Natick, MA

Reliva LLC

Reliva is an industry leading & trusted CBD retail brand in the U.S. #1 in CBD oil, tinctures, topicals, shots.

Overview

Reliva is a retail brand focused on a range of CBD products, from topicals to edibles. SIC's founder, Keith Canning, and the Reliva founders met on the floor of a trade show in 2017. As a lifelong fan of cycling, hiking, fishing, and much more, Keith is no stranger to the aches and pains that come with being an active adult. When offered a sample on the trading floor, he observed the instant pain-relieving benefits of Reliva's suite of CBD products. From there, a working relationship was born, resulting in a successful exit that netted a massive return for all parties.

Vision

Commercialize a sensational product.

Without a doubt, the Reliva product line provided unmistakable value to consumers. The vision was to bring this value to as many consumers as possible. In other words, Sawyer Island would help commercialize the Reliva product line. In doing so, SIC provided scaling and marketing expertise, top talent, and a broad array of connections throughout the supply chain. To execute, SIC helped connect all of these pieces in the most effective way possible.

Solution

A foundation to support strategic scaling.

The foundation around any successful company is a strong team of diverse individuals; do this, and the rest will follow. Thus, Sawyer island's first initiative was to build an incredible team around Reliva's sensational product. Within a short time, SIC had placed veteran CEO Miguel Martin at the helm to ensure exceptional day-to-day decision-making. Second, SIC brought in a select group of distributors as equity partners to establish a lucrative relationship between Reliva and the supply chain. Soon, as expected, the rest followed. Reliva was on the shelves of 22,000 retail stores within 18 months. Their product line was gaining national attention from consumers. Most notably, their strong team and business model caught the eye of companies looking to make acquisitions in the space.

Approach

A goal based approached focused on acquisition.

From the very start of this project, we knew our primary goal was to scale. That said, our decisions throughout the process were always two-pronged. We wanted to scale, but we also wanted to do it correctly. We wanted to scale without compromising the integrity of Reliva's financial and distribution foundation. Put simply, we wanted to scale while also building an attractive acquisition target. This is why we carefully hand-picked the Reliva team and incentivized critical third parties with an equity stake. The result was a successful exit that left all parties with a massive return on investment.

Happy Partners