Our Firm
We help small business owners, primarily entrepreneurs of color and women, who need the resources and support to transcend barriers and create greater economic and societal impact.
Who We Are
UP Community Fund is a community of people drawn together by an instinctive affinity to help high-impact small business owners, primarily entrepreneurs of color and women, break through to their next levels. We authentically engage with real people to grow their businesses through equity lending, transform their vantage points of doing business, and build a community of like-minded business owners of color. It is a personable merging of lending, expertise, and passion that leads to the elevation of our portfolio.
Our Mission
It is our mission to ignite opportunities of growth for small business owners and the communities they serve. We are in business to merge non-traditional business funding with years of strategic business experience, empathy, and a nurturing approach to build up business owners, their companies, and the communities they serve.
Our Vision
Empower Businesses
Seeing small business owners, primarily entrepreneurs of color and women, doing business the right way, with the necessary resources and expertise that produce an environment conducive for profitability.
Establish Trust
Showing minority business owners that there are people who look like them that care and have a passionate interest in their growth.
Elevate Communities
Generating positive community impact through our clients via job creation, economic growth, community leadership, and increased money circulation within each community.
Cultivate an Ecosystem
Connecting a portfolio of professionals that can help improve each another and create real change in their communities and the world as a whole both intellectually and economically.
Who We Help
We focus on helping entrepreneurs of color and women business owners who meet our criteria for funding.
Funding Criteria
Loan Amount: $250,000 to $2 million
Loan Term: Up to 4 years
Loan Approval Process: Approximately 30 days
Use of Loan Funds
Working Capital including contract financing, inventory/receivables financing, refinance, cashflow management
Growth Capital including refinancing, acquisition, asset purchase
Minimum Requirements
✓ 1 year in business
✓ Annual sales of $300,000
✓ Main business location - Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, St. Louis Metro
