Preparing for the future of the legal cannabis market, smart cannabis investors and entrepreneurs are shifting their attention to the Northeast states for an idea of what legalization will eventually look like along the whole East Coast. Industry and medical marijuana leaders will converge in Washington D.C. for the Business Understanding Development Summit on August 20.
The BUD Summit is reinventing what you’ve come to expect from a cannabis expo. With keynote speakers Keith Stroup and Rick Simpson, as well as breakout groups for investors and entrepreneurs, BUDS is the place to facilitate innovation and education for the East Coast cannabis industry.
Legal market sales are projected to surpass $22 billion by the year 2020, making the cannabis industry one of the fastest-growing in America, according to an industry analysis from ArcView and New Frontier.
To compliment the ‘green rush’ of ganjapreneurs innovating and developing the new cannabis frontier, the BUD Summit has come up with a unique feature that’s sure to grab attention. It’s named “The Hot Box” and participants need to contact the Hot Box “igniter” Shanita Penny, of Budding Solutions, to get a chance at the $10 million available for investment. Named after an air-tight room where cannabis smoke is exhaled, trapped, and inhaled again, “The Hot Box” is the BUD Summit’s business-first take on the consumption method. Set in its own room at the Hyatt Regency, where the event is taking place, it’s specifically reserved for ganjapreneurs to pitch their cannabis ideas and businesses to a panel of industry experts and investors. The idea is that these pitches will spark ideas and partnerships.
The panel has premier accredited investors and business accelerators with cannabis venture investments totaling over $10 million. Successful start-ups have the potential to gain funding, strategic partnerships, and business acceleration resources.
“We want cannabis businesses to come together on their own, to regulate and make the cannabis market emerge in a safe and healthy way and to avoid falling in-line with Big Tobacco,” said BUD Summit co-founder Brandon L. Wyatt. Wyatt is a U.S. veteran, business and civil rights attorney in D.C. and national policy coordinator for the Weed for Warriors project.
“It’s not just about making profit,” Wyatt said. “We are lobbying for clinical testing and social responsibility to be a part of every aspect of adult-use and medical cannabis.”
The BUD Summit will be held on August 20, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. Tickets are available online, and for more information on speakers, like myself, who will be speaking about digital journalism and the future of cannabis you can visit the BUD Summit website.