OurCrowd, 7thirty set up $30 million fund to invest in cannabis tech

OurCrowd, the Jerusalem-based crowdfunding venture capital, said it will invest and partner with US based 7thirty fund to set up a new $30 million global cannabis technology venture capital fund.

The new fund, which will be based in Boulder, Colorado, will focus on emerging cannabis technology companies in med-tech, ag-tech, retail, e-commerce, marketplaces, SaaS solutions, and the deep-tech research in cannabis. The fund will invest in Israel, Canada and the United States, OurCrowd said in a statement on Wedensday.

“The explosive growth of the legal and medical cannabis market is quite impressive. Canada recently legalized cannabis nationwide and Israel is in the final stages of legalizing cannabis export,” said Jon Medved, the CEO of OurCrowd in a statement. “The amount of serious medical research in cannabis is booming. This market will generate unprecedented global investment activity and returns for cannabis focused startups.”

The 7thirty Opportunity Fund is led by the Micah Tapman, an US early stage investor in cannabis technology. Prior to founding 7thirty, Micah was a co-founder at CanopyBoulder, where he led investments in over 90 cannabis related companies.

Israel is a “recognized leader and pioneer in cannabis technology,” said Tapman in the statement. Together with OurCrowd, he said, “we plan to bring a institutional discipline and rigor to the cannabis technology investment market.”

Israel is known as a pioneer in cannabis research. Hebrew University’s Prof. Raphael Mechoulam kick-started the field in 1964, when he discovered tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

As of end December, there were eight cannabis growing companies operating in Israel and several others involved in production, marketing and distribution.

OurCrowd has already invested in Israeli cannabis technology companies like Syqe Medical, the statement said.