A Perth firm which sells oils, soaps and ‘gummies’ made with cannabis extracts is valued at £1.3 million in a crowdfunding campaign.
Voyager is seeking to raise £150,000 on the Seedrs platform this month.
It will be the first multi-product CBD company in the UK to expand its investor base through crowdfunding.
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is the non-psychoactive component of cannabis which is legal in the UK.
It is claimed to have significant health benefits, including pain relief and the reduction of stress and anxiety.
Voyager, founded just six months ago, is looking for investors to increase its product range and breadth of distribution.
Aim to be in High Street shops
Perth-based founder Nick Tulloch, is the former chief executive of Zoetic International, the first CBD company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a market valuation of almost £150m.
He said the marketplace was expected to rapidly increase in the coming years.
“The CBD market is expected to be worth £1 billion in the UK by 2025,” Mr Tulloch said.
“This will make it larger than the entire herbal supplement market.
“It’s a fast growing sector and we are very ambitious. We want to continue to roll out a range of products and increase our distribution.
“Looking forward we’d love to have our products in high street stores and ultimately listed on the stock exchange.”
Track record in the CBD sector
Mr Tulloch, who moved to Perthshire from London a decade ago, was previously a financial adviser.
He was appointed finance director of Highland Natural Resources, a UK-listed company with oil and gas prospects in America.
He was part of a change of strategy that saw the firm move away from oil and gas to CBD products. As part of the rebrand, the company changed its name to Zoetic.
Covid-19 accelerated the need for the largely US-based company to be run within the US and Mr Tulloch left last April. He set up Voyager in August.
CBD soaps made in Perth
Some of the Voyager products are imported directly from the United States and labelled in Perth.
In the case of its soaps, the CBD ingredient is imported and then the product is manufactured locally.
“In a few years we’d love to have our own manufacturing facility and maybe even our own extraction facility,” Mr Tulloch said.
“The aim is to make us a significant company but also a trusted company.”
Voyager sells products direct to consumers through its website and also through distribution channels.
Crowdfunding campaign
Mr Tulloch said he believed crowdfunding was a good way to raise funds for consumer products as investors can become customers and vice versa.
He is joined at Voyager by two other former senior members of the Zoetic team – previous chairman Paul Mendell and Eric Boyle, one of the founders.
All the directors have personally invested in the company and none are taking a salary for the first year.
Mr Tulloch added: “This is very early stage but there are two things that set us apart.
“Firstly, we’ve done this before – the top team were all at Zoetic. Secondly, we have set out to be entirely professional.
“There are businesses in our sector which are not selling quite what’s on the label.
“In a fast-growing industry that’s going to become more mainstream in the next couple of years, the trusted brands which give a good customer experience are going to be the winners.”
Voyager is not the first CBD company to set up in Courier Country. In Fife, Cannafull produces a range of cosmetics.
