Somebody’s throwing some green at weed.
Paypal founder Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund will officially become the first institutional investor to put money into the pot industry, according to The Guardian.
Founders Fund confirmed Thursday that it, led by partner Geoff Lewis, plans to take a minority stake in the private equity firm Privateer Holdings, which owns Leafly.com.
Leafly bills itself as “the world’s cannabis information resource.” The site — which also has an app — helps you find nearby marijuana dispensaries, stores and medical cannabis doctors in addition to obtaining reviews about these various venders.
In short, as The Guardian points out, it’s like “Yelp for pot.”
According to Lewis, the firm’s investment in the Seattle-based Privateer Holdings shouldn’t shock and awe.
He said investing in the pot business “is just a slightly more extreme version of something we’ve shown in our other investments that we’re comfortable with.”
“We’re fine with investing in businesses with regulatory ambiguity, because we believe that regulation follows public sentiment,” added Lewis.
He insisted, however, that the chance that the investment would give the individuals at Founders Fund access to the best pot and cannabis products “did not play into the investment decision whatsoever.”
The terms of the investment are not yet clear, though Founding Farmers with its commitment joins a $75 million funding round for Privateer.
Currently, recreational pot is only legal in four states and Washington, D.C.
