Obtaining Start Up Capital for Cooperatives
From Cultivate.Coop
The National Cooperative Business Association is looking into starting a Cooperative Equity Fund. From the February 2010 NCBA newsletter:
NCBA Launches Equity Fund Committee
Moving ever closer to securing additional access to capital for all cooperatives, NCBA convened the inaugural meeting of its Equity Fund Planning Committee to implement the recommendations made in a recently completed Feasibility Study. On January 28 in Washington D.C., the committee reviewed a Feasibility Study prepared by the Calvert Foundation, which recommended a private equity fund to support the growth and development of cooperatives.
The committee’s purpose is to create a business plan for a national Cooperative Equity Fund that will accept investments from individuals, cooperatives and other businesses, foundations and others, to invest exclusively in cooperatively-owned organizations. These investments will provide a source of equity capital for new and expanding cooperatives, enhancing opportunities to grow what many consider to be the best business model for economic and social progress.
Cooperative Development Fund Institutions (CDFI)
The following CDFI's fund Cooperatives:
- Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) — http://cooperativefund.org
- Common Wealth Revolving Loan Fund (Ohio Employee Ownership Center) — http://www.oeockent.org/index.php/loans
- LEAF Fund (ICA Group) — http://www.leaffund.org
- Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund — http://www.enterprisecleveland.org/services/evergreen-coop-fund.html (Worker cooperatives only)
- Shared Capital Cooperative — http://sharedcapital.coop
- The Working World — http://www.theworkingworld.org