If there were a Mount Rushmore of celebrity cannabis advocates, Snoop Dogg would certainly make the cut. What started as a lifestyle became a business opportunity for the entertainer whose real name is Calvin Broadus. Though a West Coast hip hop progenitor, his second career as cannabis entrepreneur has been just as impressive.
In 2015, Snoop co-founded Casa Verde Capital, an investment firm that focuses on the “ancillary” aspects of the cannabis industry, like tech, transportation, and media. Casa Verde reached a milestone this month, officially raising more than $45 million in capital. The company focused on individual investors and limited relationships to collect the money.
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Karan Wadhera, Snoop’s managing partner at Casa Verde, explained to TechCrunch that the company at first struggled to raise capital. But Snoop’s credibility within the cannabis scene eventually led Casa Verde to take off in the way that it has. The investment firm has also focused on investing in companies with leaders who have run successful enterprises outside the cannabis industry first, though they don’t limit themselves in that way either.
Calvin Broadus, aka @SnoopDogg, is making millions in green with his new cannabis investment firm: pic.twitter.com/hrpsvHRCfB
— The Root (@TheRoot) March 29, 2018
“We’re writing seed-stage to Series A-size checks, so $1 million plus, with roughly half our fund reserved for follow-on investments, where we can write another $3 million to $5 million [to a limited number of breakout companies],” Wadhera said. “And we’re only focused on the ancillary part of the cannabis industry, so we won’t invest in companies that touch the plants. No dispensaries or cultivators or manufacturers. We’re investing in the picks and shovels.”
He also explained that Snoop can be hands-off in the investment process but within certain industries where he’s more comfortable, he’ll be more involved.
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“He’s hands-off on the investment process, but when it comes to certain companies, he’s very involved, including with Merry Jane, a lifestyle media site [focused around cannabis],” said Wadhera. “That’s content. That’s media. That’s Snoop’s bread and butter.”
