Analysts: UK is Europe’s Fastest Growing Hub for Marijuana investment
The new report by Europe’s leading cannabis consultancy firm calls Europe’s cannabis and CBD sector “thriving, innovative and profitable – and primed for explosive growth” and highlights the role of London as the major hub for investments into this budding industry.
Impressive Growth in 2021
In their report, Hanway Associates and their partners have estimated the size of both private and public investment in cannabis stocks and startups at over €1.2 billion. Surprisingly, a whopping 20% of that total were raised in the first half of 2021.
If this trend continues, analysts forecast that private investors alone will raise as much as €350 million for European cannabis companies by the end of the year.
The growing acceptance of the substance—mostly of CBD but also of medical marijuana in general—attracts more and more organizations and individuals who wouldn’t have thought of supporting this ‘taboo’ business before.
Thus, the number of cannabis-related IPOs increased 50% in the first half of this year compared to the same period of 2020. There’s also been much progress in crowdfunding. According to Seedrs who have welcomed cannabusiness for the first time ever this year, companies such as Aphagreen, Grow and Voyager, and others have used their platform to raise over €6.32 million from the beginning of 2021.
London is at the Forefront of Change
Analysts point to the UK as the major hub of Europe’s cannabis sector. It comes as no surprise since London’s AIM exchange was the home to the first European cannabis-related IPO ever. It was GW Pharmaceuticals, the creator of Epidiolex and other cannabis-derived medicines, that went public here in 2001.
More recently, Cellular Goods, a company backed by David Beckham, made its debut on London Stock Exchange and saw its stock value surge 470%—to over $100 million.
According to Marcus Stuttard from London Stock Exchange plc, more and more companies in the sector choose this marketplace “to continue their growth journey”.
