Q3'24 Survey: What are Psychedelics Investors Excited About?

Earlier, we shared the high-level results of our Q3’24 Psychedelic Investor Survey, our third such survey. Here, we take a closer look at investors’ qualitative responses to provide a better picture of their key areas of excitement. (We will explore key areas of concern in our third and final article detailing these survey results.)

As a reminder, we allowed respondents to our Psychedelic Investor Survey to enter free-text responses to the question, “What are you most excited about as an investor in psychedelics companies at present?” We then combed through their responses and tagged them according to a range of themes we identified.

In general, psychedelics investors of all stripes expressed most excitement around the discovery, development, and ultimate roll-out of new and effective therapeutics that can make a dent in the mental health crisis. This was particularly noticeable among retail investors but also family offices, which displayed a characteristically thematic or purpose-oriented motivation with regards to investing in the field.

VC and corporate investors showed a great deal of excitement around psychoplastogens (or, ‘non-hallucinogenic psychedelics’) and other ‘next-generation psychedelics’, as well as what they perceive to be a maturation or professionalisation of the field and its companies.

Retail investors often expressed excitement around specific drug development milestones and clinical trial readouts, as well as potential return on investment. This group of investors are particularly sensitive to near-term events.

Here, we discuss the various topics that psychedelics investors told us excited them…

The promise of developing new and effective therapeutics remains the most commonly-cited cause for excitement among psychedelics investors we surveyed, but particularly resonates with retail investors.

Retail investors often reported excitement around supporting the emergence of ‘new and much-needed therapies for patients with a real need’. Accredited investors and family offices also mentioned this often, with family offices demonstrating a thematic interest in identifying ‘additional solutions to the massive mental health crisis’...