DENVER (AP) — A marijuana industry investment group is pouring more than $1 million into cannabis businesses, seeking to cash in on the rapidly expanding industry.

The ArcView Group's CEO, Troy Dayton, said deals are still being made after a meeting between marijuana companies and investors in Denver on Tuesday.

More than 20 companies made pitches to ArcView members, seeking investments from as little as $100,000 to as much as $24 million.

ArcView, which was founded in 2010, is made up of about 80 investors from across the United States and a handful of other countries. Many of the investors are already involved in the marijuana industry, but Dayton says an increasing number are from outside the industry and looking for new investments.

Steve DeAngelo, owner of the massive Harborside Health dispensary in California and a co-founder of ArcView, said the meeting is the beginning of building a strong financial foundation for the new industry, the Denver Post reported Thursday (http://tinyurl.com/mqrkplb ).

Vancouver, British Columbia, venture capitalist Sam Znaimer said he has worked in the past with computer and telecommunication startups.

"What we have here today is every bit as dynamic and every bit as exciting as those industries," Znaimer said.

While many states have for-profit medical-marijuana industries, Colorado and Washington are set early next year to become the first two states in the country to allow sales from specially licensed marijuana stores to all adults over 21.

The federal government's recent announcement that it would not make it a priority to prosecute marijuana businesses in compliance with state law has boosted enthusiasm among cannabis entrepreneurs.