JPMorgan is joining forces with mission-driven lenders to reach the small entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses, and creating jobs, in their communities.
The New York investment bank is deploying an initial $39 million in grants and debt capital in more than two-dozen impact lenders, part of its new American Dream Initiative to lend $80 billion, directly and through lending partners, to millions of small businesses over the next 10 years.
“Small business owners don’t just need capital — they need the right capital at the right time, delivered through trusted pathways that meet them where they are,” said JPMorgan’s Shaolee Sen.
“By working alongside local organizations, we’re helping entrepreneurs overcome barriers, build lasting businesses, and contribute to vibrant local economies.”
JPMorgan is hoping the initial commitments, which come as National Small Business Month wraps up, will catalyze over $500 million in additional private capital for small businesses and create roughly 6,000 sustainable jobs.
The loans will range from working capital, bridge financing and financing for commercial real estate acquisitions and new construction.
Among the first deals, JPMorgan provided a $10 million long-term, low-cost loan to Craft3, an Oregon-based community development financial institution, or CDFI, to finance 50 small businesses in urban, rural and Tribal communities in the state’s Pacific Northwest.
The bank also allocated $10 million to Avante Capital Partners‘ fourth small business investment company, or SBIC, fund. The women-led private credit firm closed the $400 million fund last week, drawing capital from pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and other banks.
“Closing Fund IV at $400 million, oversubscribed, is a meaningful vote of confidence from our LPs,” said Avante’s Ivelisse Rodriguez Simon. “Since 2009, we’ve stayed focused on one thing: being a reliable capital partner to lower middle market businesses. We’re grateful to every investor who continues to back that work.”
Avante invests between $10 million and $75 million in mezzanine debt capital to support the growth of businesses and the jobs they create, with a focus on low-to-moderate income areas.
Impact-driven
Access Ventures secured a $2.3 million grant, and Impact Charitable $1 million, to provide support for emerging fund managers. TruFund Financial Services will use its $2.3 million grant to strengthen operational infrastructure and leverage and deploy $30 million to 150 small businesses in Atlanta, New York and New Jersey over two years.
Appalachian Community Capital‘s $2 million grant will go towards its Powering Resilient Opportunities Fund, which aims to mobilize up to $200 million in private and philanthropic investment through more than 25 community lenders for small businesses in the Appalachian region.
Other recipients include VilCap, which is raising a pilot fund to provide flexible growth capital to startups spotted by community-based entrepreneur support organizations; Community Vision CA, which is launching a small business real estate resource center to deploy up to $5 million in flexible, real estate lending to small entrepreneurs in the Bay Area; and Capital Impact Partners, which is launching two cohort programs for 30 community-focused real estate developers.
In addition to small business growth, the American Dream Initiative supports housing access and affordability, financial health and wealth creation, careers and skills, healthcare and local institutions.
