Cannabis Unlocked

Jess Lukas (SVP at BDS Analytics) and Pete Karabas (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discuss trends in the US cannabis market in 2021. Lukas and Karabas dive into the dynamics of cannabis markets on a state by state basis, how the biggest brands decide where to expand next, and why new form factors have increased legal cannabis usage over the past several years.

Jess Lukas (SVP at BDS Analytics) and Pete Karabas (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discuss trends in the US cannabis market in 2021. Lukas and Karabas dive into the dynamics of cannabis markets on a state by state basis in 2021, how the biggest brands decide where to expand next, and why new form factors have increased legal cannabis usage over the past several years. 

Justin Fischer (CEO and Co-Founder RiskScout) and Jordan Youkilis (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discuss compliance solutions for the cannabis banking system. The two discuss Justin's decision to enter the cannabis industry and how he decided to develop compliance software for the sector. Justin further discusses the hurdles faced by Tier 1 (plant-touching) businesses relative to Tier 2 and 3 (ancillary) businesses, and how legislative changes should impact the need for compliance solutions.

Charlie Uchill (COO CERES Coin) and Jordan Youkilis (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discuss cryptocurrency as a payments solution for the cannabis industry. The two discuss Charlie's decision to enter the cannabis industry and how he decided to develop a payment processing solution for the sector. Charlie further discusses why he chose a cryptocurrency as the preferred solution, and the regulatory approval process for CERES coin to be approved by the SEC. The two further discuss why blockchain technology can be used for seed-to-sale tracking in cannabis, and why Charlie believes the product will remain relevant following the repeal of Federal prohibition.

In the latest episode of Cannabis Unlocked, we've assembled an all-star panel of cannabis specialty finance experts. The panel includes experts from equipment finance (David Kivitz - CEO of XS Financial), real estate (Kyle Shenfeld - President of Rainbow Realty Group), working capital finance (Ting Hu - Director of Finance at Nabis Capital) and venture capital (Jordan Youkilis - Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners). The four discuss underwritten returns for their respective asset classes relative to returns outside of cannabis and best practices for deal sourcing. Additionally, they discuss the cost of capital for each of their respective asset classes and forecast the competitive landscape for specialty finance as the industry moves towards federal legalization.

In the latest episode of Cannabis Unlocked, KEY Investment Partners' Founding Partner Tiby Erdely and PI Financials Jason Zandberg  discuss the current state of the cannabis markets, the differences between the US and Canadian markets and common mistakes investors make when evaluating cannabis opportunities. 

In this the latest episode of Cannabis Unlocked, Jeff Bornstein (Managing Partner at Generation Capital Partners and Former Vice Chairman & CFO of GE) and Jordan Youkilis (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discuss Jeff’s transition from running one of the largest companies in the world into the investment world. The two discuss Jeff’s career development within GE, managing GE Capital through the global financial crisis, where he’s seeing attractive investment opportunities within cannabis and the ongoing institutionalization of the cannabis industry.

Peter Su and Jordan Youkilis (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discus the evolution of cannabis banking services, including how the $55bn federally chartered East West Bank decided to initiate cannabis banking. The two discuss the importance of bifurcating perceived and actual risk in cannabis financial services and why Peter expects passage of the SAFE Banking Act would be a matter of form over substance.

In the latest episode of Cannabis Unlocked, KEY Investment Partners' Founding Partner Tiby Erdely and Rev Ventures Group Co-Founder Matt Stein discuss the current state of e-commerce and how the CBD industry is in a transitional period. The two discuss the world of affiliate marketing and the secret to success in the world of e-commerce. Matt goes into detail on the Rev Ventures Group platform and discusses future plans for the company and expectations going forward. 

In the latest episode of Cannabis Unlocked, Sam Scanlan (Senior Vice President of Houlihan Lokey's Consumer, Food & Retail Group) and Jordan Youkilis (Founding Partner of KEY Investment Partners) discus the cannabis capital markets environment as of Q2'21. The two discuss Houlihan's evolving participation in the cannabis markets, the development of institutional investor interest in the sector, where Sam sees significant funding gaps in the industry, and why bulge bracket banks have stayed on the sidelines (for now).