Jay-Z Launches $10 Million Fund to Invest<br />in Minority-Owned Cannabis Startups.<br />Jay-Z has launched a startup fund that will encourage<br />more Black participation in the cannabis industry.<br />In a conversation with ‘The Wall Street<br />Journal,’ Jay-Z said he wanted to “do<br />[his] part” and help in a “real, concrete way.” .<br />We were the ones most negatively<br />affected by the war on drugs, and<br />America has turned around and created<br />a business from it that’s worth billions, Jay-Z, to ‘The Wall Street Journal’.<br />The Social Equity Ventures fund is the<br />result of the merging of two California-based pot firms:<br />Left Coast Ventures and CMG Partners.<br />The merged company, dubbed The Parent Company,<br />will start the fund off with an initial $10 million.<br />From there, at least 2 percent of<br />The Parent Company’s net income<br />will be contributed annually.<br />That money will go toward “diversifying” the cannabis<br />industry’s “business leadership and workforce.” .<br />... To invest in minority-owned and<br />Black-owned cannabis businesses<br />and contribute to the effort to rectify<br />the wrongs of prohibition … , The Parent Company, via statement.<br />The Social Equity Ventures fund will also<br />support “organizations and programs” that work<br />toward diversifying the cannabis industry. .<br />The fund will also support organizations<br />and programs focused on diversifying<br />the cannabis workforce through job fairs<br />and placement, industry training and<br />education, as well as Social Equity<br />application support, The Parent Company, via statement.<br />$1 million will be invested in <br />each of the startups it chooses to back.
