The rising stars of marijuana's investment scene that people from Wall Street to Silicon Valley should know by Jeremy Berke and Melia Robinson on Mar 15, 2018, 12:20 PM Advertisement
 As the legal-cannabis industry continues to grow at a breakneck pace, investors from Wall Street to Silicon Valley are seeing green. Venture-capital investors from around the world spent $355 million on 100 marijuana-industry deals in 2017, and 2018 is on pace to break last year's record. By the end of February, there were 19 venture-backed deals in the industry worth $176 million alone, and that doesn't factor in the money investors have poured into hedge funds set up to take advantage of the budding industry. For Business Insider's first-ever list of rising stars in the marijuana-investment space, we asked readers to submit nominations and surveyed our past coverage of the industry. The list celebrates top investors from Wall Street to Silicon Valley and a number of places in between. Federal prohibition has prevented most American institutional investors and top venture-capital firms from investing in the space. The situation has given rise to a number of marijuana-specific venture firms in the US — funded by high-net-worth individuals and family offices — and provided an opening for Canadian firms. Both these groups are well represented on our list. We considered any active investors who have made investments in the marijuana industry, whether their contributions come from angel investing, venture capital, or hedge funds. These are the rising stars of the marijuana-investment scene. SEE ALSO: The highest-valued marijuana companies of 2017 reveal 2 key insights about the booming industry Tahira Rehmatullah began her career as an investment manager at Privateer Holdings before moving to a leadership position at a cannabis-focused venture-capital fund.  Title: Managing Director, Hypur Ventures Type: Venture Capital Location: New York City In the past year, Hypur Ventures, a cannabis-focused fund, has invested in five cannabis companies. The portfolio includes venerated brands like Dope Magazine and the industry intelligence firm Headset. A graduate of Yale's School of Management, Rehmatullah serves as the CFO of MTech Acquisition Corp., a company formed to acquire ancillary cannabis companies — such as software platforms and payroll processors — and help them expand.
Micah Tapman, a former Marine, is a founding partner at accelerator CanopyBoulder, which counts many of the industry's most successful startups among its graduates.  Title: Managing Director, CanopyBoulder Type: Venture Capital Location: Boulder, Colorado CanopyBoulder is an accelerator for seed-stage companies on the ancillary side of the cannabis industry. Founded in 2015, it counts successful startups such as Bloom Automation and Flowhub among its graduates. The company recently launched a $50 million growth-stage fund under Tapman's management to invest in cannabis startups in the ag-tech, biotech, blockchain, machine learning, and retail tech sectors. Tapman and his partner, Patrick Rea, have sourced more than 90 deals and helped Canopy alumni raise more than $15 million.
Jeanne Sullivan, a founder of StarVest partners, is championing female entrepreneurs and investors in cannabis.  Title: Chief Inspiration Officer, Sullivan Adventures Type: Angel Investor Location: New York City After nearly two decades serving as a founding partner at New York City-based StarVest Partners, a venture firm focused on early-stage tech companies, Sullivan turned her attention to cannabis in 2014. Sullivan has made angel investments in a number of cannabis companies owned by women, and she is a frequent speaker at cannabis-industry events. She is also part of the Arcview Group, a networking body that connects budding entrepreneurs with investors.
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