Sweet Leaf Madison Capital (SLMC), a nationwide provider of customized debt solutions for the middle-market cannabis industry, announced it has provided Cultio a loan of $116,000 for equipment purchases.

Founded and operated by Derek M. Chaney and Marina L. Morbeck, Cultio is a cannabis startup in Leslie, MI that is expanding into the cannabis processing and consumables market. The loan will allow Cultio to buy extraction equipment from Extraction Tek, which designs, engineers and fabricates some of the most innovative stainless-steel hydrocarbon and ethanol extraction solutions and post-processing equipment for cannabis processors.

“It is no stretch to say that this equipment will be mission critical to Cultio’s operations. Going forward, our attention will primarily be on extraction, so we can deliver the highest-quality hydrocarbon-derived concentrates and edibles,” Chaney said. “We are grateful to have found a trusted and transparent source of capital.”

Cultio is curating its products around its customer’s specific needs, which means the very best plant genetics, a diverse product line, affordability, an optimal percentage of THC and packaging that is aesthetically pleasing. According to research firm Headset, Michigan is the second-largest cannabis market in the United States, which saw sales growth of 28.2 percent in 2022.

“Cultio really understands their market,” said Andrew Kaye, Chief Commercial Officer of SLMC. “We are incredibly impressed by Cultio’s relentless focus on excellence in every part of manufacturing their product, from which plants gentrics they select, to what the final product looks like on display. We can’t wait to see how they help shape the consumables space.”