Valley Green Partners, a San Jose-based cannabis holding company founded in 2021, has closed a $22 million Series B funding round — the largest single capital raise by a South Bay cannabis operator to date, the company confirmed Thursday morning.
The round was led by Emerald Coast Capital, a Los Angeles-based cannabis-focused private equity firm, with participation from three Silicon Valley family offices that the company declined to name. The proceeds will fund five new retail locations across Santa Clara County, two manufacturing upgrades at the company's existing Edenvale processing facility, and a new delivery fleet serving San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara.
"The South Bay is dramatically underserved. You have almost a million people in San Jose alone with fewer than 20 dispensaries. We see an enormous opportunity, and the city's new equity framework actually accelerates our timeline by making more sites viable." — Diana Flores, CEO, Valley Green Partners
Valley Green currently operates two dispensaries in San Jose — one on Monterey Road near Blossom Hill and one near the Berryessa BART station — and reported $18.4 million in gross sales in 2025. The company projects that figure will more than double to $40 million by end of 2027 if all five new locations open on schedule.
Where the New Stores Are Going
Three of the five new sites have already been secured through signed commercial leases. The first will open in a former gym space on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen in late May, followed by a location on Camden Avenue in Campbell targeting a July opening. A third location near the North San Jose tech corridor — the company's first in that quadrant of the city — is scheduled for September.
Two additional sites are still in negotiation. Flores said the company is looking at Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, both of which recently updated their cannabis zoning ordinances to allow retail in mixed-use commercial districts.
The Willow Glen location in particular will be closely watched. Harborside, the Oakland-based cannabis giant, opened a Willow Glen dispensary in January to record crowds. Valley Green will be competing directly with that location, and with Purple Lotus's downtown storefront a few miles north.
Equity Partnership Built In
As part of its expansion strategy, Valley Green has committed to partnering with at least one equity applicant for a 49 percent co-ownership stake in one of the new locations — a structure explicitly authorized under San Jose's new licensing ordinance. The company is currently reviewing applications from two candidates.
The company has also pledged to hire 60 percent of its new retail staff from within San Jose's equity zip codes — a voluntary commitment that advocates say goes beyond what the ordinance requires but that Flores called a straightforward business decision.
"These are our neighbors. They know the products, they know the customers, and frankly they've been navigating this industry far longer than we have. Hiring locally isn't charity — it's smart." — Diana Flores, CEO
Valley Green's expansion comes as several national cannabis chains have struggled or retreated from California, citing the state's high regulatory costs and persistent black market competition. Industry observers say the company's success — and its ability to raise institutional capital — reflects a maturing local market where operators with strong community ties and operational discipline are beginning to pull ahead of the field.