Cannabis and marijuana banking and financial services firm StandardC has established a $200 million lending fund.
“For too long, the cannabis industry has been unable to obtain loans and lines of credit without paying a ‘Cannabis Tax’ where lenders charge exorbitant interest and fees,” StandardC CEO Robert Mann noted via a statement. “Our network is enabling a consortium of lenders that can offer cost-effective real estate loans, lines of credit, and more.”
StandardC officials indicated the company recently closed the first $5 million loan for a leading marijuana cultivator from the $200 million fund through the StandardC platform. The partner possessed extensive experience in the cannabis lending industry by facilitating real estate loans and deploying growth capital for multi-state operators (MSOs).
StandardC Chief Experience Officer Robert Baron said that while previously thought lending for the state-licensed cannabis industry carried far too much inherent risk, StandardC’s proprietary pre-qualification and monitoring technology help lenders ensure cannabis businesses operate in compliance with state law and federal banking guidelines.
He said the effort provides the lender with greater assurance on the security of its loans and lines of credit for marijuana-related businesses.
StandardC officials said the company enables risk analytics and payments to facilitate and support banking, lending, payments, insurance, payroll, and armored transport through a compliant distributed ledger ecosystem.