Ratan Tata-backed cannabis startup Bombay Hemp raises $2 million

Ratan Tata-backed Bombay Hemp Company (Boheco) has raised $2 million (about Rs 15 crore). The startup supplies premium hemp (cannabis/ marijuana) leaf extract and industrial hemp products.

Bombay Hemp is the country's first startup studying the medical use of hemp. Its seed round investors included Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons and Rajan Anandan, ex-managing director of Google India and currently managing director of Sequoia Capital and Surge.

Before this funding round, Bombay Hemp had concluded a pre-series-A offering of $750,000.

The global industrial hemp market is expected to grow annually at around 16 per cent by 2027 to reach $15 billion, while the global medical hemp market is expected to touch $46 billion by then clipping at annually around 23 per cent, Tekchandaney pointed out, quoting industry data.

Tekchandaney said he wants to make Boheco a leading global player in the health and wellness marketplace. Throughout the world, consumer and regulatory attitudes about the medical use of hemp are shifting and we see that shift daily as consumers purchase our arthritis, stress, and pain management products