OFN Announces First Round of Google Loans and Google.org-funded Grants
On June 17, OFN announced the first round of Grow with Google Small Business Fund loans and grants funded by Google.org. Five CDFIs received a total of $15.5 million in loans, and six CDFIs received a total of $750,000 in grants.
Also on June 17, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced the company will provide OFN an additional $45 million in loans and $5 million in Google.org grants to assist small businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses. In total, Google has now committed $170 million in loans and $10 million in Google.org grants.
Launched in March, the Grow with Google Small Business Fund delivers financing to CDFIs that are supporting the short-term recovery and long-term financing needs of America’s small businesses hardest hit by COVID-19.
Also launched with the Fund, the $10 million in Google.org grants will enable OFN’s member CDFIs to improve access to capital for the most marginalized communities. The unrestricted grants can support operations, loan capital, loan loss reserve, capacity building, or any other purpose.
The first-round loan and grant awardees are:
- Citizens Potawatomi Community Development Corporation ($1 million loan, $125,000 grant)
- Grameen America ($5 million loan, $125,000 grant)
- MoFi ($3 million loan)
- Opportunity Fund ($5 million loan, $125,000 grant)
- PeopleFund ($1.5 million loan, $125,000 grant)
- Pacific Community Ventures (PCV) ($125,000 grant)
- Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) ($125,000 grant)
Read more about the awardee CDFIs and the OFN/Google partnership in the press release announcement.