ImpactAlpha, Feb. 11 – Render Capital, a new new fund from Louisville impact investing firm Access Ventures, will provide early stage equity, debt and revenue-based financing of up to $250,000 to entrepreneurs in Louisville and southern Indiana.
An annual Render Competition will award up to $100,000 each to eight startups working in advanced manufacturing, health innovation, food and beverage and other areas.
“Entrepreneurship is foundational to economic mobility in the US and greater availability of capital means that more entrepreneurs are able to start and grow their businesses,” says Access Ventures’ Bryce Butler (see, “Quarterbacking capital into Louisville’s neighborhood economies”).
- Capital gap. More than half of Americans cite access to funding as the biggest barrier to starting a business; 83% of entrepreneurs start and grow their companies without venture capital or bank financing. Flexible, patient capital that reaches beyond the coasts is a key pillar of “America’s New Business Plan,” a four-part plan from the Kauffman Foundation to revive entrepreneurship in the U.S., where new business starts have stagnated.
- New Revivalists. Mortar in Cincinnati, Propeller in New Orleans, Runway Project in Oakland, Ben Franklin Tech Partners in Philadelphia and Village Capital in cities across the U.S. all support local entrepreneurs with flexible funding (see, “New Revivalists are using these six strategies to revive entrepreneurship and the American Dream”).