ReMix Ideas has partnered with FORGE Community Loan Fund to create a pilot program called the Imani Fund.
The fund will provide “under-resourced” entrepreneurs in Arkansas with micro-loans between $5,000 and $25,000 as well as free technical assistance, according to a press release. The goal is to minimize the systemic barrier in access to capital that under-resourced entrepreneurs often face, said ReMix founder Benito Lubazibwa.
“Over the past few years, I have worked closely with Black entrepreneurs, and I’ve witnessed many of their business dreams die in the bank parking lot due to low credit scores and lack of collateral,” he said. “These economic redlines have denied under-resourced business far too long. So, I am excited that we are launching this innovative loan product which is rooted in equity.”
ReMix is an entrepreneurial resource provider based in Little Rock. FORGE is a nonprofit community loan fund based in Huntsville.
Lubazibwa believes that access to capital is the key for businesses to grow, survive and scale. He said the Imani Fund is unique because it prioritizes an individual’s potential to execute a viable business plan above other factors. FORGE Executive Director Philip Adams said collateral, credit history and personal capital are important parts of the traditional underwriting process and prudent risk-management assessments in lending.
“However, when they are paired with the historic extraction of wealth from underserved communities, the result is that these communities have been kept from traditional sources of capital,” he said. “The opportunities and outcomes fostered through the Imani Fund should provide the larger financial system with a tool to pry open lending to a more inclusive future.”
Tim Turner, who owns Kingdom Made Treats with his wife, was the first recipient to be approved for a loan through the Imani Fund. He said the loan will be used for expansion and marketing costs to help scale the Italian ice business.
“This is our first commercial loan, so it is a milestone for us,” Turner said. “We want to build a legacy with the business — something for the next generation.”
SEE ALSO: Planting Seeds of Black Entrepreneurship: Benito Lubazibwa Tending the Garden