The ArcView Group

The ArcView Group

Founded in 2010, The ArcView Group was built by co-founders Troy Dayton and Steve DeAngelo to solve a specific structural problem: traditional venture capital's institutional charter restrictions prevented them from backing plant-touching cannabis companies, while early-stage operators in the space had virtually no access to institutional capital. The firm pioneered a membership-based model where accredited investors pay annual dues to access a pipeline of vetted cannabis companies seeking seed through growth-stage funding. ArcView's network grew to include hundreds of investor members across the United States, functioning as the de facto early-stage capital market for cannabis operators before the broader venture ecosystem began entering the space around 2018. ArcView's deployment model blends two distinct formats. The first is a curated pitch forum, held in cities across North America, where pre-screened cannabis companies present to the firm's investor membership. The second is a co-investment vehicle — ArcView Ventures — launched to pool member capital into syndicated deals alongside external lead investors. Confirmed investments span verticals including cultivation, infused products, dispensary retail, and ancillary technology. Named portfolio companies include Leafly, the cannabis discovery platform that later went public via SPAC (per public filings, 2021), and Eaze, the California-based delivery platform that raised over $250 million in total venture funding (per PitchBook-stated rounds, 2020–2022). The firm's geographic concentration has historically centered on the United States, with member activity peaking in California, Colorado, and Michigan during the state-by-state legalization wave of the 2010s. ArcView's investor membership pool — while the firm has not disclosed a precise headcount — was widely referenced as among the largest single-industry angel networks in the country during the 2015–2020 period. The firm's Port Washington, New York headquarters anchors its legal entity, but operational activity has been distributed, with pitch forums and investor summits held in Los Angeles, Denver, and San Francisco. Adjacent to the investment network, Dayton and DeAngelo built ArcView into a policy-adjacent institution: the firm produced an annual "State of Legal Cannabis Markets" report and maintained close ties to advocacy organizations including the Marijuana Policy Project and the National Cannabis Industry Association, where Dayton previously served as board chair. A notable organizational inflection point came around 2021–2022, when executive leadership responsibilities shifted — co-founder Troy Dayton stepped back from day-to-day operations, and the firm's public-facing investment activity decelerated alongside the broader cannabis capital markets downturn. Structurally, ArcView occupies a unique niche that no competitor has replicated at scale: a private membership network explicitly serving as an angel group for plant-touching cannabis companies. The architecture — annual membership fees funding a centralized deal-screening function, with individual investors making their own allocation decisions — differs fundamentally from both traditional venture funds charging management fees on committed capital and large cannabis-dedicated private equity firms like Gotham Green Partners or Poseidon Asset Management. This model made ArcView the highest-visibility entry point for accredited individuals seeking direct cannabis exposure, and the network effects generated by a decade of operator and investor relationships remain the firm's most durable asset, even as its current investment pace is less publicly visible than at its peak.