In a move to support its marketplace users, Amazon has launched a joint pilot program with Lendistry, a minority-led and technology-enabled small business and commercial real estate lender, dubbed Amazon Community Lending and aimed at driving growth opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.
U.S.-based Amazon sellers are welcome to learn more about the program, the company stated, and determine if financing options from Lendistry are the right fit for their business needs. It added that Amazon and Lendistry have developed a lending solution built specifically for sellers. Lendistry will provide term loans targeting a range from $10,000 to $100,000 with periods of up to two years and annual percentage rates generally between 8% and 9.9%.
The majority of the funds Lendistry has historically disbursed have gone to traditionally low-to-moderate income and other historically disadvantaged business owners and the communities they serve, including African American and Hispanic/Latino populations.
“We are thrilled to launch the Amazon Community Lending pilot program in the U.S. to provide greater access to critical working capital and make the opportunity of selling in Amazon’s store more accessible to even more U.S. small businesses,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president for worldwide consumer trust and partner support. “Lendistry shares our commitment to championing underrepresented populations of business owners, knowing they often lack access to traditional methods of accessing capital and similar economic opportunities.”
