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In a brief phone call with the Post, Rob Paterson, the CEO of Alterna Savings, said that although his bank has been doing business with the cannabis sector for years, they have been “conservative from the beginning.”

“The same rigorous process is being applied to cannabis companies now. But we have never really been a cash flow lender and have focused more on lending for real estate and buildings,” Paterson added.

In his ongoing effort to obtain funding, Constantinou said he recently approached Trichome Financial Corp., an alternative lender that touts itself as a provider of “flexible and creative” capital to cannabis companies looking to grow.

Anecdotally, we have learned that most of the big banks have put a pause on new lending Michael Ruscetta, CEO of Trichome

“There’s an industry here that is still in its infancy, and we want to grow it,” said Michael Ruscetta, CEO of Trichome, which has approximately $30 million in capital. “We’re in a distress cycle in the cannabis industry, and that means some interesting opportunities for us. Our business was never designed to compete with the banks, but now that they aren’t there, we will happily play their role,” Ruscetta added.

Ruscetta believes that private cannabis companies that are running out of capital have close to “no chance” getting help from Tier 1 lenders. “Anecdotally, we have learned that most of the big banks have put a pause on new lending. They aren’t looking to originate new relationships in the sector,” he said.

Paul Pedersen, CEO of NextLeaf Solutions, a B.C.-based cannabis extractor that entered the market more than a year ago, says that he has seen more debt-financing options for cannabis companies from secondary lenders in the last three to four months than he has in the past two years.

“Secondary lenders are starting to recognize that the banks are not helping cannabis companies with debt and equity. So they are stepping in. But that’s really expensive debt you’re taking on,” he said.

“Generally speaking if you’re not already growing cannabis or extracting cannabis in a built facility, or you’re not on the public markets, it’s just not going to be easy,” he added.

• Email: vsubramaniam@nationalpost.com | Twitter: VanmalaS