LeafLink is a New York-based wholesale platform where licensed cannabis brands, distributors and retailers place orders, move payments and bank. Ryan G. Smith and Zach Silverman founded it in 2016, and it now runs two marketplaces, a payments business and the Dama Financial banking platform.
LeafLink marked ten years on February 23, 2026, the anniversary of its first sale, reporting operations across 34 U.S. markets.
First order in Colorado, 2016
LeafLink processed its first sale in Colorado on February 23, 2016. The first seller was Keef Brands. Its CEO, Matt Baumgartner, said at the anniversary that Keef needed one integrated ordering system with consistent reporting, and that customer orders followed once adoption reached critical mass.
From that starting point the company grew from a simple ordering tool into a commerce and fintech suite for licensed operators.
Two marketplaces and 12,000 companies
Brands list products on the LeafLink marketplace, and retailers and distributors place, track and pay for orders in one system. Retailers sign up free, and every transaction requires a government license.
LeafLink's own figures put more than 3,500 brands on the platform and more than 12,000 companies in its network, with over $5 billion in annual wholesale GMV. In November 2024 it acquired Leaf Trade, a second wholesale marketplace it still runs alongside its own.
Payments and Dama Financial
Payments were the next layer. LeafLink processes ACH payments and net terms, and reports more than $1 billion in payments volume.
In July 2024 it acquired Dama Financial, which brought FDIC-insured accounts, cash logistics, credit and payroll into the platform. In September 2025 LeafLink took over Confia's cannabis banking customers and moved them onto Dama Financial.
Ashwin Raj takes the CEO seat
Leadership has turned over twice since the founders stepped back. In February 2023, alongside a $100 million Series D led by CPMG, L2 Ventures and Nosara Capital, Smith moved to executive chairman and Artie Minson became CEO. Silverman shifted from CTO to senior advisor.
On September 18, 2025, LeafLink named Ashwin Raj CEO, succeeding Minson. Raj previously ran ezCater and led ridesharing at Lyft, with earlier roles at Amazon and Visa. MG Magazine carried the announcement.
The Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Guide
LeafLink's anchor research product is its annual Wholesale Cannabis Pricing Guide. The 2026 edition, released May 4, 2026, analyzed more than 400,000 SKUs across 18 markets, from Alaska and California to New York and Puerto Rico, using 2025 wholesale transactions.
It found wholesale prices fell in most categories in 2025: cartridges dropped 12.0%, pre-rolls 10.3%, concentrates 7.5% and flower 5.4%, while edibles and ingestibles rose 1.7%. LeafLink also publishes a State of Wholesale Cannabis Payments report.
Insights, ads and integrations
LeafLink Insights gives sellers real-time data on brand performance, market trends and pricing, and an advertising product puts brands in front of active buyers. Integrations connect orders to seed-to-sale systems such as Metrc and BioTrack, to QuickBooks and Salesforce, and to ERP tools including Distru, Flourish, Canix and Dutchie.
Fast Company named LeafLink to its World's Most Innovative Companies list for 2025.
Official channels
Find LeafLink at leaflink.com, with press releases at leaflink.com/press and company updates on LinkedIn.