Industries:
Banking
Cannabis
Finance
Investor Types:
Venture Capital
Investment Stages:
Early Stage Venture
Location: Ramona, California, United States
Mentor Capital, Inc. (MNTR) is a public company that invests in medical and social use cannabis companies. Mentor takes a 10% to 100% position in the various members of our family of participating companies, but leaves operating control firmly in the hands of the cannabis company founders. Because adult social use and medical marijuana
opportunities often overlap, Mentor Capital participates in the legal recreational marijuana market. However, Mentor’s preferred focus is medical and the company seeks to facilitate the application of cannabis to cancer wasting, calming seizures, Parkinson’s disease, reducing ocular pressures from glaucoma and blunting chronic pain.
Mentor’s approach and capital structure allows its shareholders to buy an additional $140 million of Mentor shares at approximately a 12.5% discount. As money is sent in to buy into the growing cannabis portfolio, the proceeds are split pro rata amongst the cannabis companies that are participating in the indirect sale. As more private cannabis companies join in the consortium, the MNTR share price is pushed higher, other things being equal. The increasing share price may well increase the exercise of stock options and warrants by both Mentor Capital’s 1,500 mostly accredited shareholders and the public market in general. Using this approach, Mentor seeks to deliver a higher price to founders for a smaller slice of their business. Retaining control and receiving more cash are the two key advantages to cannabis founders working with Mentor Capital, Inc.
Mentor Capital migrated to the cannabis space from leading-edge cancer investments when government actions collapsed the new leading cancer sector (e.g. Dendreon, the market leader, dropped from $44 per share to $2.90 per share.) Mentor still retains some cancer investments, but will complete the shift to the cannabis marketplace as profitable opportunities to exit present themselves.
Originally, Mentor Capital was formed in Silicon Valley in 1985 with $1,000 by current CEO, Chet Billingsley. The company completed dozens of early private acquisitions and went public in 1995.
Mentor Capital feels there is significant opportunity to approach the medical marijuana market as a business-focused, high-integrity, public company providing significantly more financing to private cannabis companies. As a result, Mentor will be able to return increasing stock value to the investing public. As a distinct first step in this direction, the Mentor CEO has placed his shares in escrow with a law firm to obviate the risk of pump and dump activity that has otherwise been associated by regulators with other public marijuana related firms.
Cannabis related firms seeking a larger amount of long-term cooperative financing, for a smaller slice of their business, are encouraged to contact Mentor Capital to discuss reserving their pro rata portion of Mentor’s $140 million authorized raise.