From Woodstock to Wall Street: Challenges in Cannabis Financing

Andrew J. Kaye is a chief commercial officer at Sweet Leaf Madison Capital. He has been involved in all aspects of the financial services industry, working as a fund portfolio investment manager, investment banker, family office investor, and attorney. Kaye has worked with startups on their first raise and supported global enterprises undertaking billion-dollar stock offerings. He also has significant investment experience in the cannabis industry. Financing cannabis is a myriad of challenges. Not only raising capital for a federally illegal business but also regular banking issues for businesses that are regularly losing their bank accounts or struggling with those services. We talk about some other financial challenges cannabis businesses are facing. It’s an exciting but challenging industry, especially as each state operates independently due to the federal status, so we dive into how federal legalization would impact how states are operating in addition to solving what we call the cannabis banking crisis.