Prior to co-founding Bloomwell Group, one of Germany’s largest cannabis businesses, with her brother Niklas Kouparanis, Anna-Sophia Kouparanis became familiar with California’s cannabis industry while visiting relatives living in the Golden State. But while California’s market was already matured and competitive, she saw great opportunity in Germany’s burgeoning industry.
“Just a few years ago, Germany’s cannabis industry was uncharted territory and that was something that really motivated me,” she says. “My grandfather first immigrated to Germany from Greece as a migrant worker, and his determination and courage has always inspired me to embark on unpredictable ventures and to always give 200% in everything I do.”
Kouparanis became involved in the German industry in 2018 and founded the distribution company Ilios Santé a year later, making her the first woman in the country to create a licensed cannabis wholesaler business and an ambassador for future female entrepreneurs looking to enter Europe’s industry.
“Unfortunately, women are still extremely underrepresented in Europe’s cannabis industry,” she says. “But I want to close the gender gap in cannabis and set an example as a woman who started her own company.”
While she remains one of few female cannabis executives in Europe, Kouparanis was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2021, and Bloomwell Group, which has grown to 250 employees, was named one of Business Insider’s “16 Cannabis Startups to Watch.”