New York, NY, Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Geoff Whaling launched the rePlant Hemp Impact Fund, a first-to-market ESG fund focused on hemp for food and fiber (also known as “industrial hemp”). In front of crowds at New York’s CWCBExpo, Mr. Whaling outlined the fund’s plan to inject $500 million into the hemp space by 2030, with an initial focus on developing the American supply chain and processing infrastructure critical to unlocking the value of the hemp crop.
Mr. Whaling, Chair of the National Hemp Association and Founder and Chief Vison Officer of rePlant Hemp Advisors told the attendees of the fund’s strategy to develop the hemp supply chain and value chain concurrently, providing a new cash crop for America’s farmers and a sustainable manufacturing input for a range of industries. Whaling said, “We will unlock the vast potential of America’s newest commodity; a regenerative, carbon-sequestering natural resource. We will connect American agriculture with innovative technologies to create industrial inputs that can serve as renewable, sustainable replacements for our current unsustainable ones.”
Hemp was prohibited in the US from 1937 until 2014. Access to capital is essential to scaling the new companies now operating in the hemp space—companies developing an industry that has been absent from the American landscape for over 80 years. Mr. Whaling adds, “Within 18 months the rePlant Hemp fund will not only support these American entrepreneurs but will supply a range of competitive options for companies seeking to replace input materials for everyday products like paper, plastic and cement with hemp.” This is seen as a critical first step towards meeting the nation's climate change goals as outlined by the Biden Administration.
rePlant Hemp has brought together a team of industry, finance and operational talent with a shared vision and commitment to creating a greener and healthier world. Whaling is joined in this venture by rePlant Hemp Advisors Board Chair Michael Woods, former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Rothschild & Co. Asset Management U.S., Inc, Former CEO of the DWS US Mutual Fund Business as well as the Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and current CEO and COO of US-based Big Sun Holdings Group Corporation (Big Sun). Hemp finance veterans Sanitas Peak Advisory join as Subadvisors, and Wilson Kello joins as CMO, having helped Whaling establish and build publicly traded Collective Growth Corporation, which combined on April 5, 2021 with Innoviz Technologies in a $1.4 billion transaction. Collective Growth Corporation raised $150 million before beginning public trading under the ticker symbol CGRO in April 2020.
Mr. Whaling added, “Whether investors are looking for real ESG options, or simply seeking to hedge against the inevitable decline of fossil fuels, rePlant Hemp is the smart bet for our future. Hemp is at an inflection point: there is no other natural resource with a foothold in such a wide range of major global industries. The combined Total Addressable Market is staggering.”
About rePlant Hemp Impact Fund
rePlant Hemp will begin their first round in January of 2022, a $25 million subscription to be followed by increasingly larger rounds. Each successive round will be developed using a data-driven approach to support best-in-class new technologies and onboard major adjacent industries as the demand for net-zero inputs increases. rePlant Hemp will answer global cries for practices and products that mitigate global climate catastrophe while developing the next generation of sustainable hemp-based foods, construction materials, textiles, automobile parts, bioplastics and more.
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