Tej Virk, CEO of Akanda Corporation, which recently acquired the Portuguese company Holigen for 26 million euros, has gained a reputation in the global cannabis space in recent years after building a solid career in banking and capital markets. Having taken over the assets of Bophelo in Lesotho and Canmart in the UK, Tej is committed to transforming Akanda into the world’s leading medical cannabis company and Portugal is a strategic point for expansion. Anticipating the future, Tej already has his eyes set on the adult use market and leaves a message to the Government of Portugal: “Legalize it before Germany”.

We met Tej Virk at Holigen’s facilities in Sintra, where we also met Tom Flow, from The Flowr Corporation, who sold the Portuguese subsidiary to Akanda, and we realized that they maintain a good relationship.

How did you start working with cannabis, what did you do before and how did you end up buying a medical cannabis company in Portugal?

I was born in Canada, studied there and moved to the UK in 2007. This was part of my banking career, which I did for about 15 years, focused on capital markets and finance. I was very involved in actions, where I helped to lead more than 100 IPO’s (Initial Public Offering). I’ve helped raise billions of dollars in funding for companies in the healthcare, technology, resources and consumer spaces sectors, and I really came across the cannabis sector in 2017/2018. That’s when I was starting to monitor things, as legalization was happening in the US and Canada, where I’m from, and I thought that was a big social shift. I’m a believer in freedom of choice, and having access to things like cannabis, which really have real medicinal healing value and an excellent safety profile, has led me to get more involved with real corporate funding. My previous company was very involved in the sector and 2018 is when I started meeting the CEOs of some of these big cannabis companies. [Read More @ CannaReporter]