Level Brands (LEVB) Pitch Deck (2019): 19-Slide Breakdown

See all 19 slides of the Level Brands pitch deck — a 2019 deck — with a slide-by-slide teardown of what the deck does well and where it falls short.

This 2019 investor deck from Level Brands (LEVB) serves as a transition document following the company's December 2018 acquisition of cbdMD. Unlike a typical startup seed deck, this is a public company presentation designed to justify a 'transformational acquisition' to shareholders and the broader market. The deck highlights a shift from general brand licensing to a focused play in the then-booming CBD industry. With 71% insider ownership and a $82M market cap at the time of the deck, the narrative leans heavily on the celebrity branding of Kathy Ireland and aggressive marketing milestones,…

Key takeaways

Executive Summary and Corporate Identity

Slide 1: Title Slide

The deck opens with the corporate identity of Level Brands (LEVB) and its new subsidiary, cbdMD. The header explicitly mentions 'NYSE American: LEVB' and the date 'January 2019.' The subtitle, 'CREATING VALUE & BRAND AWARENESS,' sets a tone focused on marketing and market presence rather than technical innovation.

Slide 3: Level Brands’ History

This slide provides a timeline of the company's evolution. It notes the founding in 2015 by Kathy Ireland and Martin Sumichrast. Key milestones include the expansion into licensing in 2016, the IPO in November 2017, and the 'transformational acquisition' of cbdMD in December 2018. The slide claims cbdMD products are in 700 retail outlets and states a clear objective: 'build cbdMD into the #1 CBD company.' A Forbes cover featuring Kathy Ireland is used as a visual trust signal.

Slide 5: Innovative Licensing & Brand-Management Business Units

Level Brands details its existing business structure, focusing on 'instant brand recognition.' It lists four specific brands: kathy ireland Health & Wellness, I’M1 (Ireland Men One), EE1 (Encore Endeavor One), and Beauty & Pin-Ups. The text emphasizes creating brand awareness and accessing new markets for consumer products in health, wellness, fashion, and beauty.

The CBD Market and Product Strategy

Slide 7: What is CBD?

This is an educational slide, likely intended for investors unfamiliar with the cannabis sector in 2019. It defines Cannabidiol (CBD) as a compound from hemp with 'significant beneficial properties' and explicitly states it is non-psychoactive, meaning customers will not experience a 'high.' The visuals include a hemp field, a lab setting, and a finished bottle of cbdMD oil.

Slide 9: From Seed to Sale

This slide outlines the operational workflow: Product Dev > Formulation > Marketing. It claims to start with 'organic, domestically-sourced hemp' and follows an 'extensive production process.' The final pillar, Marketing, reiterates the strategy of targeting the 'masses, not the few,' signaling a move toward mainstream retail rather than niche dispensaries.

Slide 11: Innovative Products

This is the core 'Product' slide. It lists 78 total SKUs, broken down into 24 oils, 6 capsules, 2 gummies, 9 vape oils, 18 topicals, 6 bath bombs, and 13 pet products. The visual shows a wide array of branded packaging, emphasizing that the company has already achieved significant product depth and variety. The mention of '100% natural, hemp-derived' products serves as a quality claim.

Marketing Execution

Slide 13: Robust Marketing Campaign (Print)

Level Brands showcases its media presence with full-page spreads and advertisements in 'Entrepreneur Magazine' from September and November 2018. The slide uses these clippings to prove market validation and the 'Ahead of the Curve' positioning of the cbdMD brand. It highlights a 'Superior All-Natural Relief' message.

Slide 15: Robust Marketing Campaign (Out-of-Home)

This slide features a large photograph of a cbdMD advertisement in Times Square, dated December 31, 2018. The caption claims they were the 'First CBD company to advertise in Time Square.' This is presented as a major milestone in achieving the 'mass market' awareness mentioned in earlier slides.

Financials and Governance

Slide 17: Investor/Corporate Summary

This slide contains the most critical data for an analyst. It lists 25.4M shares outstanding and a high insider ownership of 71%. The market cap is cited at $82M with a recent price of $3.24. Financial health is shown via $15.9M in 2018 pro-forma sales, $0 long-term debt, and $4.3M in cash as of September 30, 2018. The right side of the slide details 'Revenue Earnout Hurdles,' showing a tiered share release structure tied to reaching $300M in cumulative revenue by 2023.

Slide 19: Contact Information

The deck concludes with a 'Thank you' and contact details for Investor Relations at RedChip Companies, specifically naming CEO Dave Gentry. It provides a phone number and email addresses for both the IR firm and Level Brands.

What Level Brands Does Well

The deck excels at establishing credibility through association . By leaning on the Kathy Ireland brand and the NYSE listing, it separates itself from the 'wild west' reputation of the early CBD industry. The product depth is also impressive; showing 78 SKUs suggests a mature supply chain and a ready-to-scale retail strategy. Furthermore, the Revenue Earnout Hurdles on slide 17 are a transparent way to show investors how management is incentivized to perform, linking their personal gain (shares) directly to top-line growth.

What is Missing from the Deck

Despite being a public company deck, there are significant omissions. There is no competitive analysis ; in 2019, the CBD market was becoming incredibly crowded, yet the deck does not explain how cbdMD wins against Charlotte's Web or other early leaders. There is also a lack of unit economics . While we see pro-forma sales, we don't see gross margins or the cost to acquire a customer (CAC). Finally, the regulatory risk is largely ignored. Given the shifting legal landscape of hemp and CBD in 2019, a slide addressing FDA compliance or legal hurdles would have been standard for the sector.

Lessons for Founders

Founders can learn the power of milestone-based storytelling . Level Brands doesn't just say they are good at marketing; they show a Times Square billboard. They don't just say they have products; they list 78 SKUs. For a startup, this level of specificity is much more persuasive than vague promises. Additionally, the use of insider ownership percentages is a strong signal of confidence. If you are pitching and your team owns a significant portion of the company, highlighting that 'skin in the game' can be a powerful way to align yourself with potential investors.

Frequently asked questions

What was the primary purpose of this deck?
This deck was created for investors following Level Brands' acquisition of cbdMD. It aims to rebrand the company in the eyes of the public market, moving from a general licensing firm to a specialized CBD powerhouse. It focuses on the scale of the new product line and the marketing reach already achieved to justify the $82M market capitalization.
How does the company leverage celebrity involvement?
Slide 3 and 5 highlight that the company was co-founded by Kathy Ireland. It uses her 'Supermodel Supermogul' Forbes status to lend credibility to their 'kathy ireland Health & Wellness' brand. This suggests a strategy of using established celebrity trust to bypass the typical trust-building phase required for new consumer health products.
What are the specific financial targets mentioned?
Slide 17 outlines 'Revenue Earnout Hurdles.' To trigger share releases, the company aimed for $20M in revenue in 2019, $40M in 2020, $80M in 2021-2022, and $160M in 2022-2023. This total target of $300M provides a clear roadmap for what management considers 'success' for the acquisition.
What is the distribution strategy for the CBD products?
According to slide 3, the products were available in 700 retail outlets in the US as of January 2019, alongside an 'expanding e-commerce channel.' Slide 9 reinforces this by stating their goal is to market CBD products 'for the masses, not the few,' implying a high-volume, broad-retail approach.
What critical startup metrics are missing from this deck?
Because this is a public company deck, it lacks typical venture metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Value (LTV), or a detailed 'Burn Rate.' It also lacks a slide dedicated to the competitive landscape, which is unusual for a sector as crowded as CBD was in 2019.
Cover slide of the Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck — Public (NYSE American) 2019
Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck, slide 1 (2019)

Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck: the facts

Company
Level Brands (LEVB)
Year
2019
Stage
Public (NYSE American)
Slides
19
Sector
Consumer Products / CBD
Deck type
Investor Update / Acquisition Summary
Outcome
Post-Acquisition Strategic Pivot
Headquarters
USA

Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck PDF

The full Level Brands (LEVB) deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the Level Brands (later cbdMD, Inc., NYSE American: LEVB → YCBD) pitch deck was used for

This is Level Brands’ January 2019 investor presentation, prepared shortly after closing its all‑stock acquisition of Cure Based Development, LLC, owner of the cbdMD consumer CBD brand, on December 20, 2018. At this point Level Brands was already publicly listed on the NYSE American under ticker LEVB following a 2017 IPO and was pivoting from a Kathy Ireland–anchored brand‑licensing model into a focused CBD consumer products company built around cbdMD. The deck is positioned as a corporate/investor update for public‑market and institutional investors rather than a private venture round, emphasizing the cbdMD acquisition structure, brand portfolio, and CBD market growth rather than a discrete primary capital raise.

Business model: Owner and marketer of consumer cannabidiol (CBD) brands, primarily the cbdMD line of CBD products for humans and pets, sold through e‑commerce and retail channels.

Year
2019
Headquarters
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States.
Industry
Consumer packaged goods / Cannabidiol (CBD) products.

Round: Public company corporate/investor update; no discrete primary capital round disclosed in connection with this deck.

What happened after the Level Brands (later cbdMD, Inc., NYSE American: LEVB → YCBD) deck

The January 2019 Level Brands deck marked the company’s transition from a Kathy‑Ireland–linked licensing operator into a CBD consumer products platform built around cbdMD, executed via an all‑stock acquisition of Cure Based Development; the combined company later rebranded as cbdMD, Inc. and pursued growth in the U.S. CBD market while managing dilution, regulatory uncertainty, and profitability ch

What the Level Brands (later cbdMD, Inc., NYSE American: LEVB → YCBD) deck got right

What could have been stronger

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

Risks that stand out

Questions this deck invites

What founders can take from the Level Brands (later cbdMD, Inc., NYSE American: LEVB → YCBD) deck

Level Brands (later cbdMD, Inc., NYSE American: LEVB → YCBD) pitch deck: common questions

What was Level Brands and what did it become?

Level Brands was a Charlotte, North Carolina–based company that originally operated as a brand‑licensing platform associated with Kathy Ireland Worldwide and later transformed into a CBD consumer products company through its ownership of the cbdMD brand. In May 2019, after the cbdMD transaction, the company changed its name to cbdMD, Inc. and continued trading on the NYSE American under the ticker YCBD.

What transaction is highlighted in the January 2019 Level Brands investor deck?

The deck centers on Level Brands’ all‑stock acquisition of Cure Based Development, LLC, the owner of cbdMD. Under the December 3, 2018 Merger Agreement, members of Cure Based Development received contractual rights to up to about 15.5 million shares of Level Brands common stock—representing roughly 60% of the post‑transaction company—with the issuance split between an initial 6.5 million shares upon shareholder approval and additional tranches subject to vesting and earnout conditions over up to 60 months.

When did Level Brands change its name to cbdMD, Inc. and why?

According to Level Brands’ February 2019 corporate update and related filings, the company rebranded as cbdMD, Inc. shortly after the cbdMD acquisition closed, to reflect its strategic focus on CBD products. The name change followed the December 20, 2018 closing of the Cure Based Development / cbdMD merger.

What products and differentiation does cbdMD highlight in this investor deck?

The deck and related disclosures describe cbdMD’s products as including CBD gummies, tinctures, topicals, bath bombs, oils, and pet products, marketed as THC‑free or broad‑spectrum CBD offerings derived from domestically sourced hemp. The investor materials emphasize seed‑to‑sale control, 0% THC positioning, and domestically produced, pesticide‑free hemp inputs as differentiators versus lower‑quality imported CBD oils.

How was the cbdMD acquisition structured and what ownership did it confer?

In a December 2018 announcement and subsequent filings, Level Brands stated that the consideration for acquiring Cure Based Development / cbdMD consisted of up to approximately 15.5 million shares of Level Brands common stock, with an initial 6.5 million‑share tranche issued after shareholder approval and additional shares subject to vesting and earnout conditions. Separate disclosures noted that this all‑stock structure would increase Level Brands’ shares outstanding by roughly 150% and give Cure Based Development members about 60% ownership of the combined company.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-22 from the pages below.

Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck slides

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What each slide of the Level Brands (LEVB) pitch deck says

Slide 2

Forward-looking Statements This presentation contains certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "should," "may," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "expects," "plans," and "proposes." These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ…

Slide 3

Level Brands’ History » 2015: Founded as a consumer products company led by ly Kathy Ireland & Martin Sumichrast O \ eS » 2016: Expanded into licensing & brand management EY » November 2017: Completed IPO on NYSE American ay » December 2018: Completed transformational acquisition fl 7 of cbdMD % |. » cbdMD is an accelerating CBD company with premium A products currently available in 700 retail outlets in the US S L ER 18 L & through an expanding e-commerce channel SU = MC L > Our Goal: build cbdMD into the #1 CBD company aa 4

Slide 4

Powerful Brand Building & Executive Team LEADERSHIP TEAM Q Kathy Ireland kY Chief Brand Strategist & Chairman Emeritus Martin A. Sumichrast Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board MarksS. Elliott Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer iy cbdMD TEAM Scott Coffman Founder & CEO Caryn Dunayer President BOARD OF DIRECTORS Anthony K. Shriver CEO of Best Buddies International Bakari Sellers Attorney, political analyst CNN, former member South Carolina House of Representatives Seymour Siegel President Siegel Rich, Inc. Gregory Morris Sr. Executive at Healthstat LB Level Brands

Slide 5

Innovative Licensing & Brand-Management Business Units » We provide instant brand recognition, creating kathy wreland bold, socially-responsible branding for leading HEALTH & WELLNESS businesses through our kathy ireland ® Health & he uss J Wellness and Ireland Men One (I'M 1) brands. l { M Bh » Our brand management business helps companies Ee develop strategies that create brand awareness, Ireland Men One access new markets, and sell products. | = B . ) AU » Consumer-products focused, targeting health & afm 0) 4) wellness, fashion, beauty, and entertainment. Encore Endeavor One = S = © CE) By

Slide 6

Powered by Nature. Enhanced by Science. | ar | = 7 . i cbdMD | 4 "ase = cbdMD is committed to the highest standards for CBD sourcing, extraction, and production. We offer a comprehensive line of 100% natural, hemp-derived CBD oil products, including tinctures, capsules, vape oils, bath bombs, topicals, and a full line of human-grade pet products. We pride ourselves on providing customers an all-natural alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals.

Slide 9

From Seed to Sale PRODUCT DEV > FORMULATION > MARKETING Start with organic, Extensive production Market CBD domesticallyprocess — from products for masses, sourced hemp seed to shelf not the few LB 9 Level Brands

Slide 10

The cbdMD Difference INNOVATIVE FANG D) GROWING ARE NOT bt COMMITMENT PROTECTED FROM EXIBACTION PESTICIDES TECHNIQUES LOW QUALITY HEMP LOCALLY GROWN OILIMPORTED LOCALLY MADE: e lor i) QUALITY FROM OVERSEAS . \ 0% THC "HYBRID" STANDARD CBD BROAD-SPECTRUM INNOVATION EXTRACTION, PRODUCTS WITH BENEFICIAL VALUABLE COMPOUNDS PROPERTIES — . o T - @) =< o CANNABINOIDS l 10 ZLevel Brands

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