Casa Verde Capital, the venture firm cofounded by Snoop Dogg, closed its debut fund with $45 million, TechCrunch reports.
The very on-brand venture firm makes seed and Series A investments on businesses working ancillary to the cannabis industry. Casa Verde Capital’s website says a cannabis business is considered ancillary when it is “not touching the plant,” even though the plant is legal in a growing number of states, including Snoop’s own state of California.
Still, with the threat of a federal crackdown led by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, it makes financial sense that the risk adverse would want to invest in businesses that are cannabis adjacent. Casa Verde Capital is focusing its substantial resources on ancillary businesses developing ag-tech, health and wellness, financial services, technology, media, compliance, and laboratory technology. According to the firm’s managing partner, Karan Wadhera, who came from Goldman Sachs, the firm has made eight “seed-stage to Series A-size investments” of “$1 million plus” so far, with the largest going to LeafLink, a marketplace for retailers and brands.
While Wadhera admits that Snoop is “hands-off on the investment process,” his involvement gives the firm a little cannabis cred and, presumably, its theme song.
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