Cannabis start-ups not high enough on VC funding list

US-based cannabis or marijuana start-ups are seeing withdrawal symptoms. 

Though the number of deals involving venture capital (VC) funding has seen an increase in the third quarter of the current year, the funding amount has fallen to its lowest in the past year. 

In 2016, there were 79 deals for about $95 million in disclosed investments. This has down from 98 deals last year with $212 million in investments, according to a CB Insights report.

In Q3, there were 16 deals that managed to get funding of $13.4 million as against 23 deals in the same quarter last year and funding of $7.8 million.

The funding amount was the highest in Q1 2015 at $93.3 million, however it has seen a downward trend from then on. The only exception was in Q4 2015 where funding rose to $71 million from 32 deals.

The first quarter during the year saw plenty of deals but for smaller amounts, with only one raising above $5 million, the $5.14 million round of GrowCo. No other start-up raised more than $2 million in the quarter, said the report.

The second quarter saw an uptick in investment to over $40 million due to deals from MedMen, which raised $15 million, and Eaze Solutions, which received $8.3 million in Series B funding.