When a startup succeeds, the prize isn’t just a higher valuation or more customers or bigger market share. They also win far more scrutiny from regulators, the media, elected officials, and advocates. Next year promises to be no different with a host of new ideas ready to take center stage in legislatures across the nation. While the only safe political prediction anyone can make is that no one knows what will ever actually happen, here are eight startup sectors likely to find themselves at the center of the storm in the coming year:
CANNABIS:
Major states like New York, Illinois and New Jersey will likely vote to legalize recreational cannabis. That does two things for cannabis tech: (1) It widely expands market opportunities for delivery, media, distribution, and marketplaces; and (2) Once establishment U.S. cities like New York legalize cannabis, the timeframe to removing cannabis as a Schedule I drug federally speeds up with it. There’s a lot at stake here for cannabis-focused companies like Eaze and Herb.
