(AllHipHop News) Snoop Dogg’s venture firm recently closed its first round of funding.
The rap star’s Casa Verde Capital has raised a total of $45 million dollars to invest in early-stage startups focused on the emerging cannabis industry and others outside of the marijuana business.
So far, Snoop’s company has made eight investments and he’s looking to put no less than $1,000,000 into the companies he takes an interest in.
Snoop tapped a business associate named Karan Wadhera – a former executive from Goldman Sachs – to raise the money and oversee Casa Verde Capital’s investments.
“We have a decent-size checkbook and a fairly high profile in this space, so we see a fair amount of inbound,” managing partner Karan Wadhera told TechCrunch. “We also have a strong network among cultivators and retailers and brands in the industry, and we’re constantly leveraging them to find new opportunities.”
Those businesses hoping to secure funding from Snoop to cultivate weed or are involved in dispensaries will be disappointed.
“We’re only focused on the ancillary part of the cannabis industry, so we won’t invest in companies that touch the plants. No dispensaries or cultivators or manufacturers. We’re investing in the picks and shovels,” Karan Wadhera said.