Cannabis Marketplace, Payment Platform Leaf Trade Closes $5.5M Series A Led By Artemis Growth Partners

Wholesale cannabis marketplace and payment platform Leaf Trade has closed a $5.5 million Series A preferred investment round led by Artemis Growth Partners.

Hyde Park Angels also participated in the raise, helping to bring Leaf Trade’s total funding since inception to $10 million. The most recent investment allows the Chicago-based fintech company to further develop its digital wholesale platform (used in 17 core markets) and expand its West Coast operations.

“Since Leaf Trade was launched in 2016, our B2B company has experienced phenomenal growth,” Michael Piermont, president and chief revenue officer of Leaf Trade, told Benzinga. “Cannabis cultivators and retailers need a way to overcome the outdated inefficiencies of today’s cannabis supply chain, and Leaf Trade has proven to be the ideal technical solution many are seeking.”

Piermont said that some of the biggest MSOs in the market — such as Curaleaf Holdings CURLF, Verano Holdings Corp. VRNOF, Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTBIF, Columbia Care CCHWF, Acreage Holdings, Inc. ACRHF and Jushi Holdings Inc. JUSHF — have found Leaf Trade to be central to streamlining their operations. The same can be said about smaller and ancillary operators, he added.

“So this most recent investment will allow us to better meet the needs of all of our clients, regardless of their size or mission,” he said.

In addition to simplifying the wholesale ordering and fulfillment needs of cultivators and retailers, Leaf Trade recently launched its integrated payments platform, Leaf Pay, which provides for a seamless, end-to-end order and payment process that is designed to be more cost-competitive than credit card or wire payments and easier to manage and track than check or cash invoices.

Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.