Viridian Capital Advisors reported that cannabis companies raised $13.8 billion dollars in 2018. They also had over 300 acquisition and merger deals across the legal cannabis sector. This is an impressive figure that is around four times greater than the 3.5 billion raised by cannabis firms in 2017. Cannabis is big business that involves millions of dollars and at times billions of dollars in investment funds. The vice president of Viridian Capital Advisors Harrison Phillips was quoted saying “The pharmaceutical association of cannabis is going to be a significant opportunity, it takes time for medical research to catch up but we expect to see more and more of this.”
Medical Cannabis Companies Seeing Continued Success
Cannabis-based businesses that work in the medical side of the legal cannabis sector are poised to see exponential growth in the coming years. Cardiol Therapeutics is a Canadian-based cannabis company with an estimated value of $11.1 million U.S. Toradol Therapeutic specializes in formulating cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals specifically engineered for patients with heart disease and cancer. Caylex Peak is a multi-state cannabis firm that successfully raised $30 million dollars to help expand operations. Viridian Capital Advisors vice president also believes that investors are serious about the CBD market pertaining to hemp.
With Hemp Legal, the Money is Moving Quickly
With the 2018 farm bill removing hemp from a schedule 1 position, many new doors have opened in 2019 for the expansion of hemp-derived CBD businesses. Level Brands recently bought Cure Base Development along with 700 third-party locations. Both Level Brands and Cure Base Development are North Carolina based businesses. This investment shows the quick movement of investors in the U.S. upon the legalization of hemp.
It will be quite interesting to see how these markets and mergers develop in the years to come. More so though, it will be quite fascinating to see where these numbers stand just a few years down the road.
