Green Capital Investments (GCI) is the first ever platform dedicated to predictably developing top selling cannabis genetics year after year.
To accomplish this requires control of the entire cannabis supply chain: genetics; tissue culture; clone nursery; cultivation; distribution: manufacturing and enabling technologies. We have privately funded and built this unique platform.
Founded in 2017 by renowned cannabis breeder and cultivator Jai Malloy and serial entrepreneur Fred Barnum along with a team of dedicated professionals, GCI has proven its cannabis genetics-development platform in California. We are now expanding to multiple states as well as globally, bringing the ultimate in California cannabis genetics to hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide.
Our expansion is opening the door for potential investors and partners to become part of GCI for the first time.
About GCI
Our Team
Jai Malloy, Founder
In Memoriam
With a background in business management, commercial plant production, and horticulture, Jai Malloy developed the Phinest Cannabis brand in 2013. His goal was to lead with innovative agricultural science, while building upon established and effective principles of cannabis cultivation.
In 2017, Jai joined GCI. In 2018, GCI acquired the Phinest Cannabis brand and refocused the company on micro-propagating tissue culture clones for their own cultivation. Quickly, they saw the opportunity to scale tissue culture clone propagation to meet the needs of other growers, and Fred set about building the 40k SF facility that today houses GCI's advanced meristematic tissue culture lab and nursery.
Jai passed away in 2019, but his vision is always present and his influence remains as GCI proudly carries on his legacy.
Fred Barnum, CEO/Chairman
Successful serial entrepreneur in multiple industries across several states ranging from electrical contracting to fire & security to cannabis. Fred has also been a major real estate developer for 28 years in office, multi-family residential, retail and industrial. Fred is married, has four adult children, and for over 15 years Fred was extremely active in coaching in several competitive sports programs. Over the past 30 years Fred has held several board seats for various sports programs, charitable organization, insurance, and charitable golf tournaments.
Gordon Ellis, CIO
Senior executive with more than 30 years of experience building and managing high-performance sales, marketing, supply chain, manufacturing, operations and information technology teams, Ellis brings to Green Capital Investments, LLC a diverse industry background, which includes telecom, financial services, healthcare, government, education and multiple industries in manufacturing.
Dakota Sullivan, CRO
Experienced entrepreneur and corporate executive whose career spans cannabis, technology and consumer marketing. Dakota was founder/CEO of cannabis distributor Calyx brands and also served as CRO for Dark Heart, the largest cannabis nursery in CA. Previously Dakota was CMO for BlueLithium, an online ad network acquired by Yahoo, and SVP/GM for two successful mobile tech platform companies, Velti and Amobee.
Carlos Ramirez, In-House Legal Counsel, Director of Compliance
Carlos has served as counsel for Phinest parent GCI since its founding in 2018 where he acts as GCI’s “first line of defense” when it comes to potential litigation and is responsible for overseeing the company’s broad portfolio of licenses and contracts, as well as ensuring legal compliance with all state and local laws. Carlos is licensed to practice law in California and he received his J.D. from the McGeorge School of Law, where he distinguished himself through his strong legal research, writing and appellate advocacy skills.
Matthew Schneider, Laboratory Director, Phinest Tissue Culture
Renowned tissue culture specialist with a proven record of building and scaling clean-stock programs. Drawing on his Master’s in Agronomy from the University of Florida, Matt has led labs focused on Hop Latent Viroid (HpLVd) remediation, pathogen elimination, cultivar preservation, and scalable micropropagation. In his current role as Laboratory Director at Phinest Nursery Company, he oversees a 400+ cultivar tissue culture library kept free of systemic infection, advances R&D to increase efficiency, and provides industry education on pathogen prevention and clean-plant practices.
Adam Hutchings, Director of Cultivation
Adam began his career in 2010 growing cannabis for medical patients in Sacramento, and eventually expanded into cultivation projects throughout Northern California. He later joined Truth Enterprises, gaining hands-on experience management across commercial cultivation, manufacturing, sales, and distribution. Adam later served as Director of Cultivation for Flowerhouse NY before returning to California to join Phinest. Today, Adam specializes in both indoor and outdoor cultivation, post-harvest processing, manufacturing, and providing industry consulting through Nationwide Consulting Services.
Adrian Guerrero, Nursery Operations Manager
Adrian brings extensive experience in all aspects of cannabis cultivation and large-scale nursery operations. He has more than 15 years and 10,000 hours of hands-on success in staff management and leadership, cultivation and nursery practices, research & development and facilities management.
Brad Hodges, Distribution and Showroom Manager
Brad has served as Distribution Manager for PDC since 2020. He has a strong accounting background and a total of more than 11 years of experience in regulated cannabis operations. Brad has a proven track record of optimizing supply chain workflows, ensuring full compliance with state and local regulations, and maintaining financial accuracy across inventory, sales, and vendor accounts.
Kilian Tyson Mayer, Production Manager
Cannabis cultivator whose background blends formal education with deep practical experience in cannabis operations. Kilian earned his Master’s in Botany then moved to the West Coast in 2017 to pursue his lifelong goal of building a career in cannabis cultivation. In his role with Phinest, Kilian plays a key role in SOP development, production scaling and management of production departments across multiple facilities.