AFC Gamma, a real estate investment trust (REIT), raised $80 million that, coupled with a $40 million credit line, gives the West Palm Beach, Florida, firm approximately $120 million to lend to marijuana businesses.
The REIT’s extra funding could prove useful for an industry battling funding challenges amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a news release, AFC Gamma has already provided debt financing for five cannabis companies, including retailers, cultivators and processors.
The company said it has funded about $50 million in six transactions involving five marijuana borrowers and has committed approximately an additional $30 million to its existing borrowers and to two new loans.
Other REITs are showing similar activity in the cannabis space.
For example, California-based Innovative Industrial Properties has spent $100 million since April to buy cultivation and distribution facilities around the nation and infuse cannabis operators with cash.
