40 Under 40
For the past five years, the Marijuana Venture staff has compiled an annual list of some of the brightest young leaders and influencers in the cannabis industry. As in past years, we have narrowed the list from hundreds of worthy candidates to present 40 individuals from the vast and ever-changing business in the United States and Canada.
It is our honor to share their stories.
Alex Freedman
Age: 33
Company: Americanna Fund
Title: Managing Director
In 2018, Alex Freedman found an “endlessly fascinating” opportunity when he was named general counsel for the city’s Department of Cannabis Regulation, tasked with helping hammer out L.A.’s city ordinance, developing its licensing procedure and then rolling out one of the biggest legal cannabis programs in the country.
“It was very complex, challenging and, honestly, frustrating,” Freedman says, calling his role with the city “the experience of a lifetime.” He committed himself to becoming an expert on the subject, reading everything he could about the emerging industry.
It also opened up opportunities in the private sector and in 2019, Freedman left the city to help start the Americanna Fund, aimed at funding privately held cannabis businesses with strong management teams, durable business models and the ability to seize the opportunities in a new market.
Freedman says the Americanna has a “pretty ambitious investment timeline” planned for the next year, but he says the firm will focus on its home state of California because of the market’s size.
“We’ve seen what happens when people start running around the country investing in eight different states. It doesn’t end well,” he says, adding, “If you do well here, you’re going to do very well.”