According to new reports, the weed industry is going up in a major way (as if it wasn't already a fact). Within the first five weeks of 2018, the cannabis industry has managed to reel in $1.23 billion in investments as indicated by Viridian Capital Advisors. This news indicates a growth of at least 600 percent from January of 2017 when investments were recorded at $178 million. Even more impressive is the fact that January's numbers almost surpassed 2017's total figure of $1.29 billion.
Viridian Capital Advisors suggests that the reason for this sudden rise can be credited to cultivation and retail companies that have been predominately driven by players in Canada. "We are seeing a steady maturation of the capital markets around the cannabis industry," Viridian Capital Advisors’ Vice President Harrison Phillips told Benzinga. "Early on, it was almost entirely high net worth individuals — and maybe a few family offices — investing in the cannabis space. Now, we are seeing more family offices getting involved, more high net worth individuals, more professional investors getting involved."
Phillips went on to add to compare this recent surge in investors to the boom that the industry saw earlier on with entrepreneurs. “Similar to how entrepreneurs get into the cannabis space and get involved in businesses that are similar to those they were working in, outside the cannabis space, we are seeing the same on the investment side."