Our Team
Our experienced management team is comprised of both traditional corporate, institutional finance and cannabis industry professionals.
The Principals of the Fund bring together substantial operating, executive, investing, and advisory experiences in the cannabis industry. Our collective background includes management, operating, ownership interests or advisory within each of the primary pillars of the cannabis industry, including cultivation, extraction, distribution, dispensary operations, and ancillary companies.
Beyond our experience within the cannabis industry, the team has extensive experience in institutional investing, underwriting, portfolio management, M&A due diligence, start-up investment and management, and capital raising. Our accumulated credentials denote experience in an array of industries, including technology, finance, healthcare and law, each of which are extremely applicable to the cannabis industry.
Andi Goldman
PRINCIPAL MANAGER
Andrea (Andi) Goldman, CFA, Esq. (Ret), has almost 20 years of institutional investment experience in private equity and lending, from start-ups to middle-market. Andi’s managed more than $2Bn of investments across numerous industries and has held senior underwriting, portfolio management, deal structuring and investment execution positions at GE Capital, RBS Citizens, BOL Opportunity Funds, NewStar Financial, and Antares Investment Partners. Andi was also an investment banker and member of the operating and executive committees of a small-cap investment bank and is a former corporate and securities lawyer.
Within the cannabis industry, Andi has served as an advisor, angel investor, and financial executive. As CFO and head of Corporate Finance for FLRish Inc., Andi was instrumental in raising and negotiating significant capital for FLRish’s California cannabis holding company and cultivation operations, with significant exposure to the Harborside dispensary operations.
Andi is a Chartered Financial Analyst and is currently advising a variety of cannabis industry companies across the US along with Saki. Andi is a frequent cannabis industry speaker and member of the Arcview cannabis angel investment network (and has served on the Arcview Selection Committee and been named Outstanding Member). Andi earned an MBA degree from Yale University, a JD from Duke University Law School, and a BS in Business Administration from SUNY Albany (graduating magna cum laude).
Steve Abraham
PRINCIPAL
Steve comes to Equitas after a 30-year career as a professional investor, operator and corporate leader with extensive experience in the cannabis, consumer, media and finance industries.
Steve is a principal consultant for The Becket Group, a financial and strategic advisory firm that he founded in 2009. He recently completed a role as CFO of Berkshire Welco, (DBA The Pass) a Massachusetts-based vertically integrated cannabis company and is co-founder of Cedar Wellness, an adult-use cannabis dispensary operator currently in the state licensing process.
Prior to founding The Becket Group, Steve was SVP and Global Head of New Markets and Expert Networks at Reuters Insight, SVP and Head of Corporate Development for IMAX Corp.,VP and Senior Fund Analyst at Merrill Lynch Asset Management (now Blackrock), Associate and Senior Media Analyst at JP Morgan and Financial Analyst in the Equity Research group at Goldman, Sachs.
A former first responder, Steve has a BA from Goucher College in Management/Economics. He is also head of the advisory board for Whole Life Pet products, an advisor to The Blinc Group, Treasurer and Director of Savannah Owners Corp., and a limited partner in the Berkshire Opportunity Fund (impact investing private equity).
Saki Kridakara
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
Saki is a seasoned cannabis company owner, operator, advisor, and a dot-com entrepreneur. He has helped raise capital, oversee corporate infrastructure, and supported M&A due-diligence for high-profile companies. With two previous exits, Saki brings his technology and finance experience to the cannabis industry. Since 2011, he has been an owner and operator of cultivation, extraction, and distribution companies within Oregon and California.
As an Arcview investor and mentor, Saki has helped cannabis entrepreneurs raise capital for nearly every major vertical. Saki has a degree in Business Management and an AAS in Network Infrastructure and Security.