Psychedelics & medical cannabis

1. 1. Virtual trip advisers

   → Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is a promising approach, but its growth is complicated by the need for therapists to stay with patients during their trips.

   → Startups are experimenting with digital guides and virtual therapists as well as shorter-acting psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT to see if they can boost accessibility.

2. 2. The perfect trip

   → Administering psychedelics is considerably more complex than regular antidepressants, with the colours and lighting of surroundings affecting the outcome, for example.

   → Running trials in connection with wearables could provide more data on responses, as would increasing the diversity of study participants.

3. 3. Finding medical cannabis remains pot luck

   → The picture for medical cannabis remains messy across Europe, with countries offering different regulatory policies and insurance coverage, and prices for patients differing wildly as a result.

   → Beyond the issue of access, greater standardisation on quality will be needed to ensure the efficacy of treatment — and further increase adoption.

4. 4. More potshots

   → The increased uptake of medical cannabis is creating opportunities for startups beyond cultivation and distribution. These could include optimising plant genetics or building consumption devices and patient data collecting apps.

   → Similarly, psychedelics startups could evolve beyond their risky biotech origins to running specialised clinics, manufacturing ingredients or developing support for digital therapy.

We identify companies as ‘rising stars’ using a number of criteria including founder backgrounds, investor track record, funding and valuation, and growth signals.

Who early stage startups are up against