- Bonaventure Equity is raising $30 million to bet on life-science startups in the cannabis industry.
- Founder Ross O’Brien says the startups fall into three categories: ag-tech, biotech, and healthcare.
- The fund will also look at investments in the emerging psychedelics space.
As more jurisdictions around the world legalize cannabis, a number of life-science startups have cropped up to support the burgeoning industry — and these startups are hungry for investors.
That’s the bet that Bonaventure Equity, a venture-capital firm, is making. Ross O’Brien, the firm’s founder and managing partner, told Insider that he and his team are raising a $30 million fund to chase down these types of deals, focusing on seed and Series A companies.
A ‘life sciences’ approach to cannabis
O’Brien says he broadly defines “life sciences” to encompass three different buckets: ag-tech, biotech, and healthcare. The fund is also evaluating investments into psychedelics, which are thought to have a range of benefits for mental health.
“We were very much concerned with the irrational exuberance — the investor enthusiasm — in this quote, unquote ‘green rush,'” O’Brien said.
While public cannabis stocks have cratered in recent months, venture investing has ticked up in the sector. Investors poured $2.7 billion into cannabis startups in 2021, up from $1.5 billion in 2020, according to…
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- Bonaventure Equity is raising $30 million to bet on life-science startups in the cannabis industry.
- Founder Ross O’Brien says the startups fall into three categories: ag-tech, biotech, and healthcare.
- The fund will also look at investments in the emerging psychedelics space.
As more jurisdictions around the world legalize cannabis, a number of life-science startups have cropped up to support the burgeoning industry — and these startups are hungry for investors.
That’s the bet that Bonaventure Equity, a venture-capital firm, is making. Ross O’Brien, the firm’s founder and managing partner, told Insider that he and his team are raising a $30 million fund to chase down these types of deals, focusing on seed and Series A companies.
A ‘life sciences’ approach to cannabis
O’Brien says he broadly defines “life sciences” to encompass three different buckets: ag-tech, biotech, and healthcare. The fund is also evaluating investments into psychedelics, which are thought to have a range of benefits for mental health.
“We were very much concerned with the irrational exuberance — the investor enthusiasm — in this quote, unquote ‘green rush,'” O’Brien said.
While public cannabis stocks have cratered in recent months, venture investing has ticked up in the sector. Investors poured $2.7 billion into cannabis startups in 2021, up from $1.5 billion in 2020, according to…
