Overall funding to cannabis-centered startups has ballooned in the past two years, up over 90% since 2014 despite a slight decrease in 2016’s investment levels.
While private investment to the industry remains siloed among a select group of cannabis-focused investors, institutional investors such as Founders Fund, Y Combinator, and 500 Startups are slowly taking notice.
As the industry continues to grow, startups are finding new ways to tailor technologies such as HR tech or order management platforms specifically to cannabis businesses. In addition to dispensaries, startups are building digital compliance solutions, data analysis tools, and a host of consumer product goods.
We used CB Insights data to identify over 60 private companies focused on cannabis functions and mapped them into eight main categories.
Click on the image to enlarge. This map is not meant to be exhaustive of companies in the space.
The breakdown is as follows:
- Medical Cannabis: Companies such as PharmaCannis produce or sell marijuana intended for medicinal purposes.
- Delivery/E-Commerce: Companies such as Eaze Solutions or Flow Kana develop direct-to-consumer marijuana delivery facilitation platforms or online marketplaces.
- Management Services: Companies such as Strainz, a brand management company, provide business management services to the cannabis industry.
- Cannabis Production: Companies growing marijuana for either recreational or recreational & medicinal use.
- Payments/Tracking/Compliance: Companies such as Optileaf or Hypur develop digital solutions to aid order and sales management, payments processing, compliance assurance, and seed-to-sale tracking.
- Consumer Products: Companies such as Jane West make and sell cannabis-based products or cannabis accessories direct-to-consumer.
- Investors/Holding Companies: These are the most active cannabis-centered investment firms and holding companies.
- Data/Analytics: Companies such as Headset are developing data-based business and market intelligence tools specifically aimed at the cannabis industry.
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Track cannabis startups| Company | Total Disclosed Funding ($M) | Category | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| PharmaCannis | $45 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Aphria | $6.24 | Medical Cannabis | Broadband Capital, Delavaco Group, York Plains Investment Group |
| Minnesota Medical Solutions | $16.61 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Leafline Labs | $15.10 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Surterra Holdings | $10.31 | Medical Cannabis | Valkyrie Capital |
| Pharmacielo | $7.81 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Altmed | $7.50 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Theraplant | $7 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Ask The Pot Scientist | $12 | Medical Cannabis | Undisclosed Investors |
| Flow Kana | $0.26 | Delivery/E-commerce | Undisclosed Investors |
| Grassp | $1.50 | Delivery/E-commerce | Undisclosed Investors |
| Eaze Solutions | $24.50 | Delivery/E-commerce | 500 Startups, Casa Verde Capital, Slow Ventures |
| Tradiv | $4.64 | Delivery/E-commerce | Anslinger Capital, CanopyBoulder, Poseidon Asset Management |
| Meadow Care | $2.22 | Delivery/E-commerce | Liquid 2 Ventures, Poseidon Asset Management, Y Combinator |
| Arbor Pacific | $2.30 | Management Services | Undisclosed Investors |
| Medmen | $18.75 | Management Services | Cap-Meridian Ventures, N Squared Management |
| Reynold Greenleaf & Associates | $2.30 | Management Services | iAnthus Capital Holdings |
| Electrum Partners | $1.01 | Management Services | Undisclosed Investors |
| Strainz | $8 | Management Services | Undisclosed Investors |
| Adistry | $0.12 | Management Services | CanopyBoulder |
| Rubicon Holdings | $5.72 | Cannabis Production | Undisclosed Investors |
| Mindful | $3.94 | Cannabis Production | Undisclosed Investors |
| Canndescent | $6.50 | Cannabis Production | Adam Cohen, Adrian Sedlin, Lee McPherson |
| Copperstate Farms | $27.10 | Cannabis Production | Aphria |
| Solstice Group | $2.10 | Cannabis Production | Undisclosed Investors |
| MJ Freeway | $8.03 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Adam Wiggins, Roger McNamee, Tao Capital Partners |
| Wurk | $1.02 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | ArcView Group, CanopyBoulder, Poseidon Asset Management |
| S2 Solutions | $1 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Undisclosed Investors |
| Flowhub | $1.86 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Poseidon Asset Management |
| Biotrackthc | $5 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Merida Capital Partners |
| PayQwick | $1.05 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Undisclosed Investors |
| KindManage | $3.50 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Undisclosed Investors |
| OptiLeaf | $0.69 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Undisclosed Investors |
| Hypur | $6.18 | Payments/Tracking/Compliance | Undisclosed Investors |
| CanopyBoulder | $1.20 | Investors/Holding Companies | ArcView Group |
| Casa Verde Capital | N/A | Investors/Holding Companies | N/A |
| Privateer Holdings | $122 | Investors/Holding Companies | Founders Fund, Undisclosed Investors |
| Poseidon Asset Management | N/A | Investors/Holding Companies | N/A |
| The Arcview Group | $1.42 | Investors/Holding Companies | Undisclosed Investors |
| MJIC | $2.40 | Investors/Holding Companies | Undisclosed Investors |
| Cronos Group | N/A | Investors/Holding Companies | N/A |
| Dixie Brands | $8 | Investors/Holding Companies | Undisclosed Investors |
| Syqe Medical | $22.03 | Consumer Products | OurCrowd, Philip Morris International |
| Green Gorilla | $2.51 | Consumer Products | Steven Saxton, Undisclosed Investors |
| Mirth Provisions | $2 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| AD Remedies | $0.28 | Consumer Products | ArcView Group, MJIC |
| CWB Holdings | $4.25 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Kush Bottles | $2.27 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Nutiva | $21 | Consumer Products | MB Financial |
| Jane West | $0.80 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Therabis | $0.50 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Hound Labs | $1.71 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Suncliff | $1.77 | Consumer Products | Undisclosed Investors |
| Leaf | $2.02 | Consumer Products | CanopyBoulder, CJV Capital, Phyto Partners |
| Headset | $1.43 | Data/Analytics | Undisclosed Investors |
| Potbotics | $2.36 | Data/Analytics | Undisclosed Investors |
| Frontier Financial Group | $2.53 | Data/Analytics | MJIC |
| Baker | $3.18 | Data/Analytics | 500 Startups, Base Ventures, Poseidon Asset Management |
| Confident Cannabis | $3.12 | Data/Analytics | Slow Ventures |
| Steep Hill | $1.00 | Data/Analytics | ArcView Group |
| BDS Analytics | $2.02 | Data/Analytics | CanopyBoulder |
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