Cannabis Sativa Inc (OTCMKTS:CBDS) Just Bought The Yelp of Recreational Marijuana

California is next in line to benefit from the rapidly expanding recreational marijuana industry, and a number of companies are positioning themselves to benefit from this statewide advantage. A company that we have looked at on a number of occasions in the past here at Insider Financial just closed on an acquisition that sees it penetrate the California market, acquiring thousands of instant customer relationships in the process, and establishing itself as one of the go to resources for both recreational and medical marijuana consumers in the state. The company is Cannabis Sativa Inc (OTCMKTS:CBDS), and the acquisition is a web portal and application called iBudtender.When Cannabis Sativa first announced its memorandum of understanding to acquire the portal, markets didn't really pay too much attention. Similarly, on the closing, around a month later (late August) the acquisition didn't really have too much of an impact on the company's market capitalization. Fast-forward a little over a month, however, and as we approach the November California ballot, it seems as though investors are finally starting to look at which companies have an established customer base in the state, and rewarding the ones that do. We think Cannabis Sativa got a jump on the marijuana markets with this acquisition, and we also think that investors can get a jump on wider markets with a Cannabis Sativa exposure.The platform has the potential to be the Yelp of the cannabis space.It contains a directory of thousands of dispensaries, cafés, etc. through which users can locate and educate themselves about certain establishments. It has voting and review system (much like Yelp) that allows customers of these establishments to recommend (or otherwise) each establishment, and in turn, the establishment in question can interact with customers in response.It’s this sort of acquisition that is going to make the difference going forward. Many companies are vying for a piece of the not-yet-available recreational marijuana pie in California, and this vying is set to continue for the foreseeable future as more and more states give the green light for commercial production and sale. If Cannabis Sativa can play its cards right with iBudtender, it could quickly and easily become (many will argue it already is) the go to platform for locating, reviewing and listing marijuana related entities. Right now, it's California based, but here's the thing: unlike some of the other enterprises that new players in the cannabis space are starting up in an attempt to draw revenues, iBudtender requires very little (if any) capital to expand into other states as they join the list of legalization locations.If Florida gives recreational marijuana the green light late next year, a national retailer already operating in Colorado needs to identify locations, ship stock, hire staff, train said staff, acquire local business licenses, etc. With iBudtender, Cannabis Sativa needs to do nothing but contact the entities local to the state, and ask them to list on the directory. With the sign up rate seen in California already (pre recreational legalization) this doesn’t look like it's going to be an issue. Then it's just a case of a localized marketing campaign to draw Floridia users to the site to start voting.In short, this platform gives the company the opportunity to jump from state to state, as and when legalization applies, and expand into a rapidly growing market at negligible cost. Revenues derive from advertising, promotional listings, direct to consumer marketing, and a hundred other monetization opportunities along a similar business plan to Yelp's early days of growth.All this, and we've not even mentioned the company's own brand of dispensaries and cannabis based products.Management is strong and infrastructure is in place and – with iBudtender on the roster – this one looks like a good exposure to the industry growth.Cash is weak, so expect some level of dilution near term, but with the low growth capital required to expand with the market a) this dilution shouldn’t be too severe and b) the capital raised should provide an above average ROI if put to effective use.Subscribe below and we will update you as we hear more about CBDY's expansion operations and its plans for iBudtender!Disclosure: We have no position in CBDS and have not been compensated for this article.