Healthcare/Marijuana

The Recruiter for Cannabis Companies Closes Venture Backed Funding

The “Indeed” of cannabis is filling the void of connecting a relatively new industry to workers looking for employment

  • The “Indeed” of cannabis is filling the void of connecting a relatively new industry to workers looking for employment

Denver-based Vangst, a cannabis recruiting platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding from earlier backers Casa Verde Capital and Lerer Hippeau to become the “Indeed” of cannabis.

Cannabis companies have increased hiring for essentially every position, but many are facing hiring issues because of the lack of a platform to find suitable candidates. With cannabis still a relatively new industry, just 10 ten states having legalized recreational marijuana, workers looking to get a start in the cannabis industry might not know where to begin.

“We saw an opportunity to connect all the people looking for jobs in the industry with the employers looking to hire,” said CEO Karson Humiston.

“There’s right now around 160,000 people employed in the space and this number is expected to grow to 350,000. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do to connect hundreds of thousands of people with jobs. We know with technology we can do this more easily with our clients.”

Next time the likes of Canopy Growth (CGC) or Tilray (TLRY) will need to add to their existing headcount of 4,000 and 1,000, respectively, they will know where to go.

Article by: Mick Ross
Mick is currently a full-time investor and formerly a buy-side analyst (2yrs) covering healthcare companies. Before that, he was a salesperson at a bulge-bracket firm, based in Dallas, Texas. Mick blogs to clarify and synthesize his investment thought process and to elicit feedback; additionally he likes to connect with other investors and swap ideas.