PayRio
PayRio is a Danville, CA-based payment processor founded in 2022 that exclusively serves cannabis, hemp/CBD, psilocybin, peptide, and alternative wellness merchants with transaction-fee processing across debit, credit, ACH, and crypto, differentiated by multi-bank redundancy and dedicated customer success management.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersDanville, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What PayRio does
PayRio, Inc. is a Danville, California-based payment processor founded in 2022 by Aubrey Amatelli that exclusively serves the alternative medicines market — cannabis dispensaries and retailers, hemp and CBD businesses, psilocybin and spore businesses, cannabis seed and clone operators, research peptide companies, and broader alternative wellness brands. The company positions itself as the first payments provider purpose-built for these high-risk regulated verticals, which mainstream merchant acquirers systematically reject due to federal illegality, regulatory complexity, and reputational exposure. Its core technology is a payment processing platform integrating with all major processing gateways and leveraging multiple banking partners to deliver bank-redundancy and uptime stability. PayRio's product portfolio covers digital debit, credit card, eDebit, eCommerce, ACH, B2B ACH, and crypto processing, with three transparent pricing models (Flat, Interchange Plus, Dual Pricing).
PayRio generates revenue through per-transaction fees on digital debit, credit card, eDebit, ACH, crypto, and eCommerce payments processed for high-risk merchants. The company employs a tri-modal go-to-market strategy combining enterprise field sales targeting large dispensaries and licensed operators with assigned Customer Success Managers, an inside sales team for mid-market clients, and a self-serve online application pathway for smaller merchants. Geographic reach is anchored in the United States (North America), with the self-serve channel published as globally accessible. Marketing emphasizes content (two blogs: "Higher Education" and "For:20 Minutes"), active Instagram and LinkedIn presence, and substantial event sponsorships across MJBizCon, Emerald Cup, Hall of Flowers, and Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, plus the landmark Oakland Ballers/Oaksterdam Blazers sponsorship.
The company is privately held, bootstrapped on the founder's personal capital, and women-owned — certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in July 2025 with 100% female executives and over 75% women across a 22-person team exhibiting 4% turnover. CEO Aubrey Amatelli serves as Chair of the National Cannabis Industry Association's Banking and Financial Services Committee, positioning PayRio directly in federal cannabis banking reform advocacy. Recognition includes being named the #1 Best Cannabis Company to Work For in 2025 and #2 in 2026 by Cannabis Business Times, and an MJBiz EMJays Financial Services of the Year nomination.
PayRio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PayRio
- Legal name
- PayRio, Inc.
- Website
- https://payrio.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- PayRio is a Danville, CA-based payment processor founded in 2022 that exclusively serves cannabis, hemp/CBD, psilocybin, peptide, and alternative wellness merchants with transaction-fee processing across debit, credit, ACH, and crypto, differentiated by multi-bank redundancy and dedicated customer success management.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PayRio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- High-Risk Payment Processing
- NAICS
- Professional Employer Organizations (561330)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE), Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) Enablement (BNPL, wallets, local methods) (FSAMACAE)
Keywords
Where PayRio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Danville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
PayRio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Payment Processing Fees: PayRio charges transaction fees for processing digital debit, credit card, eDebit, ACH, crypto, and eCommerce payments for high-risk industries including cannabis, hemp, peptides, and alternative wellness sectors. Revenue is generated on a per-transaction basis.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Flat Pricing Model |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Interchange Plus Pricing Model |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Dual Pricing Model |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
PayRio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PayRio provides high-risk payment-processing services for cannabis, CBD, hemp, psilocybin, spore, seed, clone, and alternative-wellness merchants through a proprietary, multi-bank processing platform. It accepts digital debit, credit card, eDebit (PIN debit), ACH, eCommerce, B2B ACH, and crypto payments, underwritten and boarded with dedicated onboarding and customer-success support.
Product overview
PayRio is a payment processing platform exclusively focused on alternative medicines and high-risk industries, offering a unified suite of payment solutions. The product portfolio centers on core payment processing capabilities including Digital Debit, eCommerce, ACH Processing, Crypto Processing, Credit Card Processing, eDebit, and B2B ACH. These solutions are designed specifically for regulated industries including cannabis, CBD & hemp, research peptides, seeds & clones, and psilocybin & spores. The platform provides bank redundancy for uptime stability, transparent pricing models (Flat, Interchange Plus, and Dual Pricing), simplified onboarding, and dedicated customer success management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Digital Debit Processing
Quantifiable outcome
- Clients report increased sales and order averages after switching to PayRio
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use PayRio
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
PayRio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
PayRio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)coreCEO Aubrey Amatelli serves as Chair of the NCIA Banking and Financial Services Committee (BFSC) for the 2025 term. Through this role, she advocates for financial access reform, SAFER Banking Act, rescheduling, and 280E reform. PayRio participates in annual NCIA Lobby Days in Washington D.C.
- Oakland Ballers / Oaksterdam BlazersminorPayRio was a sponsor of the Oakland Ballers baseball team, which became the Oaksterdam Blazers for a special game — the first professional baseball team in history to celebrate and partner with the legal cannabis industry during a live game. This was a groundbreaking sponsorship milestone for the industry.
- Hall of FlowersminorPayRio participates in Hall of Flowers events as a sponsor and exhibitor, connecting with cannabis brands, retailers, and investors at this premier B2B trade show in Santa Rosa, CA.
- Emerald CupminorPayRio is a sponsor of the Emerald Cup, the largest annual cannabis event in California celebrating cannabis culture, cultivation, and the cannabis community. Company founder attended Area 101 pre-celebration event.
- MJBizConminorPayRio attends and sponsors MJBizCon annually. CEO participated in panel discussions on cashless transactions and cannabis retail technology. Company was nominated for EMJays Financial Services of the Year award.
- Benzinga Cannabis Capital ConferenceminorPayRio attends the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference annually as an exhibitor, connecting with cannabis professionals and investors from around the globe.
- Multiple Banking PartnerscorePayRio works with multiple banking partners that actively support high-risk and alternative medicine industries, providing built-in redundancy and long-term stability for transaction processing.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
PayRio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- POSaBIT: POSaBIT is a cannabis-focused payments and point-of-sale provider offering merchant card processing and ecommerce for dispensaries. It directly competes with PayRio on the same cannabis merchant base with overlapping payment gateway and POS functionality.
- Dutchie: Dutchie is a leading cannabis ecommerce and payments platform serving dispensaries and brands. While broader in scope, its integrated payment processing competes head-to-head with PayRio for the same cannabis merchant processing volume.
- Hypur: Hypur is a payments and compliance platform purpose-built for the cannabis industry, offering ACH, debit, and online payment processing. It is one of the closest direct competitors to PayRio in vertical-specific high-risk processing.
- Flowhub: Flowhub provides cannabis-specific POS and payments infrastructure for dispensaries and cultivators, with bank-direct payment integrations. Comparable to PayRio in serving the same cannabis retail merchant base.
- Treez: Treez is a cannabis retail POS and payments platform serving dispensaries and operators across multiple states. It competes with PayRio for the same cannabis merchant processing accounts.
- Jane Technologies (iHeartJane): Jane Technologies operates an ecommerce and payments platform for cannabis dispensaries and brands. Its online payment processing competes directly with PayRio's eCommerce processing for cannabis merchants.
- Akerna: Akerna provides cannabis enterprise software including compliance and payment-adjacent tools for operators and regulators. Overlaps with PayRio in serving the cannabis payments ecosystem at the merchant and regulatory layer.
Broad incumbents
- eMerchantBroker: eMerchantBroker is a broader high-risk merchant account provider serving multiple restricted verticals including cannabis. PayRio is a more cannabis-specialized version of the same high-risk payments business model.
- Maverick Processing: Maverick Processing is a high-risk payment processor covering CBD, cannabis, and other restricted verticals. It competes with PayRio for cannabis-adjacent merchants but with broader high-risk positioning.
- Square (Block): Square is a mainstream merchant payment processor that historically does not serve direct cannabis merchants but competes for CBD and hemp adjacent volume. Its exclusion of cannabis highlights the structural opportunity PayRio addresses.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
PayRio social profiles
Digital presencePayRio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PayRio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
PayRio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PayRio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PayRio
What does PayRio do?
PayRio provides high-risk payment-processing services for cannabis, CBD, hemp, psilocybin, spore, seed, clone, and alternative-wellness merchants through a proprietary, multi-bank processing platform. It accepts digital debit, credit card, eDebit (PIN debit), ACH, eCommerce, B2B ACH, and crypto payments, underwritten and boarded with dedicated onboarding and customer-success support.
Is PayRio a public or private company?
PayRio is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was PayRio founded?
PayRio was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is PayRio based?
PayRio is headquartered in Danville, United States, in the North America region.
How does PayRio make money?
One revenue line is on record: payment Processing Fees.
Who are PayRio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are POSaBIT, Dutchie, Hypur, Flowhub, Treez, Jane Technologies (iHeartJane) and Akerna. Broad incumbents are eMerchantBroker, Maverick Processing and Square (Block).
Does PayRio have an API?
No public API is recorded for PayRio.
What industry is PayRio in?
PayRio's product category is High-Risk Payment Processing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMACAA, Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout), with a secondary code of FSAGABAE, Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure. Its NAICS code is 561330 and its SIC code is 6159.