WEPOWER Capital

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Capital That Works for Companies and Communities

WEPOWER Capital accelerates community-owned wealth generation in North St. Louis communities that have experienced decades of divestment by investing in high growth Black and Latinx businesses.

Our Region is Missing Out on a Major Opportunity to Advance Racial Equity & Build Wealth

An investment in Black and Latinx entrepreneurs is an investment in our region’s collective prosperity. Black and Latinx entrepreneurs create jobs at the same rate or higher than white owned firms. However, our systems weren’t designed for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs or communities to thrive.

  1. Traditional Capital Denied: Black and Latinx entrepreneurs are more likely to be denied bank loans, offered less capital when approved, and charged higher interest rates.
  2. Soaring Racial Wealth Disparities: Given the massive racial wealth gap -- white families have 10-20x the wealth of Black families --most Black and Latinx entrepreneurs do not have access to anyone who will make an early investment of $30,000, let alone $100,000.
  3. Pandemic Hits Harder: Nationwide, the number of Black owned businesses dropped by 41% between February 2020 and April 2020.
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It Is Time to Reimagine The Role of Capital

We cannot reach our potential as a region without fully investing in Black and Latinx communities and the businesses that can drive their economic mobility.

It is time to provide access to capital to Black and Latinx businesses that have the potential to spark wealth for their families and their communities.

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Founder-Friendly, Flexible “Capital+” That Builds Community Wealth

This is not your run of the mill investment fund. We provide “capital+” (i.e. capital plus connections and technical assistance), with a mission to spark place-based economic prosperity.

WEPOWER Capital uses revenue based investing, where entrepreneurs repay a fixed percentage of their revenue until a pre-agreed total has been paid back. This model is more flexible than traditional loans, allowing us to truly share risk with entrepreneurs and only succeed when they do, without reducing their ownership in their company.

 

  • Vehicle: Revenue share agreements & loans
  • Check size: $50,000 - $200,000
  • Return cap: 1.5x, based on business profile
  • Revenue share: ~2-10% of monthly revenue
  • Collateral: Not required
  • Credit Score: Not required
ellicia

For Fast Growing,
Black and Latinx
Owned Companies

Jessica Black3

We are looking for:

  • Black and Latinx owned companies
  • Anywhere between $5,000-100,000/month (or more) in revenue
  • Strong growth trajectory (or evidence of strong growth potential with investment)
  • Companies committed to hiring at or above a living wage or, at minimum, putting workers on a path to a living wage
  • Companies committed to hiring in and/or locating in priority neighborhoods, St. Louis city wards 3 and 21, that have experienced generations of disinvestment

Building Community Wealth Triples Impact

A percentage of the returns will be owned and managed by the surrounding community and the rest will be invested in future.

With this innovative model, the impact is three-fold. WEPOWER Capital catalyzes Black and Latinx owned businesses to:

  • Anchor neighborhoods
  • Build the tax base
  • Accelerate community owned shared wealth generation that disrupts generational divestment
Tyrean Lewis

Join Us!

Entrepreneurs

Are you an entrepreneur interested in accessing capital?

Donors

Are you a donor ready to accelerate our wealth building efforts?

Our Founding Partners

Updates

What it Takes to Thrive: The Importance of Investing in Everyone

November 29, 2022 What it Takes to Thrive: The Importance of Investing in Everyone By: Amina Abdul-Malik   “The conditions I saw growing up in North City just didn’t seem to reflect the beauty and intelligence I saw in the people around me.”  -Amina Abdul-Malik   I call it ‘Entrepreneur Brain.” It’s where your brain…

We Dream, We Build, We Win

November 29, 2022 We Dream, We Build, We Win If Harriet Tubman didn’t dream, if Dr. King didn’t dream, if Dolores Huerta didn’t dream-where would we be?   Dreams are sacred and necessary. They reveal possibilities, and affirm the necessity to create a different future. Dreams allow us to unleash ourselves and our families from…

Meet WEPOWER’s Fall Cohort of Biz Owners!

November 16, 2022 MEET WEPOWER’S FALL COHORT OF BIZ OWNERS! We are SO HAPPY to share that we have welcomed our fourth cohort of amazing Black and Latinx founders to the WEPOWER family! Take time to get to know each company and checkout their products, services, and venues!   Jamila Boone | Scene Event Space…

St. Louis County Council Votes to Allocate $5.6 Million in ARPA Funds to Improve Local Early Childhood Education

October 25, 2022 St. Louis County Council Votes to Allocate $5.6 Million in ARPA Funds to Improve Local Early Childhood Education   The vote follows months of public testimony and advocacy from The Early Childhood Power & Policy Action Group members and supporters.   After months of negotiations and hearings, the St. Louis County Council…

Protecting STL Children

October 24, 2022 Protecting STL Children On Monday, St. Louis experienced one of the greatest fears of our time: a school shooting.   The Central Visual and Performing Arts High School community faced an active shooter situation which led to multiple deaths and injuries of students and educators and immeasurable collective trauma.   As we…

WEPOWER Announces First Investment in St. Louis Startup, Bold Xchange

September 22, 2022 WEPOWER Announces First Investment in St. Louis Startup, Bold Xchange   Today WEPOWER announced Bold Xchange was selected as the inaugural capital recipient from the organization’s $1.5 million dollar investment fund. The pilot fund offers targeted investment in companies owned by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs with a strong growth trajectory to ignite…