(Bloomberg) -- Global Cannabis Holdings is investing in pot companies outside of its home market of Latin America after it raised $500,000 from retail investors through security token offerings that valued the company at $25 million.

The Luxembourg-based company, known as GCH, has acquired small stakes in two US pot companies as it seeks to more than double its portfolio of 33 companies with a focus on Europe, Asia and the Americas, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Andres Israel said.

“By the end of next year we are going to be close to 75 companies,” he said in an interview in Montevideo, Uruguay, where the company has its main office. “The idea is to have a big presence in Asia -- more presence in the US. We’re looking at companies in Switzerland.”

GCH, previously named Global Cannabis Capital, eschewed a traditional IPO this year and instead created 100,000 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain platform that represent its equity. The fund sold 2,000 tokens for $250 each to 122 retail investors through private placements in June and August. Dupont Partners, Posadas, Posadas y Vecinos and Tokeny Solutions structured the offerings.

The fund plans to sell 1,000 tokens next March to expand its portfolio with a focus on startups developing branded cannabis products for consumer, medical and pet care markets. GCH hasn’t shut the door on receiving venture capital funding, Israel said.

GCH is also swapping its tokens for minority stakes in larger consumer-oriented cannabis companies such as Papa & Barkley and Acronym Investment in the US as it seeks to build strategic alliances globally, he added.

“The idea is to do 10 mores swaps in the course of the next six months,” Israel said.

Other key points in the interview:

  • GCH could break even as soon as this year as companies in its portfolio become profitable
  • The US is emerging as a major buyer of Uruguay’s CBD flowers because their psychoactive components are below US regulatory limits
    • “It’s a huge opportunity because the prices in the US are much more competitive than what they are in Switzerland. That really increases the margins of growers in Uruguay,” Israel said
    • US investors are evaluating growing CBD flowers for export in Uruguay thanks to the lower cost of land, labor and power compared to some US states.

 

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