cannabis business financing
FDIC-insured banks can’t bank you. The SBA can’t fund you. Most factors and equipment lenders won’t even take the call. I work with two cannabis-specialty lenders who provide cannabis business financing to licensed dispensaries, cultivators, wholesalers, and cannabis real estate in states where cannabis is legal and regulated. One application, two real lenders, no wasted weeks pitching banks that were never going to say yes.
On This Page · Cannabis Business Financing
FDIC banks can’t. SBA can’t. I can.
Cannabis is federally Schedule I, which closes nearly every door in the financing world. Here is who can’t fund you and who can. This is not opinion. It is regulation.
FDIC-Insured Banks
Federal deposit insurance creates federal compliance obligations. Almost no FDIC-insured bank will originate a cannabis loan, and many won’t even hold the deposits. This is why your bank turned you down before you finished your sentence, and this is why cannabis business financing exists outside the FDIC banking system entirely.
The SBA
The SBA is a federal agency. Federal law prohibits SBA-guaranteed loans from funding any business that touches the cannabis plant directly, including dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and most ancillary operators. Programs that work for restaurants and law firms do not work here.
Cannabis-Specialty Lenders
A small group of non-bank lenders has built underwriting and capital structures specifically for licensed cannabis operators. I work with two of them, and they are the foundation of the cannabis business financing I arrange. They understand the cash business, the state regulatory frameworks, and the asset classes. That is the whole point of working with me on a cannabis deal.
Cannabis business financing operates inside a framework defined by federal regulation, state oversight, and industry advocacy
The gap between cannabis operators and FDIC banks isn’t an opinion or a marketing line. It is a documented regulatory environment, and a real industry has grown up around it. Here are three authoritative sources that shape the cannabis business financing landscape: the federal agency that classifies cannabis, the national industry trade association advocating for operators, and the coalition of state regulators that licenses and oversees the markets my lenders fund in.
Controlled Substances Act · Drug Scheduling
The DEA classifies cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance. This is the federal classification that closes nearly every conventional financing door and creates the gap cannabis business financing fills.
View DEA scheduling → National Cannabis Industry AssociationThe Largest U.S. Cannabis Trade Association
NCIA is the oldest and largest national trade association serving licensed cannabis businesses, representing operators across every state-regulated market. If you operate in the industry, this is the primary advocacy and education body shaping the policy environment your cannabis business financing exists inside.
Visit NCIA → Cannabis Regulators Association · CANNRAThe National Coalition of State Cannabis Regulators
CANNRA brings together cannabis regulators from 40+ states and territories to share best practices and regulatory frameworks. Because my cannabis business financing lenders fund licensed states only, the state regulatory body in your state is the gatekeeper for your eligibility. CANNRA is the umbrella organization for that landscape.
Visit CANNRA →Six ways to fund a licensed cannabis business
Cannabis business financing is its own product set, not a bank product with a different label. Here is what the two specialty lenders I work with actually fund.
Cannabis Real Estate
Purchase or refinance owner-occupied cultivation facilities, dispensary buildings, processing labs, and licensed properties. Cannabis business financing for special-purpose real estate is its own product category, because traditional commercial real estate lenders won’t underwrite these assets.
Cannabis Working Capital
Operating capital for licensed cannabis businesses. This is the highest-volume cannabis business financing request I see: cover payroll, expansion costs, inventory builds, and the cash gaps that come with a heavily-regulated, mostly-cash business.
Cannabis Line of Credit
Revolving cannabis business financing for licensed operators. Draw what you need when you need it, repay, draw again. Built for the cash-flow swing of a regulated cannabis business.
Cannabis Equipment Financing
Grow-room lighting, HVAC and climate control, irrigation, extraction equipment, dispensary security and vault systems, packaging and POS. Asset-collateralized financing built for the equipment cannabis operators actually buy.
Cannabis Invoice Factoring
If you wholesale to dispensaries on net terms, you are sitting on receivables. Cannabis-specialty factoring advances against those invoices so you don’t run dry waiting for the dispensary to pay.
Cannabis Inventory Financing
For wholesalers and distributors carrying significant product inventory between harvest and dispensary sell-through. Inventory-collateralized advances bridge the harvest-to-sale cash gap.
Tap your business type for the financing built for it
A dispensary’s cash needs are nothing like a cultivator’s, and a wholesaler’s working capital story is its own animal. Every page below covers the products, the qualifying picture, and the lender story for that specific cannabis business.
Dispensary Financing … Retail
Build-out, equipment, security, vault systems, point-of-sale, working capital, and owner-occupied dispensary real estate for licensed retail cannabis operators.
See dispensary financing →Cannabis Cultivation Financing … Growers
Indoor, greenhouse, and outdoor cultivation. Grow-facility build-out, lighting, HVAC, irrigation, extraction equipment, and the harvest-to-sale cash gap.
See cultivation financing →Cannabis Wholesale Financing … Distribution
Inventory financing, invoice factoring on dispensary receivables, working capital for licensed cannabis wholesalers and distributors selling on net terms.
See wholesale financing →Cannabis Real Estate Financing
Owner-occupied cannabis facilities: cultivation buildings, dispensary properties, processing labs. Special-purpose real estate that conventional lenders walk away from.
See cannabis real estate →Six cannabis financing situations I fund
Cannabis business financing isn’t just for the owner already operating. The deals that close are often the deals nobody else is thinking about: the manager buying out his boss, the operator expanding to a third state, the license-winner staring at a build-out bill. Find your situation below.
Manager / Employee Buyout
You’ve run the dispensary, the grow, or the wholesale operation for years. The owner is ready to exit and wants you to take it over. Cannabis business financing for succession deals is real, even when banks won’t touch it. Tell me the deal.
Discuss a buyout →Expansion / Second Location
You’re profitable in one licensed location and ready to open the next. Cannabis business financing for a second location requires lenders who understand your existing operating history is the collateral, not just the new building. I have them.
Fund the expansion →Competitor Acquisition
A competing dispensary, cultivator, or wholesaler is for sale and you want to consolidate. Cannabis acquisition financing is a specialty. The lender has to underwrite both businesses and the combined entity. Bring me the deal.
Fund an acquisition →New License Holder
You won the lottery or the merit-based application, and now you’re staring at a build-out bill before you’ve earned a dollar. Pre-revenue cannabis financing is harder than operating-cannabis financing, but my lenders consider strong license positions and collateral. Worth a call.
Fund the build-out →Refinance Existing Cannabis Debt
You took expensive bridge debt or high-rate working capital to get the business open, and now you’re profitable and stuck in a rate that’s bleeding margin. Cannabis refinance is one of the most common deals I look at. Tell me what you owe and to whom.
Refinance my debt →Investor Funding A Cannabis Operator
You’re not the operator, you’re the capital. You want to back a licensed dispensary, grower, or wholesaler with debt instead of equity. I work both sides of investor-funded cannabis deals when the operator-and-investor structure is clean. Call to discuss.
Structure investor capital →A licensed dispensary owner went to seven banks before calling me.
Every one of them said the same thing: “We don’t bank cannabis.” Two of them ended the call mid-sentence. The dispensary needed working capital to expand to a second licensed location in their state, and they had real revenue, real licenses, and real operating history. None of that mattered to an FDIC-insured bank. I matched them to one of my two cannabis-specialty lenders, the file was reviewed by people who actually understand cannabis business financing underwriting, and the operator got a real term sheet instead of a polite goodbye. That is the difference between calling a bank and calling me. Don’t Beg the Bank! Get funded instead.
Friday afternoon. Payroll due Monday. $87,000 short.
The dispensary was doing $400K a month. Profitable. Five years licensed. The owner was watching cash come through the register, but every dollar was either in the vault waiting for the armored carrier or in transit between the safe and the bank account no one would open. Monday morning, twenty-three employees expected paychecks. There was no bank to call. There was no overdraft line. There was, until that Friday, no plan.
I matched the file to one of my two cannabis-specialty lenders and structured a $150,000 cannabis business line of credit against the dispensary’s documented revenue. Funded in four business days. The owner now draws on the line the morning of every payroll, covers the gap, and repays as the cash clears the deposit cycle. The Monday-morning fire drill is over. The line of credit is the answer when cash exists but timing doesn’t.
What it takes to get cannabis business financing
Cannabis business financing is its own underwriting world. Here is the honest picture of what it takes to qualify, so neither of us wastes time on a deal that won’t fly.
What helps you qualify
- A valid cannabis license issued by your state regulatory authority
- Operating in a state where cannabis is legal and regulated
- Real operating history with documented revenue (12+ months preferred)
- Reasonable personal credit on the principals
- Owner-occupied real estate as collateral helps significantly
- Clear compliance record with state cannabis regulators
Straight talk on cannabis lending
- Cannabis lending costs more than conventional lending. The federal-illegality risk is priced in.
- I cannot fund unlicensed operators. Period.
- Terms vary by state. A deal in California prices differently than one in Oklahoma.
- The two lenders I work with fund licensed states only. They will not touch federally illegal-only states.
- Specific rates, terms, and LTV are quoted per deal. Competitive industry rates, terms vary by state and deal.
- Pre-approval typically 3 to 5 business days depending on loan product, license verification, and state.
Apply For Cannabis Business Financing
I personally review every submission. Two cannabis-specialty lenders, one application. I never text, I call you back directly.
Cannabis operators need a broker who actually has cannabis lenders
I am Kevin Kermeen, a nationwide commercial loan advisor. Cannabis business financing is a vertical I built lender relationships for because the gap is real. Most brokers will take a cannabis call, shop it nowhere productive, and string you along for weeks. I will tell you on the first call whether your deal fits one of my two cannabis-specialty lenders, and if it doesn’t, I will tell you that too. I personally review every cannabis business financing application, I call you directly, and I never text.
Don’t Beg the Bank! Get funded instead.
Cannabis business financing FAQ
Can I get an SBA loan for my cannabis business?
No. The SBA is a federal agency, and federal law prohibits SBA-guaranteed loans from funding any business that touches the cannabis plant directly. This includes dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and most direct-touch operators. I never quote SBA programs for cannabis business financing because they do not exist for cannabis. My cannabis business financing solutions come from non-bank, non-SBA capital sources built specifically for licensed cannabis operators.
What states do you fund cannabis businesses in?
My two cannabis-specialty lenders provide cannabis business financing to licensed operators in states where cannabis is legal and regulated. They do not fund operators in states where cannabis is not licensed at the state level. Specific state coverage varies by lender and product, which I confirm on our first call once I know your state.
What does cannabis business financing cost?
Cannabis business financing costs more than conventional commercial lending. Lenders price in the federal-illegality risk, the limited secondary market for cannabis assets, and the regulatory complexity. I quote competitive industry rates for cannabis business financing, and terms vary by state, license type, deal size, and collateral. I will give you real numbers once I know your deal.
Do you fund cannabis startups with no operating history?
Cannabis startup financing is significantly harder than operating-cannabis financing. My two lenders generally want to see documented revenue and at least 12 months of licensed operating history, though strong collateral (especially owner-occupied real estate) and exceptional credit can change that calculation. I will tell you honestly on the first call whether your startup fits.
What about ancillary cannabis businesses, like packaging or accounting?
Ancillary businesses that do not touch the plant directly often have more financing options than plant-touching operators, including some conventional lenders. I work both sides. Tell me what your business does and I will route you to the right capital source, conventional or cannabis-specialty.
Can I get financing to buy out my boss or the current owner of the cannabis business I work in?
Yes, this is a real and increasingly common type of cannabis business financing deal. Manager and employee buyouts of licensed cannabis operations are something my two cannabis-specialty lenders look at, especially when the buyer has documented operating history inside the business, the seller is willing to provide a transition period, and the deal structure is clean. Bring me the deal terms (price, seller financing component if any, your operating history) and I will tell you on the first call whether it fits.
Can you fund a cannabis acquisition where I’m buying a competitor?
Yes. Cannabis competitor acquisitions are one of the harder cannabis business financing deals to get done because the lender has to underwrite two businesses, the combined entity, and the regulatory implications of the license transfer. My two cannabis-specialty lenders do this work. Expect a longer underwriting timeline than a single-location deal, more documentation, and a deeper conversation about post-acquisition operating plan and license-transfer timing.
I’m trapped in expensive cannabis bridge debt. Can you refinance me out of it?
This is one of the most common cannabis business financing requests I see. Operators take expensive bridge or working-capital debt to get the doors open, then get stuck paying it down at rates that bleed margin once they’re profitable. Cannabis refinance is real if your operating history justifies a better lender, the existing debt is in good standing, and the new deal makes financial sense for both sides. Tell me what you owe, who you owe it to, and what your revenue looks like.
What does it cost to work with you?
Nothing up front to me. I am paid a broker fee by the lender at closing, never added to your loan amount or rate.* Some partner lenders may require a commitment deposit when you accept their term sheet, which is separate from any fee to me and disclosed before you commit.
Cannabis-specialty lenders, one application, real answers.
Federal law locked the banking system against cannabis. It did not lock the entire lending system. I provide cannabis business financing through two cannabis-specialty lenders inside the gap. One application, two real lenders, a real answer.
Disclosures. Cannabis remains federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. Financing referenced on this page applies only to cannabis businesses operating in compliance with applicable state law in jurisdictions where cannabis is licensed and regulated. Nothing on this page is legal advice; consult cannabis counsel licensed in your state. Loan amounts, rates, terms, and funding speed reflect typical cannabis-specialty lender programs and are not guarantees; they vary by lender, state regulatory framework, license type, creditworthiness, collateral, and deal structure. Not all applicants are approved.* No upfront fees refers to fees payable to 75BizLoans.com; I am compensated by the lender at closing. Some partner lenders may require a commitment fee or deposit upon your acceptance of their term sheet; any such fee is the lender’s, is disclosed before you commit, and is separate from any compensation to me. Final eligibility, rate, term, and structure are determined by the lender. This is not a commitment to lend. 75BizLoans.com does not provide SBA loans, FDIC-insured bank products, or any federally-guaranteed financing for cannabis businesses because such financing does not exist for plant-touching cannabis operators under current federal law.