ImpactAlpha, August 10 — The Black woman-led Elevate/Elevar Capital fund is nearing its $1.5 million target after a $500,000 commitment from Living Cities (see ImpactAlpha’s series with Living Cities, “Investing in Racial Equity”).
The fund will write checks of $50,000 to $200,000 for up to 20 Black and Latinx entrepreneurs in North St. Louis communities that have experienced decades of disinvestment. The aim is to help business owners become pillars within their communities, WEPOWER’s Yoni Blumberg told ImpactAlpha.
A percentage of the fund’s returns will be managed by community representatives. San Diego-based Mission Driven Finance will provide fund administration services.
Flexible finance
The fund will provide flexible, revenue-based financing to share risk with entrepreneurs and enable them to retain ownership of their companies. Founders will pay between 2% and 10% of their revenues after a repayment holiday of three to 12 months, up to a cap of 1.5 times of the amount of the loan.
The fund will invest without requiring collateral or minimum credit scores.
