in Cura Partners in 2018, largely due to Nitin’s business acumen, inspirational leadership, and past history of success. The Investors purchased debentures in Sentia in 2019 for the same reasons—Nitin’s expertise, leadership, and knack for success. This investment led to the largest cannabis merger in history between Cura Partners and Curaleaf. This investment also spawned Sentia Wellness.
Thanks to Nitin, Sentia began as an instant success, with more store-keeping units and products in more retail doors than any other CBD company in the country. Nitin was responsible for Sentia shipping more products per month than any of Sentia’s competitors. Nitin’s successful management of Sentia attracted the nation’s largest retailers and investment banks. Nitin also led Sentia to sign critical strategic contracts with trend-setting brands and personalities. Nitin envisioned, and began to realize, what would have been an industry first: a fully automated, state-of-the-art CBD manufacturing facility capable of producing, packing, and shipping over a billion dollars’ worth of CBD products per year. On top of these accomplishments, Nitin stood up a successful CBD brand—Social—from scratch in record time.
However, like the rest of the CBD industry, Sentia fell on hard times after the FDA’s November 2019 guidance and, soon after, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. No one could have foreseen these two events, particularly in combination, and no one could have known the perfect solution. The Investors and Nitin understandably had differences of opinion about how best to preserve Sentia through these hard times. These differences of opinion led to a lawsuit.
The Investors commend Nitin for his commitment throughout a difficult period for the CBD industry. He provided open, honest updates and did not sugarcoat the difficulties that Sentia, and the rest of the CBD industry, faced in early 2020. He voluntarily cut his salary, he worked hard to avoid furloughs, and he listened to and implemented proposals from a wide variety of stakeholders. Nitin worked hard to keep Sentia the most legal and compliant CBD company in the country. Nitin made tough calls when they needed to be made and took risks when appropriate. Nitin created innovative solutions to never-before-seen problems in the nascent CBD industry, including transforming Sentia from company that sold almost exclusively to large retailers into a company that dealt almost exclusively through e-commerce. Nitin put in a herculean effort to save Sentia during these difficult times.
Despite differences of opinion, now withdrawn and forgotten, the Investors have the same impression of Nitin that they did when they first bought debentures from Cura Partners in 2018. Nitin is a talented businessman, a steadfast and dependable leader, and a charismatic entrepreneur with a future that is even brighter than his past. The Investors look forward to watching, and hopefully profiting from, Nitin’s future endeavors, in the cannabis industry and beyond.
