Danish medical cannabis companies attract €200 million in investment

The medical cannabis companies in Denmark attracted outside capital of over DKK 1.5 billion (around €200 million), or an average of $6 million per company.

According to a new report, produced by Copenhagen-based Iris Group for the investment promotion agency Invest in Odense, and reported by MJBIZ Daily, The largest investments came from founders and employees, who invested 90 million euros, or 44 % of total investments.

Other sources of financing were :

• Share capital (25%)
• Seed and venture capital (25 %)
• Loan capital (25%)
• Grants from public funds or programs (15%)
• Angel investors (10%)
• Other sources (5%)

For its report, Iris Group surveyed the 36 cannabis companies Denmark in 2021, including big names like Aurora and Little Green Pharma, which employ a total of 286 full-time staff.

«Most of the growth in the European medical cannabis sector will be generated by sales of extracts and isolates rather than dried flowers,» the report notes, citing various forecasts.

Dried cannabis flower accounted for less than 90% of medical cannabis sales in Europe in 2020, falling to just over 70% in 2021 and over 50% in 2022. A report by Prohibition Partners in 2021 suggested that flower could fall to just under 45% of all sales in 2023.

The Danish government launched a four-year pilot program for medical cannabis in 2018. The program has been extended to 2021.

The report does not, however, give many details of the program's difficulties. It had reached a peak of 1,000 patients enrolled in the second quarter of 2019, but failed to reach 500 patients in each of the last nine consecutive quarters.

As a result, the program has seen no growth over the past 2 years, with the vast majority of medical cannabis use remaining underground.

The report shows that Danish medical cannabis expect future growth to be fueled primarily by increased exports, rather than by the opening up of the domestic market.