The Cannabis Company That Won't Mix Work With Pleasure
A limited supply of cannabis in the U.S. means those resources have to be divvied up carefully.
For Cronos Group, that means keeping its medical and recreational marijuana operations in completely different verticals, CEO Michael Gorenstein told Cheddar. That ensures patients’ needs are prioritized over those of recreational users.
“If you think about building a town, and you have a limited amount of building supplies, we want to make sure that we’re building a hospital before we’re building the bar,” he said.
Canada-based Cronos Group started trading on the NASDAQ on Tuesday, making it the first marijuana company to list on a major U.S. market.
“It’s a big milestone not just for us but for the entire industry,” said Gorenstein. “[It] just continues to show the acceptance that the cannabis industry is getting.”
And the industry does seem to be growing at break-neck speed. Arcview, a leading researcher of the cannabis market, stated in a [recent report](https://arcviewgroup.com/product/5th-edition/) that the industry brought in $9.7 billion in sales in 2017, and that number could grow to over $25 billion by 2021.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/inside-the-first-cannabis-company-to-list-on-nasdaq).
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you missed in today's news. Elon Musk has increased his commitment to purchase Twitter to $33.5 billion, Apple is raising its hourly wages for retail stores to compete for talent, and Roblox has announced that it will be partnering with the medically prescribed video game ‘Endeavor’ to help treat patients with ADHD.
Actor Jimmy O. Yang is partnering with Chinese food chain Panda Express for his YouTube series "Jimmy's Kitchen." The comedian joined Cheddar News to talk about the partnership as well as upcoming ventures. "Panda Express could not be more perfect like even before this deal, I was just wearing a Panda Express hat for fun when I go outside," he said.