Time for this exciting Seed to grow
“…$1.2 billion of exit value says we have a pretty good clue about what we’re doing here at Seed Innovations…”
In with the new name Seed Innovations and out with the smorgasbord of sector investments associated with the previous incarnation of FastForward Innovations.
FastForward was polymathic in its strategy, investing in blockchain, biotech, online gaming, and cannabinoid companies among others, whereas Seed is less scattergun and more tightly focused on the fast-growing medical cannabis arena.
There is an exception. That of portfolio investee Leap Gaming, and Seed chief executive Ed McDermott says the plan for the online gaming company is to: “bring it to a point of liquidity” that will be achieved either through M&A or through a listing.
McDermott has form in the cannabinoid space. He co-founded EMMAC Life Sciences which went on to become Europe’s largest vertically integrated cannabis company. It was bought by Curaleaf in April for $285 million.
Inception to sale took three years and McDermott is equally confident about the cannabis enterprises that Seed will make early investments in. “I believe, and the trends are suggesting, it’s going to become the next sort of alcohol.”
McDermott draws parallels between cannabis and alcohol deliberately with prohibition receding as “the industry and rescheduling and regulation changes to benefit the industry.”
“We’ve got a huge amount of value yet to capture. We’re very early in an industry that I believe is going to be enormous and right now it’s valued at a fraction of what it’s going to be valued at in the years to come.”
He describes Seed as a growth fund “dealing with industries that are moving at a rate of knots,” and, you might need to read this twice, McDermott reckons “this industry is going to probably generate fifty percent of the next twenty years of value in the next one to three years.”
McDermott and the team that work ‘bloody’ hard are topping up their investment in hemp-based wellness company Yooma Wellness. The business is looking to list on the AQSE Growth Market which McDermott says is a precursor to an IPO on the London Stock Exchange. In the meantime Yooma intends to grow organically, as befits its products, and through acquisition.
McDermott is keen on vertical integration. He did it with EMMAC and he’s looking to be invested at all levels of the cannabis corporate tree in multiple companies because it’s going to make not just him, but his shareholders wealthy.
And as he explains to Sarah Lowther he isn’t going to give away all the secret sauce in a podcast though he does reveal he’s looking at IP in the cannabis sector because “it’s future value is going to be significant.”
Watch Ed speak to Sarah about the rebranding and purpose of the company
Follow the company on Twitter @SEEDInnov
The author was remunerated but does not hold shares in the company
