Channel 4 Ventures is delighted to announce that they have invested in Cannaray Limited, the European Medical Cannabis and Retail CBD company, as part of a £10m funding round. Other participants in the round include Three Bridges Private Capital, Alpha Blue Ocean and a mix of new and follow-on private investors.

Cannaray will use the majority of funds to build its Pan-European medical cannabis business. The activation for 2022 will focus on Germany and the UK, led by its teams in Berlin and London.

The media-for-equity investment by Channel 4 Ventures also gives Cannaray CBD, the company’s flagship wellness CBD brand, access to a high-reach upmarket TV audience in the UK. This comes at a time of rapidly growing consumer interest in CBD, with online sales of CBD in the UK doubling in 2021 compared to the previous year.

In Summer 2021, Cannaray launched the UK’s first major brand campaign for CBD on TV. The campaign features Cannaray’s brand ambassador and TV presenter Claudia Winkleman as she leads the charge to recruit new customers to the brand. In addition to a high-performing DTC site, the brand is also stocked on Amazon and in over 1500 retail outlets across the UK including Tesco, Superdrug, ASDA, Waitrose and Harrods.

Scott Maguire, Cannaray Limited CEO, said: “I am delighted with the participation of both existing and new investors within this funding round and thank them for putting their money and faith in us. The Channel 4 Ventures backing is one of the first of its kind in the European cannabis sector, and a sign of the credibility and growth opportunity available within the market. Having created one of the leading CBD brands in the UK, we are now focused on building Europe’s leading medical cannabis company and improving the lives of millions of people.”

Vinay Solanki, Head of Channel 4 Ventures, said: “We’ve been impressed with the leadership team at Cannaray and their progress in building a portfolio spanning European Medical Cannabis and the Cannaray CBD wellness brand. This investment fits well with our strategy to back bold categories as part nof our Future4 strategy to diversify new revenue streams. We’re looking forward to supporting Cannaray’s CBD wellness brand campaign across our marketing platform and hope it drives the significant brand awareness only possible through the scale and reach of TV advertising."

The European cannabis market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 67.4% from €403.4 million in 2021 to reach €3.2 billion by 2025.