There’s a 5 day grace period (business days) on all loan payments after which borrowers are charged a late fee. The first late fee is $50. Additional missed payments will result in a late fee of $100. The Growth Loan is connected to a revolving loan fund. It’s critical that payments are made on time in order to have funds to lend to more small businesses. 

We’re currently offering the Growth Loan to businesses in Jefferson County Kentucky and Clark and Floyd Counties in Indiana.

Growth Loans range from $10,000 – $35,000 with interest rates of 5-7% (average APR of 5.85%). Loans are paid off over 3 years, through 36 equal monthly payments.

In order to qualify for the Growth Loan, businesses must have been in operation for at least a year. Loans cannot be made to the following business endeavors: Multi-level marketing; Gambling; Lottery equipment and products; Inventory floor-planning; Cigarettes and nicotine; Speculative activities including real estate, lending for investments; Sale and/or production of pornographic materials; Sale and/or manufacture of explosives or firearms; To pay business or personal taxes; Mortgage or rent for home-based business; Personal expenses; check-cashing or any predatory lending operations; liquor stores, or any other business as deemed excluded by the Revolving Loan Fund Committee.

Yes, there is an application fee of $40. Application fees are applied to $200 in closing costs should your loan be approved.

No, however, we still ask for your credit score for program reporting and improvements. 

We collect the following documents during the application process:

• Entrepreneur Interview
• Personal Financial Statement
• Form W9
• Month-by-month income statement (P&L) for the past 12 months
• Month-by-month financial projections for the next 36 months
• Key assumptions behind your financial projections
• Current Balance Sheet
• Loan Use Statement
• Pitch Deck
• Business Plan/Canvas Information

Your monthly payment depends on the size of your loan (up to $35,000) and interest rate (5-7%) your loan repayment. All loans are repaid monthly over a 3 year (36 months) term.

• Example 1: A $35,000 loan with a 5% interest rate would have a monthly payment of $1,048.98
• Example 2: A $25,000 loan with a 7% interest rate would have a monthly payment of $771.93

We’ve designed our application process with TA in mind, and have tasked our committee with providing constructive feedback. Many applicants report having benefited from going through the process regardless of approval. We also partner with local TA providers who work with applicants to fine tune their information.

Our goal is to maximize the impact of our loan pool. In order to do that, we score each applicant based on risk and impact goals for Render Capital. 

Access Ventures is a mission-based lender that operates in a similar fashion to a CDFI.

If there is a part of your project that can be accomplished using $35,000 that results in additional revenue, we encourage you to apply.

If your application is stagnant for 8 weeks, it will be archived and you will need to re-apply.

As opposed to an equity investment or convertible debt, the Growth Loan is truly a loan. We do not take ownership in the company.

Yes! Full repayment is expected. While we do not have any financial collateral requirements, a personal guarantee is required from any owner with an ownership stake of 30% or greater.

The Growth Loan is a revolving loan fund that is meant to be a source of capital when access to capital is limited. At the point where a business is successful enough to attract investment dollars, we ask that funds be returned in order to assist others who are not yet eligible for mainstream financial products.