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
Black Joy Juneteenth 2020
JUNE 19, 2020 Make the Pledge Make the pledge to buy Black, give Black, and defend Black this Juneteenth weekend: bit.ly/wepjuneteenth! When you sign the pledge, we will follow-up with the link to a resource-hub of local Black-led organizations to donate to, Black-owned businesses to buy from (via www.fortheculturestl.com), and local and national actions and…
This is our moment, make the pledge today.
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Moving towards a measurably different St. Louis
APRIL 30, 2020 Moving Towards a Measurably Different St. Louis What are we moving towards, together? Because there is no turning back from here. We can move towards a new way of co-existing, screaming and kicking, clinging and grasping to the toxic behaviors and beliefs that are killing Black people, OR we can choose to…
Coronavirus Resources + Note from WEPOWER Team
Coronavirus Resources + Note from WEPOWER Team “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dear community, I am writing to you today to share resources, updates, and reflections as…
St. Louis Families Launch ‘What’s Next SLPS?’ Campaign to Reimagine Schools and School Closings
FEBRUARY 6, 2020 St. Louis Families Launch ‘What’s Next SLPS?’ Campaign to Reimagine Schools and School Closings Wow! What an amazing journey it’s been. Since the launch of Better Budgets, Better Schools (BBBS) campaign as an inaugural Power Builder, we’ve been on the ground pushing for change for our children and achieved tangible wins towards…
Meet WEPOWER’s inaugural cohort of WEPOWER Entrepreneurs
JANUARY 16, 2020 Meet WEPOWER’s Inaugural Cohort of WEPOWER Entrepreneurs After talking to hundreds of founders, reviewing 90+ applications, interviewing 40+ entrepreneurs, and 800+ community members voting, we have selected 10 dynamic Black and Latinx entrepreneurs to join WEPOWER’s inaugural cohort of the WEPOWER Accelerator. I don’t think we could have selected a more perfect…