Apply for grants to support your cannabis business (pilot)

You must meet some criteria to qualify for a grant.

As of October 14, 2020, you must:

• Be a Verified Equity Applicant with a unique ID number
• Have a cannabis business application with a status of processing, under-construction, or approved (any other statuses are not eligible for grants)

You can get reimbursed for expenses like rent, fees, compliance, fixtures, cannabis testing, and capital improvements.

You must be able to do business with the City of San Francisco to get funding. If you are not yet able to, you can register to be a City bidder.

You must ultimately become a City supplier, after registering as a bidder to get your funding. You can finish the process later.

Register to be a City bidder

Include your bidder number on your application or email it to cannabisgrants@sfgov.org at a later time.

You may need the following insurance if you’re an operating business

• General Liability Insurance
• Automobile Insurance, if applicable
• Workers' Compensation, if you have employees
• Product liability insurance, if applicable

If you own your business 100%, you may need other waivers.

An initial webinar is available for grantees to view via a recording on YouTube. A second recording about insurance requirements is also available on YouTube. A third webinar emphasizing the process to submit funding request forms is also available. A fourth webinar is also available which discusses, in part, frequently asked questions. To access the fourth webinar, input the following password: KkNr7ybK. Please leverage the most recent recordings for the latest information. 

Email cannabisgrants@sfgov.org with any questions about the grant process.

Download FAQs.

When you apply, we will ask you:

• Demographic questions
• Information about you or your point of contact
• Information about your business

Apply for the grant

We will let businesses know how much money they can expect to get by December 2020.

To ultimately get funding, you must apply to be a City supplier, after registering as a bidder. You must also sign a grants contract provided by the City.

If you are not yet a City supplier, you must apply to have that status through the Office of Contract Administration. Email your supplier number to cannabisgrants@sfgov.org.

You will get information about how to claim your reimbursement when you sign your grant agreement. 

You can get reimbursed for expenses related to:

• Capital improvements
• Fixtures and equipment
• Legal services
• Local and State application, licensing, and regulatory fees
• Regulatory compliance
• Rent payments
• Testing of cannabis
• Tax liability of the cannabis business

All eligible businesses can get reimbursed for expenses incurred between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021.