When Matt Hawkins first considered investing in cannabis in 2014, a couple of his longtime partners sat him down and offered some sobering advice: “You can’t do this. You’re going to ruin your reputation.” Hawkins didn’t listen. Today, seven years later, the Dallas native runs one of the oldest, largest, and most well-respected cannabis investment firms in the U.S. “Texas has been one of the laggards in terms of medicinal and adult use of cannabis, but one of the most prolific investors is in its backyard,” Hawkins said. His Entourage Effect Capital started in 2014, two years after Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. The industry is now projected to double to more than $40 billion by 2025 just for the legal side, according to cannabis industry analytics company New Frontier Data. In seven years, Entourage has put over $200 million into more than 65 companies, mostly concentrated in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington. Its eight-member team invests in companies up and down the value chain from cultivation to manufacturing to production. It was one of the early investors in Chicago-based $5 billion marijuana giant Green Thumb Industries.
Natalie Walters, Dallas News: Breaking News for DFW, Texas, World, 05/19/2021 20:00:00