Financial media company Benzinga hosted what many have described as the best investor-oriented event the cannabis industry has seen to date in Toronto on August 17th, the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, with 500+ attendees. While the turnout was fantastic, what impressed us even more was the quality of the investors and operators who attended, with strong representation from both sides of the border.
We are excited to share the presentations with our readers who weren’t able to attend or who perhaps missed one that they had hoped to catch. Today, we are publishing all of the main stage presentations, and we will soon post all 27 of the company presentations.
The first panel, “Social Justice in Entrepreneurship”, drove home the point that our industry has a broader mission, which smart entrepreneurs should take care to understand. Moderated by Larisa Bolivar, Vice-Chair of National Diversity & Inclusion Cannabis Alliance, the panel included cannabis activist Jodie Emery and attorney Annamaria Enenajor, who is Director of the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty.
Tim Seymour, the “Cannabis King” at CNBC and the Chief Investment Officer at Seymour Asset Management, moderated “Perspectives on the Cannabis Investment Landscape”, which included Mitch Baruchowitz of Merida Capital, Harrison Phillips of Viridian Capital Advisors, Paul Rosen of Tidal Royalty (CSE: RLTY) (OTC: TDRYF) and Jeanne Sullivan, General Partner at Arcivew Ventures.
Vic Neufeld, CEO of Aphria (TSX: APH) (OTC: APHQF) was interviewed by Financial Post reporter Nicole MacAdam, covering topics ranging from Canadian legalization to the global opportunities his company and the industry are capitalizing upon.
Carl Cameron of New Frontier Data moderated “Emerging Cannabis Market Opportunities”, which included panelists Rebecca Gasca, CEO of Pistil+Stigma, Nav Dhaliwal, President of Supreme Cannabis (TSXV: FIRE) (OTC: SPRWF) and Aras Azadian, CEO of Avicanna.
Giadha Aguirre de Carcer, CEO of New Frontier Data, delivered a keynote speech discussing the importance of data to the cannabis industry.
David Bocchi, Head of Investment Banking at Alliance Global Partners, moderated “Challenges in Scaling Cannabis Businesses”, which included panelists CEO Pradyum Sekar of Sail Cannabis, V.P. Jessica Martin of Invictus MD Strategies (TSXV: GENE) (OTC: IVITF), CFO Paola De Luca of Organigram (TSXV: OGI) (OTC: OGRMF) and V.P. Felicia Snyder of Hiku Brands (CSE: HIKU) (OTC: DJACF).
VP, Investor Relations at Aurora Cannabis (TSX: ACB) (OTC: ACBFF) Marc Lakmaaker was interviewed by Financial Post reporter Megan Henderson, who discussed a shakeout ahead among the Canadian LPs and the integration of the company’s recent acquisitions:
Shalia Mehta of Grant Thornton moderated “Beyond the Grow: Executing on Unique Cannabis Business Ideas”, which included panelists Bret Roper of Medicine Man Technologies (OTC: MDCL), Dooma Wendschuh of Province Brands, Charles Bachtell of Cresco Labs and John MacPhail of I-5 Holdings, part of Captor Capital (CSE: CPTR) (OTC: NWURF).
The day concluded with a “Cannabis Entrepreneurial Town Hall” presented by KCSA and moderated by Phil Carlson, with panelists William Simpson, CEO of Golden Leaf Holdings (CSE: GLH) (OTC: GLDFF), Taz Turner, CEO of CordovaCann (CSE: CDVA) (OTC: LVRLF), Andrew Thus, CFO of 4Front and Julius Kalcevich, CFO of iAnthus Capital.
Benzinga’s CEO Jason Raznick announced at the event that the next Cannabis Capital Conference will take place in Florida in February. You can reserve your spot before registration opens.
