🎙️ Podcast: AeroPay CEO, Daniel Muller

AeroPay provides alternative payment processing solutions to state legal cannabis businesses, offering a convenient and contactless digital payment option.

Founded in 2017 by Dan Muller, AeroPay is a payments platform that allows customers to make contactless payments. It works with a range of industries (Standard Retail/Restaurants, Nonprofits, B2B), but has found particular success with the Cannabis industry. Before founding AeroPay, Dan helped open the Chicago office for GPShopper (mobile commerce and engagement platform for retailers and brands) in 2011, and quickly moved into a technical role (engineering, product) after joining the company in a business role (account manager).

Notes:

Funding. $5M raised in March 2021 led by Chicago Ventures (M1 Finance, Cameo, SpotHero, G2). Other investors in the round include Continental Investors (which invested in the seed room), former Google executives, cannabis industry veterans, and enterprise retail professionals. The Company raised its seed round in September 2020.

Partnerships / Customers. Aeropay’s partnership with Jane (October 2021) allows consumers to seamlessly pay for pickup or delivery orders directly from the dispensary or brand's checkout page on mobile or web (Dan mentioned this was a strong culture fit as well). The Company partnered with Safe Harbor Private Financial (September 2020) to allow companies to open cannabis-compliant bank account, seamlessly transfer funds to and from accounts, accept contactless in-store and online payments, and minimize cash management. Aeropay’s partnership with Blackbird (January 2021) integrates its payments platform into Blackbird's white-labeled dispensary menus and the BlackbirdGo cannabis marketplace. The company also has an integration with Olla (February 2021) that enables cannabis retailers to offer AeroPay as a cashless payment method to customers ordering online through their white-labeled eCommerce sites powered by Olla. Customers include Amuse, GTI, TerrAscend, and Mission Dispensaries.

Cashless ATM. Cashless ATMs allow customers to use their debit cards to purchase Cannabis instead of withdrawing cash. The buyer puts their ATM card into a POS, money gets taken out of their account and goes to the store, and the customer completes their purchase. The method skirts the U.S. ban on using the federal banking system and payment processors (Visa, Mastercard). This was a hot topic when I spoke with Dan back in December and has helped the company with lead gen since.

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👋 The Highljective Podcast is hosted by Dai Truong, who leads Cannabis Investment Banking at Arlington Capital Advisors.. Third-party information presented here and links to third-party content are for informational purposes only and are not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument, security or investment.  The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. Linking to third-party sites in no way implies an endorsement or affiliation of any kind between Arlington Capital Advisors, LLC, or its affiliates and any third party.  The information in this blog constitutes my own opinions (and any opinions posted by guest bloggers from time to time) and it should not be regarded as a description of services provided by Arlington Capital Advisors, LLC or any affiliate.