Staff
CNvest announced the sixteen finalists chosen to present at the CNvest: Terps and Tech 2018 cannabis industry startup and investor conference, taking place at the Hilton San Jose, Calif. on April 9. Each company will meet potential investors and business partners at CNvest and one lucky winner will be selected by investors in the audience to receive a $10,000 prize.
Applications were received from startups seeking funding located across North America, from Southern California to Eastern Canada. The entries were analyzed by cannabis industry editors, reporters, and influencers whose backgrounds make them exceptionally qualified to uncover aspects of businesses that could help them thrive in the complex cannabis market. Green Market Report is a media partner with CNvest and Editor-In-Chief Debra Borchardt was one of the judges for the pitch contest.
CNvest finalists earned top scores on a set of criteria that determined both a company’s market and investment potential. In addition to two companies in stealth mode that will be revealed at the event, the CNvest: Terps and Tech finalists include (in alphabetical order):
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Harvest Direct Enterprises
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Medusa Labs
In addition to Borchardt, the CNvest: Terps and Tech judges include:
- Graham Abbott, editor-in-chief of Ganjapreneur
- Brandon Dorfman, editor, PotNetwork
- Alex Halperin, editor, WeedWeek and “High Time” columnist at The Guardian
- Javier Hasse, author of Start Your Own Cannabis Business (Entrepreneur Media, April 2018), mainstream media cannabis reporter.
- David Heldreth, cannabis industry reporter, Cannabiz Journal
- Kristen Yoder, industry pundit and consultant, CEO of Soil to the Oil
- Greg Zeman, associate editor, Cannabis Now Magazine
In addition to the startup pitches from finalists, the CNvest program includes four panels, each introducing cannabis industry sector to investors in the audience, and two featured speakers:
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Carter Laren is the co-founder of Backplane Capital, a seed stage venture firm focused on the cannabis industry, and a co-founder of Gateway, widely recognized as the premier business accelerator for startups in the cannabis space.
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Sumit Mehta is CEO of Mazakali, finance and strategy Consultant to The Arcview Group, and managing partner at Emerald Ventures. A frequent speaker at investment seminars, he currently serves on Canopy’s Investment Committee and acts as a shark and mentor to both Arcview and Canopy companies.
Accredited investors wishing to attend can purchase tickets at https://cannanewswire.co/cnves
