Green Austin! April 19–20 Cannabis Event
The Forrest Four-Cast: April 18, 2018
“It is becoming mainstream, and in a lot of circles, especially in financial markets now, it’s a question of when, not if.”
Those are the words of investor Bill Marcus of the networking business Green Table talking about the cannabis business as part of an interview broadcast Monday on the National Public Radio show Hear and Now.
With medicinal cannabis now accepted in a majority of U.S. states and recreational use legal in several states, the tide has clearly turning toward a booming marijuana business. In 2017, this business was estimated to be worth $7 billion and had a growth rate of close to 30 percent. Said another way, these changes offer some tremendous opportunities in the increasingly legal cannabis market for founders and startups with innovative and original entrepreneurial ideas.
Learn more about this cutting-edge organic business at the debut Austin Cannabis Entrepreneur (ACE) Conference at the Hyatt Regency this Thursday and Friday, April 19–20.
Featuring innovative content focused on startup opportunities in this fast-growing market, ACE begins at 10 am Thursday with a session directed at Central Texas founders and investors. “Why Austin is Ripe for Cannabis Startups” features serial entrepreneur William Hurley (better known as whurley) with Carlos Martinez (who is launching a real-estate fund that is focused on the legal cannabis industry nationally).
Keynote speaker Troy Dayton co-founded the cannabis investment and research firm the Arcview Group, and has helped pull together more than 600 high net-worth individuals who have made invested more than $150 million into 165 cannabis-related ventures and raised more than $3 million for the legalization effort. Fortune Magazine, Details Magazine, and International Business Times have named Dayton to their Top 10 lists of most influential people in the cannabis industry. He will discuss “Raising Capital at the Crossroads” at 2 pm on Friday, April 20.
Other sessions include “Best Cannabis Startup Ideas and Developments,” led by two of the most important females in the cannabis industry who will cover top new entrepreneurial ventures and what is driving the most action in this space. Emily Paxhia of Poseidon Asset Management and Tahira Rehmatullah of MTech Acquisition Corp will talk about some of the projects that they are most excited about for 2018 and beyond.
Join a lively discussion of “The Cannabis Blockchain Connection” and how 2018’s hottest technology might combine with 2018’s most interesting regulated product.
Mark Bolton, the former Director of Marijuana Policy for Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, will discuss what he learned in helping the State of Colorado adopt new cannabis-related policies. His insights should be particularly valuable to those wanting to gain more understanding about how legalization will impact other states.
And take a deep dive into building meaningful relationships within the cannabis industry and at home by using the plant as more than just a lubricant, social or otherwise. Learn about new ideas, products and opportunities to use in the boardroom and in the bedroom with your significant other. Creating cannabis connections can accelerate your growth professionally and personally.
Other entrepreneurial-focused sessions for ACE include “Trends and Patterns for Current Cannabis Usage,” “Opportunities for Cannabis Entrepreneurs,” “The Politics of Cannabis in Texas,” “Opportunity Within the Emerging Hemp Market,” “Which States Will Legalize What Next,” and many more.
The last session of the event begins at 5 pm on Friday, April 20 and features a Pitch Competition showcasing three cannabis-based startups from around the United States, Lumen (Oakland), BDTNDR (Austin) and FLUX(Dallas), competing for a $1500 cash prize!
Register now for the Austin Cannabis Entrepreneur (ACE) Conference on April 19–20 at the Hyatt Regency for just $75. Or, for $110, you can attend ACE as well as get a Three Day Wristband for the 2018 Austin Reggae Festival, which runs April 20–22 at Auditorium Shores. Kabala Pyramid, Collie Buddz, Black Uhuru and the Wailers are headliners at this year’s event.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
