Former NBA Player Chris Webber, JW Asset Management set to launch $100 million Cannabis Impact Fund

Former NBA star Chris Webber has announced his plan to launch a private-equity fund with $100 million in assets to support minority entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry.

Webber will partner with JW Asset Management, an active investor in the cannabis industry, to provide minority entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to run their businesses successfully. These resources include licensing, retail and marketing, and research and development.

In a press release, it was said that the private equity cannabis fund, Cannabis Impact Fund, will invest solely in entrepreneurs of color building their businesses in the cannabis industry.

“As our country moves closer to federal legalization, I believe it is more important than ever to empower the next generation of cannabis leaders in a tangible way,” Webber said. “I’m thrilled to team up with Jason [Wild, CEO of JW Asset Management] on this endeavor – he’s a visionary in this industry and understands the urgency of supporting minority business leaders in this space.”

Since the cannabis industry was legalized, many large companies have profited from it, leaving smaller entrepreneurs to struggle for scraps due to lack of financial strength and other social barriers, Webber and JW Asset Management said in a statement on Tuesday.

Benefitting from the now-legalized cannabis industry is very important to Black people as they were the most hit hard by cannabis-related arrests. Many Black businessmen and celebrities including Jay-Z have stressed the importance of why Black marijuana entrepreneurs are the ones to profit from the business the most.

“We were the ones most negatively affected by the war on drugs, and America has turned around and created a business from it that’s worth billions,” Jay-Z said in an interview last month.

Webber, in a statement also said there was a great need to “diversify the leadership in the cannabis industry and level the playing field for people from our communities,” adding that “for far too long, minorities have been excessively punished and incarcerated for cannabis while other profited.”  

JW Asset Management is a financial firm led by Jason Wild, a registered pharmacist and chairman of Arbor Pharmaceuticals, and TerrAscend Corp. He is also a longtime cannabis and CBD advocate.