A year after a successful pilot launch, Amazon will roll out a loan program developed to help urban and rural small businesses grow, the company announced.
In partnership with B.S.D. Capital, which does business as Lendistry, the Amazon Community Lending program will continue to support urban and rural small businesses in socially and economically distressed communities through short-term loans at competitive and affordable rates, Amazon stated. Since the pilot launched, the program has loaned more than $35 million to some 800 sellers, surpassing the original goal of $10 million during the pilot. In the new phase, the program will generate more than $150 million in small business loans over the next three years to companies selling in the Amazon U.S. store.
Third-party sellers account for more than half of all units sold in the Amazon store. Small businesses approved for an Amazon Community Lending loan can use the funds to grow their Amazon operations and cover other strategic business needs, such as staffing and operations costs, inventory, product development and manufacturing, and marketing initiatives. Lendistry loans provided through the program will range from $10,000 to $250,000 with terms of up to five years.
Amazon has provided loans to small businesses selling in its marketplace stores through the company’s Amazon Lending operation for more than a decade. Through its partnership with Lendistry, an established minority-led Community Development Financial Institution, Amazon can reach more urban and rural small businesses in socially and economically distressed communities, the company noted. Most funds Lendistry has historically disbursed have gone to traditionally low-to-moderate income communities, minority-owned businesses and other historically disadvantaged customers.
“Businesses in our communities are often launched with limited responsible options for funding,” Talisha Bekavac, executive vp of the U.S. Black Chambers, said in helping announce the program expansion. “The Amazon Community Lending program has created a model that helps Black-owned businesses grow and thrive with a minimum loan size of $10,000 and rates at an affordable and competitive level.”
