ADVERTISEMENT

Scooter Braun Invests in European Cannabis as Region Opens Up

Scooter Braun Invests in European Cannabis as Region Opens Up

(Bloomberg) -- A German company has secured the largest financing round to date in Europe’s growing medical cannabis sector from a group of investors including the entertainment mogul behind names like Justin Bieber and Usher.

Berlin-based Sanity Group raised $22 million in equity from Scooter Braun’s investment fund TQ Ventures and German firm Cherry Ventures. Karan Wadhera, a managing partner at Snoop Dogg’s Casa Verde Capital, also invested personal money in the round.

Currently, Sanity Group is active in Germany with medical cannabis company Sanatio Pharma and wellness brand VAAY. “Our aim is to become number one in Europe, a market that some believe could surpass North America in size and volume, depending on the progress of legalization across the European continent,” said Finn Hansel, managing director at Sanity.

Europe is set to become the world’s largest legal cannabis market over the next five years, surpassing Canada and the U.S., according to consultancy firm Prohibition Partners. Germany is by far the largest medical cannabis market in Europe, importing nearly 15,000 pounds of flower in 2019.

Holtzbrinck Ventures, Atlantic Food Labs, Calyx and several angel investors backed Sanity Group in an earlier investment round.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristine Owram in New York at kowram@bloomberg.net;Ruben Munsterman in Amsterdam at rmunsterman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Kristine Owram, Janet Freund

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.