Cannabis-Focused Lending Company FundCanna Launches With $30M In Available Debt Funding

The cannabis industry welcomed Thursday the launch of the new cannabis-focused lending company FundCanna, co-founded by a financial services veteran, Adam Stettner.

FundCanna said it will provide the burgeoning marijuana industry with a well-funded platform for cultivators, producers, retailers and all participants in the cannabis supply chain.

The initial products will resemble factoring offerings, often seen in the garment and retail industries, offering term loans of 30 to 180 days. The San Diego, California-based company said its offerings will be flexible and highly customizable.

Beyond the initial raise of $30 million, FundCanna said it has access to additional capital via its principals, investors and partners, including an extensive nationwide network built over the last 20-plus years of financing American small businesses. 

Stettner, together with his team of financial services industry executives, brings more than two decades of lending experience, having facilitated more than $20 billion in funding across all credit types including business, personal and student loans.

 “The cannabis industry is in a rapid and dynamic phase requiring significant sources of working and growth capital that have not, until now been available to it. This lack of debt financing has hampered growth and driven up borrowing costs,” Stettner, the co-founder, and CEO of FundCanna, said in a statement. 

“It is common for there to be a gap between the need to make payment and the time to turn purchases into revenue. FundCanna will fill that gap and provide access to working capital for the licensed Cannabis Industry.  

Solving The Debt Deficit 

While growing rapidly, and now in more than 35 states, the cannabis industry still faces a massive shortage of debt financing from traditional bank and non-bank lenders. Today, what little debt financing is available to the industry is generated by high-cost sources of capital including sale-leasebacks, non-conforming asset-based loans and other forms of debt capital that are more expensive than the solutions available to traditional, federally regulated industries.

“FundCanna is here to solve the debt deficit in the cannabis industry,” Stettner said. 

Photo: Courtesy of Diyahna Lewis on Unsplash.