Medical cannabis and psychedelics venture capital firm launches £22m fund

Leafy Tunnel Ltd, an early stage venture capital firm, has announced the first closing of its Guernsey based fund that invests in medical cannabis and psychedelics.

The investment strategy of the fund focuses on European medical cannabis and global medical psychedelics companies at Seed and Series A stages.

The fund is the first one of its nature to be approved in Guernsey and the Leafy Tunnel team believes that this jurisdiction, alongside the UK, will play a vital role in facilitating the growth of medical cannabis and psychedelic medicine in the near future.

The $30m (£22.3m) fund plans to invest in 15 companies and has already made seven investments across the fund’s investment strategy. These investments include Beckley Psytech, Tetra Pharm Technologies, Iuvo Therapeutics, Maya Health, Prohibition Holdings, Tactogen, and Ceretype.

Mental health and pain disorders affect one out of every four people in the world. The company stated that, “left unaddressed, the toll on society will come at a huge cost and result not only in a continuous spike of mental health disorders, but also in lost human capital wealth”.

Medical cannabis and psychedelics are being increasingly recognised by health professionals for their “superior safety and efficacy” compared to conventional pharmaceuticals“, said a spokesperson.

Nikolay Tretiyakov, a co-founding partner of Leafy Tunnel, commented: “The departure of Big Pharma from neuroscience has left a void when help is most needed. Exacerbated by Covid-19, the already huge mental health toll on society continues to surge.

“However, a sacred place is never empty and radically new therapies emerge quickly, which is what we see happening with psychedelic medicine. It could be a paradigm shift for traditional psychiatry and a long-awaited breakthrough in innovation for psychiatric treatment due to its extraordinary safety and efficacy.”