Jersey Hemp, which was the first British Isles company to receive a licence to produce CBD, is seeking to raise £6M from existing and new investors to help fund its further expansion.
The latest fund-raising round comes after an initial £2M seed-funding round in 2019, a year after the establishment of Jersey Hemp. The funds were used to develop the company’s infrastructure including its laboratory, processing, logistics and distribution.
The money raised this time will be used to accelerate further the development and commercialisation of the company, which is the first completely vertically integrated CBD business in the British Isles.
Of the total that is to be raised, £5 million will be through a private placement, while £1 million is expected through a retail crowd-funding platform Seedrs. Earlier this year, the crowd-funding platform helped another CBD company produce raise more than four times its target.
Jersey Hemp’s expansion plans come at a time of rapidly growing demand for CBD products globally. The market in the UK alone is expected to more than triple from £300 million to £1 billion over the next four years.
Jersey’s climate and soil, plus government-backing for the hemp industry, provides an ideal environment for Jersey Hemp’s rapid expansion. Currently operating from a 17-acre farm, Jersey Hemp has access to a further 1000 hectares of third-party agricultural land in Jersey which will support its growth plans. The company’s CBD products, produced using organic and sustainable farming methods, have unmatched consistency, with guaranteed CBD content and zero levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a hemp product that is illegal for non-medical use in the UK. This, combined with Jersey Hemp’s full traceability from seed to bottle, creates Jersey Hemp’s premium quality organic CBD product for the UK market. Products produced by Jersey Hemp are currently sold and distributed through leading brands and distribution companies such as Amazon and Selfridges. As COVID restrictions ease in the UK, Jersey Hemp is poised to reactivate its retail sales drive.
Jersey Hemp has also formed a joint venture with a UK listed international CBD group. The aim of the joint venture will be to develop new UK/EU approved cultivars that produce higher yielding hemp seeds. Since being granted its licence, Jersey Hemp has seen strong demand from wholesale partners, in the UK and internationally, for the distribution of its own-branded product range. The wholesalers have emphasised the appeal of CBD products with clear provenance and the highest standards of quality.
David Ryan, Jersey Hemp CEO, said: ‘’Jersey Hemp has made a huge amount of progress over the last two years following the fund-raise, which allowed us to put in place infrastructure and production facilities that are world class. As a leading provider of the highest quality CBD products, we are in a prime position for immediate commercial expansion as the FSA gets set to provide further regulation of the CBD market.’’
Bernard Fairman, Non-Executive Chairman of Jersey Hemp, said: “Jersey Hemp is a fantastic investment opportunity, given it has a proven track record of making a premium product that is already being sold by some of the UK’s top retailers.
“Additionally, Jersey Hemp’s emphasis on sustainability will be attractive to the increasing number of consumers who want to ensure that their products do not contribute to damaging the environment.”
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