Interview with Anh Hatzopoulos, Co-Founder & CEO of Dama Financial

Anh has spent the bulk of her career solving complex financial problems for communities whose needs and circumstances are often overlooked, a passion informed by her upbringing in a hardworking immigrant family of modest means. A standout student who earned degrees in computer science from both Carnegie Melon and Stanford, she spent a decade at Intel, Netscape and Walmart.com before making a conscious decision to pursue more humanizing work. Shortly after having her second child and already thinking about setting up college funds, she founded Little Grad, a rewards program designed to help parents—including those with limited formal education who may find the process daunting—save for college. After selling Little Grad Anh went to NetSpend, which services those who are locked out of the traditional banking system and as a result pay exorbitant fees just to cash a paycheck. At NetSpend Anh and her future Dama cofounders helped resolve the problem for more than 10 million consumers, and when they realized that the cannabis industry had a similar problem but for business banking, they decided to create a company to solve it.

Since its inception in 2017, Dama has already processed more than $7 billion. Anh is quick to share credit for this success with her co-founders, as well as with the payments and banking experts who comprise her executive team. A former collegiate soccer player, she understands the power of collective action and is grateful to be surrounded by so much talent.

Interview questions:

Career | Your career includes stints at Netscape, Netspend, and Walmart. Please share the highlights of your career and the decision to launch Dama Financial?

Co-Founders | Dan Henry and George Gresham are the other co-founders. Tell us about their backgrounds? How did you come together on Dama Financial? What problem are you solving? The pain points for banks? Cannabis retailers, distributors…

Platform | What are the key features of the platform? API First company – banks, payroll… Can you share any new features? Smart Safes…

Milestones | Dama Financial was founded in 2017. What are key milestones since the company was founded?

Dama Financial Today | Please provide a snapshot of Dama Financial Today? % serving in California and other states, states operational, transaction value…

GrowFlow | Dama recently acquired GrowFlow – a cannabis supply chain software company, Tell us about the company, the acquisition, and integration into the Dama Financial platform.

Clients | Who are your clients? retailers, manufacturers, distributors, cultivators…

Banks | How do you partner with banks? What tools are your toolkit? Cash management, consumer payments, credit and payroll

Legislation | What role does Dama Financial play in federal and state legislation? Can you explain the SAFE Banking Act and its implications for the company?

Funding | Last year, Dama Financial closed a $12.6 million Series B. Please provide an overview of your capital journey?

Growth | What are the growth plans for Dama Financial? Acquisitions, internal growth?

Connect with Anh on LinkedIn

Based in South San Francisco, CA, Dama Financial is the world’s largest provider of banking solutions, electronic payments, and retail and wholesale management tools for the cannabis industry—all in one platform. The company was founded in 2017 by a team of world-class fintech and payments executives to provide high-risk industries with critical access to fundamental financial services. Dama has leveraged its experience in other unbanked categories to develop solutions, driven by its proprietary technology platform, capable of navigating a complex web of regulatory and compliance requirements. The company experienced more than 100% top-line growth in 2021. More information is available at damafinancial.com.