LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (January 29, 2018) – PRESS RELEASE – Little Rock-based fintech company abaca now offers lending to the cannabis industry through its cannabis banking platform. Originally launched in Arkansas in late 2017 as MediPays, abaca recently completed the prestigious CanopyBoulder accelerator program in Boulder, Colo. There, founders developed a solution to another urgent need in the cannabis industry – access to capital. Working with partners in Colorado, abaca has launched a lending component to its platform, and will be working with cannabis businesses to help them obtain credit facilities including real estate/mortgage loans, equipment financing, inventory credit lines, purchase order financing and receivables factoring. Abaca is also opening a lending office in Denver to support this new line of business.
Abaca currently works with the majority of Arkansas’ cultivators, and is in the process of onboarding many of the state’s newly-licensed dispensaries on to its banking platform. Abaca also banks licensed cannabis dispensaries, processors and cultivators in Oklahoma, as well as ancillary cannabis businesses (such as testing labs and consultants) in both states.
“For the past four months, I’ve been living in Colorado participating in the CanopyBoulder program,” says co-founder Dan Roda, a Little Rock-based attorney and entrepreneur. “During that time, I was able to immerse myself in the most mature legal cannabis market in the country. There, I found the right tools and resources to help abaca better serve our customers back home. Many of our dispensary and cultivator customers were already asking about lending options. Through our platform, we are now able to partner with both conventional banks and private lenders to help bridge the cannabis capital gap."
Latest from Cannabis Business Times
- Navigating Cultivation Room Design: Optimization vs. Maximization
- Verano Opens 18th Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Pennsylvania
- Hundreds Interested in Kentucky’s Medical Cannabis Licenses; Just 17 Apply So Far
- Aurora Receives Expanded Cultivation, Unique Research Licenses for German Facility
- Curaleaf Opening 2 New York Medical Dispensaries, Launching Adult-Use Sales at 2 Other Stores
- Ohio’s Adult-Use Licensing Process Leads CBT’s Top Stories in July
- Planet 13 Launches Lifestyles Brand Company; Signs 1st Sponsored Athlete in UFC Title Contender Chito Vera
- LeafLink Acquires Leading Cannabis Banking Platform Dama Financial