Medical cannabis and wellness brand Sanity Group closes a USD22 million Series A round led by Calyx, a European cannabis-focused investment fund and HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, one of Germany’s largest venture funds.
Karan Wadhera, managing partner at Casa Verde, Scooter Braun’s investment fund TQ Ventures and Berlin-based Cherry Ventures also participated in the round. The round, which is the largest cannabis financing round in Europe to date, is also TQ Ventures’ first investment into cannabis.
Los Angeles-based Casa Verde Capital is the investment firm launched by Calvin Broadus (Snoop Dogg). Existing Sanity Group investors Atlantic Food Labs and several angel investors, including the founders of German advertising agency HEIMAT also participated in the capital raise.
Founded in 2018 by German entrepreneurs and cannabis advocates Finn Hänsel and Fabian Friede, Sanity Group is a Berlin-based holding company dedicated to the research, development and licensed distribution of cannabis-based drugs and medically related products.
It is fully licensed and currently operational with two business units, Sanatio Pharma, a medical cannabis company devoted to the development of new therapies and pharmaceuticals, and wellness brand VAAY.
Sanity Group aspires to become a market leader in the German and European cannabis markets, according to the company.
“Sanity Group is not only investing in the wholesale of medical cannabis but also in research, internationalisation, drug approval, alternative dosage forms and the use of cannabinoids for wellness products, including cosmetics,” said Hänsel.
Hänsel believes that, depending on the progress of legalisation across the European continent, Europe could exceed North America in size and volume. “Our aim is to become number one in Europe,” he said.
The capital will be used to drive forward strategic projects to give people better access to medical and medically-related cannabis products.
“Sanity Group has quickly established itself at the forefront of innovation in Germany, the fastest-growing cannabis market in Europe,” says Karan Wadhera, managing partner of Casa Verde Capital.
“With a strong penetration into pharmacies across Germany, a multitude of THC and CBD formulations serving the medical cannabis segment, an array of well-being products already in market, and an assembled team of world-class scientific and operational experts, we believe the company is well-positioned to become a global leader in both the medical cannabis and wellness categories,” he added.
Subsidiaries of the Sanity Group include Sanatio Pharma GmbH (medical wholesale and research) and VAAY GmbH (wellness products).
