Do you have a pot-themed business idea that you’d like to see become more than just a pipe dream? If so, producers of The Marijuana Show want to hear from you.
Especially if you’re Canadian, a member of a visible minority and/or female.
Billed as “Shark Tank for Ganjapreneurs,” the Amazon reality TV competition is looking for budding entrepreneurs to participate in their upcoming third season and compete for more than $26 million in seed funding.
“We are actively seeking more women, diversity and an international selection of companies to present to our accredited investors for Season #3,” wrote co-producer Karen Paull in an email to CLN. “We are filming in Los Angeles, and hoping to see more companies represented from Canada and other countries this season.”
Aspiring participants with an idea for a cannabis, hemp or CBD-related business to be vetted by the show’s panel of investors can send a processing fee of $125 ($97 USD) and a two-minute video pitch. Finalists are typically split between those in core cannabis businesses (dispensaries, grow shows, edibles, etc. ) and ancillary businesses that require less legal oversight given the current vagaries of pot prohibition.
Paull and her business partner and spouse, Wendy Robbins, came up with the idea for the show after hearing solid business ideas at a dispensary event that they thought they could help get rolling with some expert consulting. Since then, investors in the first two seasons have hooked up contestants with more than $23 million.
Canadians and Americans spent a combined $75 billion on pot products in 2016, and a whopping 88 % of sales were illegal, according to a recent report by ArcView Market Research. Legal spending made up $9.81billion of last year’s total, which is up 34 per cent from 2015. The organization predicts that number could grow to $28.75 billion by 2021 thanks to proposed legalization in Canada and individual states.