A $10 billion marijuana producer just spun off its venture arm in the hopes it will become the 'Google Ventures of cannabis'

Blair Gable/Reuters

Section Grower Jeremy Strother (L) and Production Assistant Dan Brennan prepare to move marijuana plant clones into a growing room at Tweed Marijuana Inc in Smith's Falls, Ontario, February 20, 2014. By unlocking the once-obscure medical marijuana market, Canada has created a fast-growing, profitable and federally regulated industry with a distinct appeal to the more daring global investor. About a dozen producers of the drug will find themselves in the spotlight this year as they consider going public or prepare to so through share sales or reverse takeovers to capitalize on recent regulatory changes, investment bankers said. Tweed Marijuana Inc, which converted an old chocolate factory into a marijuana farm, led the pack by becoming the first publicly held Canadian company in the sector. Picture taken February 20, 2014.

• Canopy Growth, a $10 billion Canadian marijuana firm, is spinning off its venture-capital arm, which will begin trading at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.
• Canopy Rivers makes minority investments in burgeoning marijuana companies as part of its goal to become the 'Google Ventures of cannabis.'
• Watch Canopy Growth trade in real time here.

Canopy Rivers, the venture-capital arm of Canopy Growth, will make its trading debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange at 10:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

The company, which makes minority investments in burgeoning marijuana companies, in an attempt to become the "Google Ventures of cannabis," found its way onto the exchange via a reverse takeover with a company formerly known as AIM2 Ventures.

Canopy Growth will maintain its roughly 25% stake in Canopy Rivers, and controls about 90% of the voting rights thanks to the venture arm's dual-class governance structure. The other three quarters of Rivers' roughly $200 million of investments have come from institutional investors.

"In Canopy I don't want to be in the business of growth directly, by trying to make bets on stocks through buying and selling," CEO Bruce Linton told the Canadian program Midas Letter last week. "In Rivers, we want to be in that business. We're not just putting cash into them, we're putting intellectual skills and expertise."

So far the firm has made 11 investments in smaller companies. It looks for stellar management teams with a track record of success when making new investments, a Rivers executive recently explained to Business Insider.

Marijuana stocks have been on fire this month. Tilray, now the largest producer by market capitalization, has seen its stock price more than triple, boosted by receiving clearance to export medical marijuana to the United States for a clinical drug trial. Meanwhile, Canopy Growth's market value has doubled over that time following a $4 billion investment from Constellation Brands, the company behind Corona, Modelo, and other popular alcoholic beverages.

There's still plenty of room for the space to grow, too, Wall Street analysts estimate. Nik Modi, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, thinks the global-cannabis market could be worth more than $200 billion by 2032, fueled by further legalization in the United States and other countries.

That global expansion is what Canopy Rivers hopes to tap through its strategic investments and deals.

"Canopy Rivers presents a world of opportunity for its partners and for Canopy Growth," CEO Bruce Linton said in a press release.

"It's the type of relationship that allows us to continue to grow our lead in this incredibly dynamic industry … Whether it's access to new brands, new technologies, differentiated products, first rights to future financing opportunities, and even rights to future full acquisition, Rivers will build value for shareholders, including Canopy Growth by building value for its portfolio partners."