The startup which has raised the most money in the industry is probably the one that’s most diversified. Privateer Holdings, which is backed by funds affiliated with the investor libertarians love to love, Peter Thiel, has raised roughly $200 million since its launch. The holding company and investor has an edible company, Goodship; a medicinal cultivation business, Tilray; cannabis online resource center, Leafly; and Marley Naturals, the official line of branded cannabis products from the Marley Family.”,Eazehas been an investment darling that raised its initial funding to deliver medicinal marijuana to patients. With the push from several states to legalize recreational marijuana use, a whole new world of customers is opening up for the delivery service. Now, in states where marijuana’s legal, customers always “got a guy.””,Unlike others on the list, PharmaCann didn’t turn to traditional venture capital when it raised the $30 million it needed to grow its cultivation and dispensary business. Instead, the company turned to a real estate investment trust to raise the money for its grow facilities and dispensaries in New York and Illinois.”,Green Bitsdebuted at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in New York in 2015 with a point of sale solution for dispensaries and growers. In three short years the company has grown its operations to serve 1,000 dispensaries in seven states. No wonder the startup was able to attract the attention of New York-based investment firm Tiger Global and tha Doggfather,u00a0Snoop Dogg, through his investment firm, Casa Verde Capital.”,LeafLink,u00a0the logistics and supply chain software that aims to be the Salesforce for cannabis, has rolled up $17 million in its bid for dominance in the enterprise software tool for budding bud businesses.
Since 2016, the company has logged $186 million, working with 400 brands and 1,700 retailers, according to au00a0Business Insider report.
The numbers were enough to attract Snoop Dogg’s Casa Verde Capital along with Lerer Hippeau Ventures and U.K. investor Nosara Capital.”,Image Credits:Shutterstock (opens in a new window)MJ Freeway is yet another of the point of sale varietal of cannabis startups. The company, backed by Tao Capital and early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, has a product suite similar to Green Bits and other cannabis companies that provideu00a0″seed-to-sale traceability solutions for governments,” according to the company. The company is working with Pennsylvania and Nevada — as well as some municipalities in California.”,Image Credits:Iriana Shiyan (opens in a new window) / Shutterstock (opens in a new window)The Canadian company Anandia Labs provides testing services for the cannabis industry. With an eye toward applying the best in modern science to make the most potent (or palliative) plants, Anandia managed to hook $10 million in funding so far from a clutch of Canadian investment firms.”,Canndescent opened California’s first municipally permitted cultivation facility in 2016. Since then, the company has made its reputation selling ultra-premium marijuana in beautifully packaged, bespoke sets for different flavors. The company closed its $10 million Series B in March from Floret Ventures and Altitude Investment Partners. Now withu00a048,000 square feet of grow space and plans to expand to 100,000, Canndescent clearly wants to light up additional markets.”,
With Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumerproposing a bill to decriminalize marijuana (in a huge reversal of established policy from the Democratic leadership), this 4/20 gives cannabis-focused startups and their investors a lot to celebrate.
Since investment in cannabis companies first took off in 2014, there’s been over $700 million invested in cannabis companies, according to data from Crunchbase.
Companies that have proven to be more than one-hitters in the high-stakes industry run the gamut from conglomerates operating several business units including cultivation, delivery and branded products, to businesses that focus on delivery or point of sales and logistics solutions.
Investing in cannabis is tricky for most venture funds, because many of the pension funds and institutions that finance them restrict investments in things like alcohol, drugs or guns through what’s colloquially known as a “sin clause.”
Firms typically skirt those requirements by investing in enabling technologies or backing companies whose primary focus is medicinal.
And while the industry celebrates its success, it’s important to know that these changing times haven’t come without a huge social cost for those that bore the brunt of the country’s misguided “war on drugs.” As the Marshall Project notes:
On #420day, take a moment to reflect on Bernard Noble, a man who was sentenced to 13 years of hard labor for carrying two joints worth of weed.
Even if the decriminalization push goes through, it’s unlikely that you’ll see many investment firms getting into recreational marijuana — unless they’re backed by wealthy individuals or get some kind of exception for cannabis startups.
Either way, it looks like these nine investments — in some cases with tens of millions behind them — are unlikely to go up in smoke.
But just in case, investors may want to heed the advice of the industry’s merry godfather:
Don’t forget to leave milk and cookies out 4 me tonite! #420eve
