Newly formed Forma Holdings, which operates three divisions that include retail and cultivation assets as well as clinical research programs design, announced several investments in the cannabis industry through its third division, Anthos Ventures, an investment vehicle that the company describes as operating on a no-fee basis. Forma Holdings is closely tied to London’s Kingsley Capital Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm which serves family offices and institutional investors.
Forma’s team includes CEO Gavin Sathianathan, President Neil Mahapatra, Executive Director Hee-Dong Kim, each with Harvard MBAs and serving as Partners at Kingsley, and Chief Strategy Officer Tarek Tabsh, who has been involved in the cannabis industry since 2006. Tabsh, who brings deep domain expertise to Forma Holdings, is also Kingsley’s entrepreneur-in-residence, working out of Los Angeles, and was a co-founder of L.A. dispensary New Amsterdam Naturals.
Three of the four investments disclosed by Anthus Ventures are in entities tied to Steve DeAngelo, including Harborside Health, the leading dispensary in Oakland that also operates a store in San Jose and soon in San Leandro, The Arcview Group and FLRish, which manages Harborside Health Center’s dispensaries. FLRish, where DeAngelo serves as Executive Chairman, has a goal of becoming the leading vertically-integrated cannabis company in California under the new regulations. The fourth investment is in Indus Holdings, which owns Altai Brands and has distribution partnerships with some of the leading cannabis brands in California, including Dixie Brands and Foria.
Anthos Ventures distinguishes itself from other cannabis-focused investment companies by focusing on value creation in true partnership alongside our portfolio companies, and by working for our investors on a no-fee basis.
Tarek Tabsh, Managing Partner at Anthos
and Chief Strategy Officer at Forma Holdings
We believe Anthos’ deep domain expertise, professional management and strategic capabilities, and extensive global network provide a unique proposition to the ambitious entrepreneurs we meet; and Anthos is proud to announce a no-fee fund structure which fully aligns our managing partners’ incentives with our investors’ goals and expectations.
Anthos Ventures, the creation of which was a natural development arising from the advisory work the company has been doing within the cannabis industry, didn’t disclose any of the financial details regarding its investments.
