AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Welcome to Insider Cannabis, our weekly newsletter where we're bringing you an inside look at the deals, trends, and personalities driving the multibillion-dollar global cannabis boom.
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Hello everyone,
Can't believe it's already August. We're busy prepping for a whirlwind week of earnings – we've got Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries, and Trulieve, among many other multistate operators reporting.
We've also lined up a few interviews with execs, so get in touch if there are questions you'd like us to ask.
What else?
Yeji has a look at the hottest psychedelic startups this year. It could take years for pot shops to open in New York - 2023 is one Wall Street analyst's optimistic guess.
I went on the WVON Morning Show today to discuss the issues facing social equity licenses in the cannabis industry, the big money lobbying for legalization, and more. If you had a chance to listen, let me know what you think.
Let's get to it.
- Jeremy Berke (@jfberke) & Yeji Jesse Lee (@jesse_yeji)
If you like what you read, share this newsletter with your colleagues, friends, boss, spouse, strangers on the internet, or whomever else would like a weekly dose of cannabis news.
Here's what we wrote about this week:
Here are the 15 hottest psychedelics startups that are set to take off in 2021, according to top investors
Insider asked the top VC investors in the psychedelics space to name the most promising startups in the industry. They gave us 15 names. Three companies - Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, Beckley Psytech, and Delix Therapeutics - received 2 or more votes.
5 states legalized cannabis this year. But a top Wall Street analyst says it could take years for marijuana shops in states like New York to open.
Cantor Fitzgerald's Pablo Zuanic said in a Monday note that despite a slew of new states legalizing cannabis, it could take years before we see dispensaries open in some states. Zuanic predicted that New York's adult-use market won't come online before 2023.
What to know about the booming psychedelics industry, where companies are racing to turn magic mushrooms and MDMA into approved medicines
Everything you need to know about the top investors and hottest companies in the booming psychedelics industry.
Executive moves
- Former Supreme Cannabis CEO Beena Goldberg is taking over as Organigram's CEO, effective September 9.
- Psychedelics company Delix Therapeutics said on Monday that it had appointed clinical development veteran Dr. Brigitte Robertson as chief medical officer.
- Bo Becker, formerly of Charlotte's Web, is taking over as chief marketing officer at California cannabis company Papa & Barkley.
- Cronos Group announced on Friday that Bob Madore, the former American Eagle Outfitters CFO, would be replacing Jerry Barbato.
- The US Cannabis Council named Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley as board chair.
Deals, launches, and IPOs
- Cannabis hydroponics company Hydrofarm said on Tuesday that it had acquired Canada's Greenstar Plant Products in an $83 million cash and stock deal, the latest in a slew of recent acquisitions by the company.
- Psychedelics company Cybin began trading on the NYSE on Wednesday, under the symbol "CYBN." The company said its stocks would continue to trade on the Canadian NEO Exchange under the same ticker.
- Cannabis marketing and tech company Surfside closed a $4 million seed round, led by Casa Verde Capital.
- Cannabis company Fire & Flower is acquiring assets from Wikileaf, a cannabis information site, in a $7.5 million deal.
- Prohibition Partners is acquiring cannabis media company Business of Cannabis. The companies did not disclose financial terms.
- Trulieve is launching recreational cannabis brands with names like Momenta, Muse, and Sweet Talk.
- MariMed is collaborating with Boston-based ice cream company Emack & Bolio to launch a line of cannabis-infused ice cream.
Research and data
- Sand flies that carry leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease, like munching on cannabis plants, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Earnings
- The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company released its fiscal 2021 Q3 results on Wednesday, reporting $1.61 billion in net sales and $225.9 million in net income.
- Innovative Industrial Properties released its 2021 Q2 results on Thursday, reporting $48.9 million in net revenue and $29 million in net income.
- Cronos Group released its Q2 results on Friday, reporting $15.6 million in net revenue and $56.8 million in net income.
- Canopy Growth released its fiscal Q1 2022 results on Friday, reporting $136.2 million in net revenue and $392.4 million in net income.
What we're reading
Some pot license winners now looking to sell to highest bidder (Chicago Sun-Times)
Canopy execs earn raises, bonuses after cannabis giant loses CA$1.7 billion (MJ Biz Daily)
Opinion: Stop treating prescription meds and illegal drugs differently (Insider)
Indigenous tribes taking the lead on legal weed (City & State New York)
No hangovers or beer bellies: Cannabis firms try to woo booze drinkers (Politico)
Lessons from Colorado, the Country's Oldest Cannabis Market (Cannabis Wire)
Pa. patients swear by cannabis as a tool to fight opioid addiction. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)