It appears that marijuana businesses may be coming into their own with today’s announcement of a large venture capital firm buying into the pot industry. According to the Associated Press, Founder’s Fund, the $2 billion firm run by Silicon Valley stars including Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of Paypal, is investing in Privateer Holdings, a marijuana company that owns several pot-related brands.
Privateer, based in Seattle, owns the Canadian medical marijuana producer Tilray and the pot information service Leafly. It is also launching a brand of marijuana and products with the family of Bob Marley called Marley Natural.
Founders Fund partner Geoff Lewis said in an interview that he believes the broader legalization of marijuana is inevitable. Currently, there are 23 states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana for medical purposes or recreational use.
Four states have legalized marijuana for recreational use including Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Alaska and Oregon will become the next states where recreational marijuana is legal after voters approved cannabis ballot measures set to become effective in 2015.
Learn more about what this means for the industry in this CBS News report: