Cannabis oil producer launches crowdfunding drive
Nottinghamshire-based The Cannabis Oil Company (TCOC), which produces and retails cannabidiol (CBD) wellbeing products, has launched a crowdfunding campaign.
The firm wants to expand its share of a UK market which it says is forecast to exceed £1.5bn by 2020.
First stage target funding is £500,000, with investments already approaching half that.
TCOC was co-founded by fintech entrepreneur Freddie Reid. The company says it is focusing on ethical production plans and wants to squeeze out the “Wild West” CBD and medicinal cannabis suppliers.
It will produce and retail CBD products into the vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) market, primarily online and has appointed specialist clinicians to an advisory team.
TCOC and specialist pharmaceuticals supplier IPS Specials have formed a JV to grow share of the UK CBD market, initially making pharma-standard product available through 5,500 pharmacies, and for specific pharmaceutical applications in the UK & Europe.
IPS, founded in 2001, supplies 20,000 product lines to UK pharmacies, GPs and hospitals.
A proportion of TCOC profits will go towards clinical trials of cannabis-derived products, and support vulnerable people who rely on CBD and cannabis-based treatments.
Reid said: “This is about investments by the people to benefit the people – the people being a community which has experienced or believes in the efficacy of CBD.
“The TCOC team composes serial entrepreneurs with wide-ranging business interests, turning over hundreds of millions of pounds. By putting resource behind clinical expertise, investment in the future of CBD and a recognition of its potential might be likened to the 21st century equivalent of business with a social conscience riding into the Wild West.
“There’s a general lack of understanding of cannabis-derived products, legalities, and boundaries between recreational, medicinal and wellness, and where CBD fits in.
“Cannabis is, unfortunately, stigmatised. CBD – cannabidiol – is not cannabis, but a component of cannabis, does not create ‘highs’, and is legal. TCOC retails only CBD products.”
