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U.S. marijuana companies completed fewer capital raises in 2024 than in the year prior, but raised a good bit more money overall with the funding that did materialize, suggesting that some investors may be warming back up to the cannabis space.
That’s the macro takeaway from Viridian Capital Advisors’ latest update from its cannabis sector deal tracker, which reported that the overall number of capital raises in the U.S. for 2024 calendar year fell 19% from 2023, but that the amounts raised shot up by almost 18% in the same timeframe.
In the 12 months that ended on Jan. 11, 2024, cannabis companies raised $1.9 billion in investment funds, Viridian found, but that shot up this past year to $2.2 billion, largely due to an uptick in mergers and acquisitions, as well as more investment cash put behind retail and cultivation operations.
While the total number of capital raises shrank year-over-year – from 156 to 126 – the cultivation and retail sector still pulled off 58 raises – down just two from 60 raises in 2023 – for an increased total value of $1.4 billion, up 40% from 2023, Viridian found.
The investments and M&A cannabis subsector did well in 2024 too, more than doubling its total financial capital raised, to $216 million from $105 million, Viridian reported, despite completing only two raises in all of last year compared to four in 2023.
The biotech/pharma subsector saw a similar trend, with 25 raises last year instead of the 28 the year prior, but raised almost 50% more in 2024: the total raised was up to $185 million from $124 million.
Agriculture technology was another subsector winner, up to seven raises from one, for a total value of just under $49 million, up from $1.6 million in 2023. That’s a whopping increase of 2,911%, Viridian noted.
The losers in capital raises last year included:
Psychedelics, down almost 32% to $236 million from $345 million
Software and media, down 37% to $86.9 million from $138.5 million
Real estate, down almost 17% to $50 million from $60 million
Consumption devices, down 52% to $18.8 million from $39 million
Hemp, down 94% to $4.5 million from $80.5 million
“}]] [[{“value”:”The cultivation and retail sector continues to lead the pack for investment.
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