By Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance
Healthy communities are built by their residents. Small business owners, local real estate developers, and other local leaders are the engines of job creation and economic activity in communities across the country. When these leaders have the opportunity to succeed, their communities, their residents – and our country – thrive.
Unfortunately, leaders in communities all across the country are missing a key ingredient to success: access to the capital. For too long, people in underestimated communities and people of color have been denied the types of capital and support they need to realize the dreams they have for themselves, their families and their neighborhoods.
In 2019, Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance began an incredible journey with an ambitious – some might say audacious – goal: to devise new, transformative ways to meet the capital needs in communities across the country. We asked ourselves a question: How does the financial sector – including mission-driven financing organizations in our sector – need to change to really support communities? What can we do differently to help our communities really thrive?
Over the next two years, we engaged with our network of community and investment partners to build out our strategy to answer that question. During that time – as we continued our day-to-day efforts – we witnessed a racial reckoning in our nation and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted communities of color, exacerbating the growing racial wealth gap.
The experiences of the past two years also underscored that a more just and equitable financial system is needed now more than ever. Brave thinking and bold solutions are required to improve access to things that contribute to communities’ health and wealth: a vibrant local economy with good jobs, high quality social services, and a voice in what happens in their community.
It is with that ambitious goal in mind that Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, two of the nation’s leading mission-driven financial organizations, formed a first-of-its kind, new enterprise – one that will transform how capital flows to the types of local leaders whose success will help build healthy, inclusive, and equitable communities.
We are Now Momentus Capital!
Together, CDC Small Business Finance, Capital Impact Partners, and Ventures Lending Technologies – our Loan Management System (LMS) – have formed the Momentus Capital family of organizations. And soon, we will be adding another critical piece to our approach – a new entity that will bridge the gap between investors and community-based organizations through community-centric securities offerings.
Rooted in social mission, we are a different type of financial services organization – driven by purpose, not profit. Our organizations are united under one vision and mission:
Vision
An economic system that respects and uplifts all peoples’ right to achieve the dreams they have for themselves, their communities, and generations to come.
Mission
We help build inclusive and equitable communities by providing people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. Visit momentuscap.org to learn more.
The opportunity is enormous. Research looking at the economic cost of Black inequality alone indicates that closing racial wealth gaps would have added over $16 trillion to our national economic output over the past 20 years. In 2013, surveys show that Black and Hispanic households earned just 70 and 76 cents per dollar of White households’ income. A just and inclusive economic system is better for all of us.
United as Momentus Capital and alongside our partners, we can create the kind of new thinking and practices that will help close that gap and put us on a shared path to prosperity.
The Momentus Difference
Now you may be asking, does this mean that CDC Small Business Finance, Capital Impact Partners, and Ventures are going away?
Let me assure you: Absolutely not.
The organizations you have come to know and trust are still here, working as we always have. With decades of experience, our teams are continuing their work to help support small businesses and the types of shared pillars – housing, education, healthy food, and more – that help communities flourish.
This commitment is unwavering. In fact, it is stronger than ever because we are stronger together. As Momentus Capital, we can drive even deeper impact.
How We Do It
To achieve that vision and mission, Momentus Capital is uniquely positioned to provide entrepreneurs and local leaders at every stage of their growth with a continuum of capital and opportunities under one roof.
To us, capital takes many forms:
We provide financial capital through flexible financing options – a range of debt and equity products to meet our partners’ needs, as well as access to new markets and investors.
We provide knowledge capital through business advising, assistance, and training.
We provide social capital through connections to networks and people that can help our partners succeed.
We further amplify this approach through technology solutions that assist our partners in making a greater impact in their communities.
How We are Rethinking Approaches to Accessing Capital
To get more resources into the hands of more local leaders, we constantly work to rethink outdated approaches that limit who has access to capital:
- We are rethinking credit parameters, developing new lending and impact investment products that create more equitable access to capital for borrowers and projects who have been traditionally denied capital.
- We enhance our lending with programs that solve for systemic issues through training, mentorship, and network building.
- We deploy technology solutions to allow community-focused partners to scale their work and amplify communities’ investments in their future.
- We work with partners in shaping national, regional, and local policy to address systemic inequities and expand funding opportunities.
- We combine robust financial experience with community trust to attract mainstream investment dollars and connect them to locally led projects and organizations.
Over the past 40 years, we have made more than $23 billion lending and investments, helped create or preserve 250,000 jobs, served over 12,000 small businesses and touched over 5 million people. During this new chapter, we are poised to elevate and amplify our impact.
How is Momentus already working with you to create impact?
Moving away from a siloed approach, we are truly stronger together. Through a holistic listening approach, we at Momentus Capital work to understand local solutions and partner with communities to make them happen through our continuum of capital, investment, and programmatic efforts. This enables us to support small business entrepreneurs and community leaders at every growth stage – from inception to expansion.
These are just a few examples of lending/programs that we are already embarking on:
- Investments to Scale Entrepreneurship: We invest in growth-stage enterprises and small businesses with a community focus through a diverse set of investment instruments, including venture debt, profit-sharing agreements, and direct equity investments that range from $350k – $3 million+.
- Credit-Blind Financing: Black entrepreneurs have experienced a legacy of multigenerational exclusion by traditional financial institutions. To begin addressing this issue, we have created our new Activate Detroit loan product, which uses character-based evaluations that focus on the promise that small business owners of color can deliver to their communities.
- Support for Small Business Owners of Color: Firms owned by people of color reported more significant negative effects on business revenue, employment, and operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a $1.5 million grant, we launched the Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, an initiative focused on providing targeted business training services to small real estate developers and entrepreneurs of color.
- Expanding Healthy Food and Quality Jobs: The Nourish DC Collaborative was created in partnership with the DC government to support the development of a robust ecosystem of locally owned food businesses, neighborhood vibrancy, and health equity in Washington, DC communities. Nourish DC provides flexible loans, technical assistance, and catalytic grants to emerging and existing food businesses, increasing access to healthy food and creating quality jobs in the District of Columbia, with a preference for businesses located in or owned by residents of underserved neighborhoods.
Working with you to get people access to the capital and opportunities they deserve
Momentus Capital is a family of companies dedicated to the idea that all local leaders and entrepreneurs deserve the opportunity to achieve the dreams they have for themselves and their communities. We realize, however, that not everyone has equitable access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. Driven by this mission, we support local solutions by bringing financial, social, and knowledge capital to underestimated communities. Through direct lending and investments, training, and access to networks and mentorship, we support these communities as they build health and generational wealth.
We look forward to partnering with community leaders, partners, and investors to bring this vision to fruition. Working together, we can be Momentus. For more information, visit our website.
