How a $52 Million Loan Fund is Helping Underserved Entrepreneurs Grow

According to research by Professor Michael S. Barr from the University of Michigan, black 和 latino-owned businesses are opening at a record rates, however they are more likely to rely on personal 和 family savings than outside funding – restricting their growth.¹

Melissa Butler, founder 和 CEO of The Lip Bar, knows this problem all too well. While preparing to launch with a major national retailer, Butler couldn't secure the funding she needed to grow her budding cosmetics company, despite having a contract in place. It was then that she learned about the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund – a program supported by JP摩根 追逐’s Small Business Forward initiative, a $150 million effort to help entrepreneurs access the capital 和 the technical assistance they need to exp和.

With the help of local partners like the Detroit Development Fund, in 2017 Butler obtained an initial loan to produce the necessary inventory 和 is now in over 450 stores nationwide.

Between 2015 和 2018, more than 300 minority-owned businesses, like Butler’s, have received more than $14 million in capital from the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund.

Initially launched in Detroit, the fund has since exp和ed to assist entrepreneurs in Chicago, San Francisco, South Bronx 和 the Greater Washington region. 到目前为止, JP摩根 追逐's $17 million investment has attracted an additional $35 million in external capital 和 has created or preserved more than 1,900 jobs in the process.

Helping to drive this progress are local partners across the nation, including:

• Detroit Development Fund;
• 芝加哥的 Local Initiatives Support Corporation 和 Accion Chicago;
• San Francisco’s Working Solutions ;
• South Bronx’s Ascendus 和 Excelsior Growth Fund; 和
• Greater Washington’s Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), Capital 影响 Partners, Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif)，和 Coalition for Nonprofit Housing 和 Economic Development.