Nearly a decade after the inception of what we would now consider the ‘global cannabis industry’, Prohibition Partners forecasts its total worth to be around $40bn in 2025, already larger than the entire global recorded music industry. Yet despite this scale, cannabis remains one of the most structurally misunderstood growth sectors in the global investment landscape.
Growth is only set to accelerate, with projections suggesting the market will double by 2028. If this were any other industry, investors would be falling over themselves to secure a piece of the pie.
However, in 2026, cannabis businesses in every market still struggle relentlessly to secure insurance, bank accounts, licences, and most of all investment.
While these figures may surprise the average reader, the reasons behind this unique dynamic will not. As Patrick Lämmli, CEO of Pure Holding AG, puts it: “Cannabis has a reputation problem.”
In order for these forecasts to become a reality, cannabis must shed the reputational anchor which prevents traditional investors and mainstream institutions from taking it seriously.
Lämmli told Business of Cannabis: “That’s why a lot of people don’t invest in it. We need to change that by delivering serious results.”
Swiss excellence
Throughout 2025 and extending into 2026, the global investment landscape has trended heavily towards ‘risk-averse’ investments. Gold ETFs saw record inflows in 2025, with about 4,025 tonnes held and roughly US$89 billion added in value terms, the highest on record.
In the first weeks of 2026, this trend towards ‘safe havens’ like gold has continued, with geopolitical risks encouraging banks and institutional investors to continue betting on gold, driving its price to further record highs.
According to the 2025 Global Investment Risk and Resiliance Index, Switzerland is the most secure country for investment on the planet, thanks to its stability, innovation capacity, and governance quality.
It is also one of the most important and innovative cannabis markets in Europe. Not only is it now one of the most advanced markets in Europe in exploring a fully regulated commercial recreational framework, but its pioneering pilot studies are set to provide uniquely targeted data on the societal and health effects of cannabis legalisation.
It will come as little surprise, then, that the companies leading the way in solving cannabis reputation and investment issues are Swiss.
Pure operates one of Europe’s most vertically integrated cannabis platforms, covering the entire value chain from genomics-driven breeding (Puregene) to cultivation, processing, analytical testing, wholesale distribution and nationwide retail partnerships. This “seed-to-sale” infrastructure provides institutional partners with a controlled, transparent and scalable operating model.
Dr Gavin George, co-founder and CEO of Puregene AG, the genetics and research arm of the Pure Group, one of the country’s leading operators, explained: “Just about every single multinational that we’re in contact with contemplates entering into cannabis, and almost every single one is not doing it right now, even though they can see the potential benefit. That’s across the spectrum, from paper manufacturers to pharmaceutical companies, because it introduces reputational and regulatory considerations.
“Major multinationals have shareholders. Getting involved in cannabis is a risky manoeuvre that has to have extremely clear benefits for those organisations to be able to take that risk.”
Cannabis businesses already need to work harder to be more transparent and professional than other industries of its size, but Pure’s own CEO is proof that conversion from sceptic to advocate is achievable.
Lämmli came to Pure after nearly 15 years in the automotive sector, and concedes that cannabis was not on his radar. Following a three-hour conversation with Dr George, he recalls: “I started to understand that this is not just a purely recreational smoking business. There’s much more to it, and this company is something very special.”
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Providing familiarity
Part of the inherent risk in cannabis investment is due to its complexity, both in terms of how it is regulated, and in the science underpinning its effects on the human body.
As such, providing something familiar for potential investors arriving from pharmaceuticals, food science, or agri-tech provides a much clearer pathway to understanding its potential.
“You would find that our business looks a lot like many other food businesses, and also medical supply chains,” Dr George explained.
With over 4,000 points of sale nationwide, ISO 9001 certification, and audited financial reporting, Pure has built one of the most structured cannabis operations in Europe.
“We produce under GACPs, globally accepted agricultural practices. We process products into finals with certificates of analysis attached to each batch, traced through dedicated software, and distribute medical products under our narcotics licences and GDP. We have the checks, the balances, and the documentation that you would find for just about any other regulated agricultural product.”
In practice, that means every batch of flower is tested for pesticides and cannabinoid content. Third-party analytics providers’ methodologies are interrogated and verified for fitness of purpose. Where any gaps in knowledge exist, Pure is actively working to close them through its science division, Puregene, which published five peer-reviewed papers in 2025 alone, covering everything from quality standards to microbial load management and genomic analysis of cannabis flower populations.
“There’s been a lot of information and not enough knowledge generated in cannabis,” Dr George continued. “A lot of it has been produced through trial and error, and some has been accurate.
“But a lot of it is completely spurious garbage. We have to differentiate those two categories through scientific inquiry, and the peer-review process is how we ensure we’re not just adding more hollow information to the pile.”
According to Dr George, this forensic interrogation of processes is not simply a virtue signalling exercise, but is fundamental to what industry partners expect.
“We built compliant systems by working with regulators from the outset. As standards evolve, we ensure our processes evolve with them.”
For Pure, this is more than simply providing a route into the industry for the companies new to the sector, it is a core business proposition.
“For large players looking to enter this space, we can act as a structured development partner. We understand the regulatory landscape, we have secured supply infrastructure, and we have established market access. We can collaborate on product development, controlled market validation, and data-driven evaluation within clearly defined regulatory frameworks. For organisations seeking to generate regulated market insight without building internal infrastructure from scratch, partnering with us can materially accelerate that process externally while the regulatory framework evolves.
The company sees investment as a partnership, rather than a cash injection, meaning both parties are able to learn from one another.
As a prime example of this dynamic, Pure works closely with established Swiss retail networks to elevate product standards and consumer education in the CBD category.
This includes a long-standing collaboration with Valora, one of Switzerland’s largest retail groups, centred on quality alignment and responsible category management.
It is, Dr George argues, the model for how serious, long-term oriented companies should approach cannabis, building relationships and infrastructure ahead of broader regulatory shifts, rather than reacting to them.
The foundation beneath it all
Underpinning all of this is a compliance infrastructure that, in any other sector, would simply be assumed. Here, it remains a genuine differentiator. Pure is audited by PwC, holds BAG and Swissmedic authorisations covering production, distribution and THC research, and operates under the clean room and hygiene standards required for narcotics distribution.
“We don’t just say, trust us,” notes Renato Auer, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer. “Our BAG authorisations, our research permits, our pilot project permits, these are facts. We can take them out and show them.”
Lämmli adds that compliance is embedded into how Pure evaluates every business decision: “We have a clear code of conduct and train people on it. We operate with zero tolerance for regulatory ambiguity. Whenever we look at new business cases or opportunities, this is how we judge them. It’s our DNA.”
As a result, Pure’s compliance record has become a reputational asset in its own right. “Employees tell me they’re proud to work at Pure because it’s a safe company,” Lämmli says. “They know exactly where the lines are. And our customers recognise it too.”
The gap between cannabis’s market reality and its institutional reputation will not close overnight. But as capital continues to seek regulated, transparent growth sectors, the industry’s structural maturation is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. And for Lämmli, the path forward is straightforward, even if it is not easy.
“Robust means we’re going to be around tomorrow. Reliable means when we say we deliver, we deliver. Science-based means we come with new products nobody else can offer. And compliant means when multinational corporations deal with us, they know exactly what they’re getting.”
For an industry that has spent years asking to be taken seriously, that combination delivered consistently, at scale, from one of the world’s most trusted business environments, may finally be the answer.
