On November 2nd, Chris Schnarr of Extreme Cannabis, will speak at Kahner Global’s 2nd Annual Cannabis Private Investment Summit in Toronto. This event gathers industry leaders and investors for a day of collaboration and networking.
Extreme Cannabis is a Canadian investment fund and accelerator launched by Chris Schnarr and partners under the umbrella group Extreme Venture Partners. Their aim is to make investments in the ancillary sector of the cannabis space, which is what they see as this rapidly emerging second wave.
As entrepreneurs step up and fill in the additional needs in the industry—from operations to software to product efficiency and inventory management, content platforms, mobile apps, devices, testing systems, etc.—Extreme Cannabis puts the funds in place. The team from Extreme Venture Partners, are, as Schnarr says, “Arguably the most successful seed stage and early stage investors in Canada.”
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Schnarr wants to avoid the standardized graphs and charts for analysis and instead tell a story about the cannabis plant, providing information that isn’t common knowledge. He plans to literally look back on a global scale over five millennia. “It has a rich history and an amazing story, so I want to look at that and talk to the folks about that. We’ll also be looking at understanding the plant itself, what’s in it, why it works, understanding the compounds and effects to the human body… What does it all mean from a disease perspective and then have a look at the results and where the industry is today.”
Another pet project for Schnarr is Canopy Growth. They were looking for some more public company experience, an area where Schnarr has a reasonably deep portfolio that is 20 years strong. In those days, the only thing was the licensed producers, there was nowhere else to go, but Schnarr saw it as a great opportunity and says, “I feel very blessed to be part of it.”
Canopy Growth is the largest producer of legal cannabis in the world and the largest cannabis company by market cap, so it’s been an amazing experience for Schnarr and he’s learned “a ton” along the way. He also sits on the board of their sister company, Canopy Health innovations, which is more focused on the development of very specific uses for the drug, “and I’ve learned so much,” he told The Fresh Toast, his grin audible.
One of the things he’s learned about are that different companies are taking different approaches to medicating with cannabis. Some are isolating cannabinoids while others swear by full-plant extract.
“There’s a mix of companies doing both,” said Schnarr, “It’s a very rich plant, with different active components inside the plant. There are different companies who are trying to pull out one particular constituent, for example CBD, cannabidiol, and get it in a very isolated fashion for a variety of conditions, pain would be an example, and there are others who are more trying to take advantage of the broad spectrum of the plant itself and what you sometimes hear called the entourage effect where somehow mother nature has crafted this symphony inside the plant where the different compounds and constituents, where they work together seem to be more effective, seem to have an enhanced effect rather than pulling it all apart and using individual pieces.”
Time will likely tell us that there’s going to be success and viability in both approaches, and Schnarr’s work with Extreme Cannabis, Canopy Growth and Canopy Health Innovations are sure to turn over new leaves and lend to a hearty discussion at the Cannabis Private Investment Summit.
