WEPOWER Capital
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pandemic Hits Harder: Nationwide, the number of Black owned businesses dropped by 41% between February 2020 and April 2020.
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.
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
For Fast Growing,
Black and Latinx
Owned Companies
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
Join Us!
Our Founding Partners
Updates
For Us, By Us, with Love
August 25, 2022 For Us, By Us, with Love By: Coral Bello-Martinez What drew me to work in education? I wanted to become the teacher that I had needed when I was in high school. I was born and raised in New York, and my middle school experience in Harlem was the best-like,…
We Have More Power Than We Recognize
August 4, 2022 We Have More Power Than We Recognize By: Jacqueline Person You don’t know what I’m going through, and at the same time I don’t necessarily know that you don’t know what I’m going through. It’s complex, right? There’s so many dynamics and intricate details that go along with people: why they…
You Have a Future in This: How vision can help build a village
July 14, 2022 You Have a Future in This: How vision can help build a village By: Tim Eleby (aka Tim the Caterer) I’m a dreamer. I get a vision, see stuff happening in my mind’s eye, and then I follow it. So with Pure Catering, I pretty much knew it was gonna come,…
Keeping Kids at the Center
June 13, 2022 Keeping Kids at the Center By Adesha Armstrong This kind of work we do? It isn’t about us-it’s about the kids. If we’re not holding kids at the center, then how can we truly serve them and play a pivotal part in shaping these future leaders? I’ve been educating long…
Meet + Support The Spring 2022 Cohort of WEPOWER Biz Accelerator!
May 4, 2022 Meet + Support The Spring 2022 Cohort of WEPOWER Accelerator! WEPOWER is beyond thrilled to welcome our third ever cohort of WEPOWER Accelerator, our accelerator for Black and Latinx-owned companies. This year, we are scaling our impact by transitioning to run not one but two programs per year. Today, we want to…
A “One-Of-A-Kind” Team: An Interview with WEPOWER’s Community Wealth Building Team
March 30, 2022 A “One-Of-A-Kind” Team: An Interview with WEPOWER’s Community Wealth Building Team WEPOWER’s Community Wealth Building team came together with interviewer Whitney Bembenek to share about their backgrounds, personal visions, superpowers, and the meaning of their work. The team leads WEPOWER’s three entrepreneurship-based initiatives: WEPOWER Accelerator, an entrepreneurship support and growth program; Kiva…