Talking Weed Business with America's First Cannabis-Focused Startup Accelerator

CanopyBoulder is the nation's first cannabis-related startup accelerator. Each spring and fall, it accepts ten cannabis-related companies and prepares them for the next level. With its well-developed network, it can serve as an "in" for entrepreneurs looking to get plugged into the industry. It also provides $20,000 in exchange for 9.5% equity. The ten fledgling companies accepted into Canopy's 13-week program will have their needs sated and ideally grow into valuable enterprises, while Canopy also invests a stake in the companies' future success.

Canopy only deals with ancillary products and services—businesses that do not directly produce or handle the plant. This is to avoid the hellbroth of shifting legal stipulations that growers must constantly keep track of. There aren't restrictions on interstate commerce, residency requirements, and so on with ancillary businesses, so scaling them on a national level is much more feasible.

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