A significant milestone for the German cannabis market: Berlin-based startup “Sanity Group” has received an injection of around 20 million euros from an investor to make Germany greener.
BILD magazine reports this news from the Bavarian business community. It would be the highest fundraising in Europe for a cannabis company so far.
Where do these millions come from?
The company has kept a low profile. However, investors say that after cult rapper Snoop Dogg, a second celebrity has joined the Berlin-based startup: Scooter Braun, one of the world’s most successful music managers. The American entrepreneur, art agent, investor, philanthropist, and music producer is the discoverer and mentor of pop superstar Justin Bieber and has already made a lot of money with him.
Scooter Braun also manages its assets through its investment company “TQ,” which focuses on investments in wellness-related brands such as “Liquid IV” and “Bear’s Fruit Kombucha.” The “Sanity Group” is the next investment of Scooter Braun and its partners.
Finn Hänsel and Fabian Friede are the founders of the German cannabis startup “Sanity Group.” With its beauty brand “Vaay,” the German startup wants to become the largest CBD brand in Europe.
Who adds money?
On the German side, in addition to well-known investors such as Holtzbrinck Ventures or Cherry Ventures, the advertising agency “Heimat” is said to have joined the circle of investors. With this deal, the Berliners replace the Cologne-based startup “Cannamedical” alongside YouPorn founder Fabian Thylmann as the record holder, which raised 15 million last year.
The market for green substances is one of the primary growth markets in Germany: since March 2017, medical cannabis is also available in Germany on prescription (for patients suffering from pain), and demand is increasing. The health insurance company Barmer alone has already received 15,000 applications for cannabis since its release in March 2017. Last year, the insurance company spent 17 million euros on prescriptions.
According to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, 79 applicants are still waiting for approval to cultivate approximately 11 tonnes of cannabis awarded over four years in Germany.
Sanity Group” was founded by Finn Age Hänsel and Fabian Friede. Hänsel is a member of the Association of Medium-sized Enterprises and Economy (MIT) of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany), he was the president of the Flensburg Union of Trade Unions, and in 2019 he was the first man from the CDU to set up a cannabis company.