OEN Member NewsPortland company Cura Cannabis Solutions preparing to enter Canadian market, and export to Europe (Portland Business Journal)

Cura Cannabis Solutions, coming off “the largest revenue quarter in legal cannabis history,” said Tuesday it’s laying the groundwork to do business in Canada, a move expected to also give it access to European markets.

The announcement came as the Portland-based producer of cannabis oils closes out a funding round between $20 million and $25 million that will push its valuation to $400 million, it said.

In a news release, the company said it’s working with Cannabis Compliance Inc. on obtaining licensing and setting up a supply chain to produce in Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government are moving now to legalize recreational marijuana, with final passage of a bill targeted for June and implementation expected a few months later.

Cura said it doesn’t expect the vaporizer cartridges that it specializes in to be legal until early 2019, however, while edibles that use its oils would become legal later in 2019. But the company anticipates taking advantage of the ability to export from Canada to some European countries where medical marijuana is allowed before the end of this year.

Cura’s headline product is the Select line of vape cartridges. It’s also a leading seller of oils to makers of other cannabis-infused products.

Estimates of the potential size of the Canadian market vary widely, but the country has a population (36.3 million people) not far behind California’s (39.5 million), and it’s planning to make the legal buying age 18, instead of the stateside norm of 21. Then there’s the Europe connection that it offers, as well.

Cura said it had $18 million in sales in the first quarter of 2018, more than double its business in the same quarter a year ago. It called that an industry record “based on publicly available data.”

After starting in Oregon in 2015 and becoming the dominant cannabis oil company in the state, Cura moved into California in April 2017, serving the medical-only market as the Golden State moved toward full legalization in 2018. Cura began operating in Nevada in July 2017.

Source: www.bizjournals.com