Jay-Z Joins Push To Boost Minority-Owned Cannabis Businesses, Creating $10 Million Fund For Startups: We Were The Ones Most Negatively Affected By The War On Drugs

Jay-Z Joins Push to Boost Minority-Owned Cannabis Businesses, Creating $10 million fund for startups: We were the ones most negatively affected by the war on drugs.

Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) is using his star power to boost minority-owned businesses. According to reports, the 51-year-old rapper turned business and music mogul  is launching a fund to invest in minority cannabis startups to increase black participation in the industry.

He notes that people of color have been disproportionately punished for having the drug, which is now legalized in parts of the country resulting in a multi-billion dollar industry. He says,

“It’s really amazing how that can happen. We were the ones hit hardest by the war on drugs, and America turned around and turned it into a billion-dollar business.”

He added,

“I wanted to do something in a real, concrete way, where I do my part,”

Reportedly, the fund stems from the acquisition of two California-based pot firms — Left Coast Ventures and CMG Partners — by a blank-check company called Subversive Capital Acquisition Corp.

The merged company will start the “Social Equity Ventures” fund with an initial $10 million and then add at least 2 percent of its net income each year after that.  The fund will invest up to $1 million in each cannabis startup it chooses to back and will be run by Jay-Z.

Late last year, Jay-Z launched Monogram, a cannabis brand made in partnership with the California brand Caliva. He served as Chief Brand Strategist for Caliva since July of 2019.

What are your thoughts about his efforts to boost minority-owned cannabis businesses? Let us know in the comments.