Marijuana company fundraising through the first half of this year more than tripled from a year ago, according to a recent tally, as more marijuana stocks populate exchanges in the U.S. and Canada.
XMarijuana businesses raised $4.3 billion through the end of last month, according to data from cannabis advisory firm Viridian Capital Advisors cited by Marijuana Business Daily.
The industry is on track to bring in $8 billion by the end of the year, up from $3.5 billion in 2017.
Marijuana Stocks Rake In Money
Of the $4.3 billion raised during the first half of this year, companies with marijuana stocks that trade publicly raised $3.29 billion, according to Viridian's tally. Privately held cannabis companies raised $1.04 billion.
Public and private companies raised a combined total of $3.18 billion in equity and $1.15 billion in debt.
Overall, cultivation and retail outfits led the charge, raking in more than $2.5 billion.
Among notable recent fundraising efforts, marijuana producer Acreage Holdings said this month that it had raised $119 million, an amount the company believes is the largest ever for the cannabis industry.
Mainstream Acceptance
Legal recreational marijuana sales in Canada begin on Oct. 17. Marijuana companies in Canada have been consolidating and trying to bring in more shareholders ahead of that date.
In the U.S., President Trump in June said he would "probably" back a bipartisan bill that would keep the federal government from meddling in states' efforts to craft their own marijuana policy.
However, Acreage President George Allen, in an interview earlier this month, said the company was content to confine its operations in the U.S.
"If you go to Canada, you're going to be competing with folks that have been raising piles of capital at a fundamentally different price point than our capital," he said then.
Marijuana Stocks Mixed
Acreage also plans to go public in Canada on the Canadian Securities Exchange this fall via a reverse takeover deal.
Meanwhile, LivWell, which has rights to Willie Nelson's marijuana brand, also plans to go public in Canada. Similarly, Dixie Brands, based in Colorado, said this month that intended to complete a reverse takeover of Academy Explorations. The company will also apply to list on the CSE.
MedMen, a large U.S. marijuana cultivator and retailer began trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange in May.
While U.S. pot companies seek Canadian listings, Canadian pot companies are listing in the U.S.
Canada's Cronos Group (CRON) and Canopy Growth Corp. (CGC) listed on the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, respectively, earlier this year.
Tilray (TLRY), another Canadian pot company, this month became the first marijuana IPO on a major exchange.
Cronos Group climbed 2.2% on the stock market today. Canopy Growth edged up 0.8%, while Tilray lost 3.2%.
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