With $90 million of pre-orders already on its books, medicinal cannabis company Medical Kiwi is setting up production
premises in Christchurch ahead of its longer term plans for a purpose-built facility at Brightwater in Nelson.
The Nelson-based Kiwi start-up is launching a PledgeMe campaign on 17 August to raise $2 million toward its bid to be one of the key producers of New Zealand-grown, high quality medicinal cannabis
to service a burgeoning market here and overseas.
“We have pre-sold more than our production capacity for our first two years of operation,” says Co-Founder and Chairman
Aldo Miccio. “Our supply agreement with Hektares provides us with a solid financial grounding with $30 million worth of
medicinal cannabis sales next year and $60 million the following year. We need to get on with delivering on those
orders, so we are setting up premises in Christchurch while the design, planning and construction of our Brightwater
facility is carried out. It’s not just Hektares either, we also have a letter of intention to purchase from Medipharm
Labs, a global leader in pharma-quality cannabinoid-based products.”
Miccio says the Christchurch building is already fit for purpose and can comply with the strict New Zealand and
international Medicinal Cannabis licensing conditions.
“We will operate solely from this facility until our Nelson site is ready, which won’t be for a few more years,” Miccio
says. “When in full production, estimated to be early 2024, our Nelson facility will be designed to produce 30,000 -
35,000 kg of dried product per annum, valued today from $100 - $110 million.”
Medical Kiwi is seeking to raise $3 million of investment capital to help grow and produce safe, high-quality,
affordable medicinal cannabis and CBD products and ensure they are available to the people who need them the most. The
start-up aims to raise a maximum of $2 million through crowdfunding investors and a further $1 million through the
wholesale investment market.
Funds raised through the PledgeMe campaign will be put toward getting the Christchurch premises up and running as soon
as possible, marketing, research and the development at Nelson.
“We believe Medical Kiwi will be an attractive investment,” Miccio says. “Our strong point of difference is our blend of
science, research and production. We’re committed to an ongoing programme of advanced research and technology to support
the development of safe, high-quality medicinal cannabis products.”
To this end, Medical Kiwi has already secured partnerships with cannabis organisations with strong research credentials
such as Vitality CBD, Liberty Herbal Technologies, Empirical Labs, and Hektares.
“Our plan is ambitious because we’re striving to be market leaders in this exciting growth industry,” Miccio says. “We
will take an innovative, science-based approach to developing and delivering cannabinoid products to those who need them
the most. Our robust research, innovative product development, partnerships with global industry-leading companies and
agreements for future sales put us in a unique position to create value and carve out a significant share of this
emerging industry in New Zealand and globally.”
Medical Kiwi also plans to manufacture its own New Zealand medicinal cannabis products for sale domestically and
internationally, and has established strong relationships with customers in both of these markets.
“Now all we need are the people who share our excitement at the prospects for this burgeoning industry and are prepared
to help us accomplish our objectives by joining our team as investors,” Miccio says.