Cutting edge cannabis company in Tasmania crowdfunding for shares

Hempcrete business X-hemp is using Australian equity crowdfunding platform Birchal to capital raise and expand their operations.

Currently operating from a farm warehouse in Cressy and employing ten female staff, the start-up hopes to build the first carbon negative industrial factory in Australia.

Hempcrete business X-hemp founder Andi Lucas said in addition to purchasing equipment to produce the hemp-based building materials, the business hoped to create a new factory with multiple purposes.

"We are looking to secure our new site for a new factory. It will have a retail shop front, training rooms, production facilities...and will become a hub for research and development for cannabis hemp production in the state," she said.

"It will be a hub and spoke model. Tassie will be the heartland, and satellite factories would operate around Australia."

Ms Lucas said interest in hempcrete was growing across various cohorts, including builders looking for Australian made timber-substitutes with a sustainable supply chain, and home renovators wanting low energy builds in tough economical times.

"We've just had the hottest three months in history and the climate change denier cohort is shrinking rapidly as people are recognising the absolutely undeniable science," she said.

"More and more people have been directly affected by natural disasters such as fire and floods. This material resonates with people.

"Also, the typical clientele is changing. With interest rate rises, people are re-examining how we are doing things.

"Middle Australia are asking, what can we do to reduce our power bills and a lot of people doing renovations to existing houses are wanting a greener, cost-effective alternative.

Ms Lucas said the expression of interest closes in a week, and potential shareholders could purchase shares in "a cutting edge cannabis company" for as little as $300.

She said the company was offering something different in the form of an all-female business in agriculture and construction.

"It is the first female-led business to do a crowdfund and the third Tassie business to do it," she said.

"We are 2.5 weeks into the expression of interest phase and at the moment we have done four times the volume of what they told us to expect.

"If we had enough interest, we could raise up to $5 million."

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