Tilt CEO Is Bullish on U.S. Cannabis, Expects Market to Reach $100 Billion
*By Chloe Aiello*
Tilt Holdings CEO Alex Coleman is bullish on U.S. cannabis ー and Tilt is positioning itself to have a presence all across the country to take full advantage of the shift from medical to recreational legalization as it happens.
"There's no question this will be the biggest market ー our internal numbers say probably $100 billion. The only variable in that is the time all these states go recreational and the price," Coleman told Cheddar on Thursday.
Tilt is an enterprise cannabis company focused on technology and infrastructure for the marijuana industry. The company sees revenue both from the cultivation and sales of cannabis, and from ancillary industries like software services. Tilt [reported on Thursday](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/tilt-holdings-reports-preliminary-consolidated-revenue-for-january-2019-and-fiscal-year-2018-20190214-00486) preliminary consolidated revenue of $18.3 million USD for January 2019 ー the first indication of the company's performance since it went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in December.
Coleman said listing was a strategic maneuver to enable more acquisitions, but that he would like to see some appreciation in the company's estimated $750 million market cap before it makes more acquisitions or considers a move onto U.S. markets.Coleman did say, however, that a U.S. listing would be "ideal" and that the company would try to access the U.S. markets with its "substantial" ancillary revenue.
Tilt is also attempting to gain a foothold in U.S. states that have already legalized medical use to "capture the conversion" to recreational, Coleman said.
He thinks the opportunity to scale the market exists in those states, even if federal laws have not yet caught up to the state trend.
"It's interesting, everyone was discounting the industry based on the federal-state conflict, but that's really not the right way to look at it," said.
Aside from the U.S., Tilt also has its gaze trained on Europe, which is shaping up to be a promising marijuana market, especially following the [European Parliament's Wednesday vote](https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2019/02/13/european-parliament-passes-cannabis-resolution-joins-who-in-supporting-medical-marijuana/#19ceb5f5fd5b) to encourage adoption of medical marijuana regulation in the EU.
But when it comes to the first G7 nation to legalize cannabis, Canada, Coleman said he's "not as bullish."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/tilt-holdings-ceo-sees-europe-as-the-next-big-cannabis-market).
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