Safe haven to buy Cannabis FinTech Abaca

Safe Harbor Financiala facilitator of financial services for the regulated cannabis industry, has entered into an agreement to acquire the cannabis FinTech platform Abaca for $30 million and said it will create comprehensive banking solutions for the industry’s operators.

The deal will combine the specialized finance and financial services available through Abaca’s digital platform with the broad range of financial services provided by Safe Harbor, according to a Monday (Oct. 31) press release.

“With their cannabis banking and finance platform ecosystem, proprietary technology, strong financial institution and banking relationships, and experienced founder-led management team, we believe Abaca is the ideal platform to help us take a major step forward in scaling our capabilities and service offerings to building the complete cannabis FinTech ecosystem,” Safe Harbor Founder and CEO Sundie Seefried said in the release.

The enhanced Safe Harbor FinTech platform created by this agreement will now offer cannabis operators desktop and mobile banking, financial management, payment processing, cash management and logistics. In addition, a new payroll service will be added later in the quarter, according to the press release.

For Safe Harbor, the acquisition also adds 300 accounts, expands relationships with financial institutions and, upon closing, will expand operations in more than 30 states, the release said.

“Following its recent NASDAQ listing and key additions to its leadership team, Safe Harbor is positioned to be a leader in matching financing and banking offerings to the regulated operating U.S. cannabis industry across the country,” Abaca Founder and CEO Dan Roda said in the release. “Joining with Safe Harbor allows the Abaca team to better advance our mission to empower the cannabis community with essential financial services and innovative, affordable solutions.”

As PYMNTS reported on September 21 the cannabis industry also sees increasing demand for B2B payments, cash flow and accounts receivable.