Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →In April 2022, eight cannabis investors saw medical markets as Europe’s nearer-term opportunity, while adult-use legalization remained uncertain and uneven. Their views also pointed to a market shaped less by a single European growth story than by national rules, patient access, capital constraints and the work of building reliable medical infrastructure. These are historical expectations published on April 13, 2022—not a guide to today’s market or regulations.
What the investors saw as Europe’s nearer-term opportunity
Most respondents put medical cannabis ahead of recreational, or adult-use, cannabis as a business opportunity in the near term. Their reasoning focused on developing medical markets: reaching patients, meeting pharmaceutical standards, generating clinical evidence and building the services and distribution needed to connect products with patients.
The survey’s contemporary market figures illustrated the expectations behind that focus, but they should be read as estimates reported in 2022. TechCrunch attributed an estimate of around €354 million in unlicensed medical cannabis sales in Europe in 2022 to market intelligence firm Prohibition Partners, which projected the figure would rise to around €2.3 billion by 2026. The article also attributed an estimate of €9 billion a year in illicit cannabis spending in the EU to Europol. These figures are not current market measurements or independently validated updates.
Yoni Meyer of Casa Verde Capital used patient counts to illustrate differences in medical access, citing more than 100,000 patients in Germany versus more than 5,000 in the U.K. Those were figures in Meyer’s 2022 response, not independently verified counts in the survey.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems#1 Best Overall
Why Europe was not one uniform market
Investors described national differences in regulation, licensing, market access and implementation as central to operating in Europe. A business could not assume that a product, commercial model or regulatory interpretation would carry over unchanged from one country to another.
David Bonnier, founding partner at Enexis AB, described the possibility of cross-border trade, but his account included licensing requirements: “This means that you can produce cannabis, for example, in Portugal, and sell to any EU country as long as you have export/import licenses. Hence, cross-border commerce in Europe is relatively fluid, meaning companies can scale relatively quickly if they know what they’re doing,” he said.
That was Bonnier’s view as published in April 2022, not general legal advice or proof that cannabis could move freely across EU borders. His comments need to be read alongside the survey’s emphasis on country-level rules. Any decision involving licensing, imports, exports or market entry requires current advice specific to the jurisdictions involved.
The bottlenecks investors thought companies had to solve
Patient access and medical infrastructure
Bonnier emphasized education for clinicians and other stakeholders, as well as downstream capacity: specialized clinics, research centers, distribution and patient data. In this view, legal availability alone would not create a functioning medical market; patients and clinicians also needed routes to access and understand treatment.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCrashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteSafety, consistency and evidence
Viken Douzdjian of Argonautic Ventures highlighted consistent safety testing and supply-chain tracking. Other respondents’ attention to pharmaceutical standards, product consistency and clinical evidence pointed to a related challenge: companies needed to demonstrate reliable products and build credibility, not simply secure a place in a growing category.
Capital and execution
Meyer described limited capital and geopolitical uncertainty as pressures on companies, advising founders to manage cash burn. Across the responses, execution meant solving a clear problem, producing consistently and showing progress in a market where financing and regulation could complicate expansion.
How the investors differed on business models and investment themes
The respondents did not present a single investment thesis. Their ideas ranged from medical infrastructure and ancillary services to plant science, drug development, B2B software, genetics and other deep-tech or life-science projects. Those were individual perspectives, not a shared forecast.
Todd Harrison, founding partner at CB1 Capital Management, saw potential for strategic buyers from outside cannabis: “Our belief is that M&A will be front of mind for all legal cannabis operators. The difference in Europe is that there is opportunity for non-cannabis players to potentially get strategic and attempt to enter the market through an integration of cannabis as a CPG [consumer packaged good] or pharmaceutical-grade option,” he said.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Harrison’s comment framed mergers and acquisitions as one possible route into the industry, including for consumer-goods and pharmaceutical businesses. It was an expectation expressed in 2022, not evidence that such transactions would occur or a description of current deal activity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Adult-use legalization, Germany and production hubs
Investors differed on how soon recreational markets might develop and what Germany’s possible legalization meant for investment and M&A. Some saw adult-use as a longer-term prospect; Douzdjian saw more recreational promise over roughly a three-year horizon. The survey captured questions about whether Germany’s policy intentions were already reflected in valuations, but it did not establish a definitive answer or a shared timetable.
They also proposed different potential locations for future production hubs, including Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. These were expectations voiced in 2022, not confirmation of which places later became hubs.
How to read this outlook now
The survey is useful as a record of what eight investors expected in the first half of 2022: medical-market development appeared more immediate to many of them, while adult-use policy, national implementation and the shape of the commercial market remained uncertain. The article does not establish which forecasts came true. It is not a current market report, an up-to-date legal analysis or a basis for making investment decisions today.
Read the TechCrunch survey by Anna Heim, published April 13, 2022.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
