A conference in Las Vegas organized by the ArcView Group, an angel investor firm based in San Francisco, allowed 12 marijuana entrepreneurs to pitch their products to 140 investors, Bloomberg reported. Each of them was given 15 minutes to convince the investors to fund their enterprises.
One of them was Daniel Yazbeck, an entrepreneur who was pitching a handheld device that allows pot users to test their marijuana. As a lead investor in MyDx, a product that was made by CDx Inc, he said he was willing to give a 20% stake in the analyzer company in exchange for $1.25 million.
Yazbeck said, "It's a tool that will not only educate but will also empower people with healthier lives by knowing what's in everything they eat, drink and inhale." He also presented a video of the product which also has the capability of detecting pesticides present in food as well as water contaminants, the report said.
Other entrepreneurs who also made their pitches to convince investors to bankroll their products were Ebbu Co-Founders Jon Cooper and Dooma Wenschuh. Their products included pre-rolled joints and e-cigarette refills which are labeled to determine the kind of high they give, the report said.
The meeting came just after Colorado legalized the sale of marijuana, with retail marijuana stores opening on January to long consumer queues. In 2012, Colorado and Washington were the first to permit the use of recreational marijuana, prompting increasing investor interest, the report said.
The participants of the meeting were welcomed with ArcView President Steve DeAngelo who greeted them with, "Welcome to the golden age of cannabis investing." DeAngelo, who also co-founded the medical marijuana dispensary Harborside Health Center, also told investors, "There will never, ever be another time when the deals for investors will be as good as they will be over the course of the next couple of years. So be cautious, do your due diligence, be deliberate, be wise. But have your checkbooks ready. The time is now."
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