Seed and venture capital programs exist throughout the country. While the public sector may help to initiate such programs, they are largely operated by the private sector. Economic development practitioners can help to foster economic activity by steering new companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups towards venture capital and private equity firms in their states or communities. This type of funding is critical in providing capital for emerging businesses.
Seed capital is an initial capital investment into a new business venture or product line. Often, this capital allows an entrepreneur to launch a new venture without drawing upon traditional lending sources. As a general rule, seed capital is provided by private investors in exchange for a high rate of return on their investment. Seed capital recipients are typically businesses or entrepreneurs with less than one year of history. In most cases, they have not yet produced a commercial product or service. Investors often seek an equity or ownership position in the new company. This represents a considerable tradeoff, as the entrepreneur must cede an ownership interest or pay an unusually high rate of return in order to gain access to capital.
Venture capitalists are financiers that take a role in the management of young, growing companies. Venture capital firms are generally private partnerships or corporations funded by private and public pension funds, endowment funds, foundations, corporations, individuals and foreign investors. Venture capital is different from seed capital because venture capital firms typically do not invest in companies until they are somewhat established. Venture capitalists often play a hands-on role in the management of a new, growing company, and may also assist with product development. They typically take a high risk in anticipation of a relatively higher rate of return over a period of time.
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Interested in learning about financing small business? This section contains resources on understanding the basics of Seed & Venture Capital.
Access to Capital and Credit in Native CommunitiesMembers only 
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This document, “Access to Capital and Credit in Native Communities: A Data Review” (Data Review) begins to answer the questions: Where does Native America stand now in terms of capital and credit access? What has been the effect of new action and new approaches by policymakers and financial entrepreneurs? What are Native Communities’ ongoing and future capital and needs?
State Strategies to Help Businesses Launch and ExpandMembers only Login
This report, produced by The PEW Charitable Trusts, examines how state governments can find solutions to policies that undermine opportunities for investment and job creation when businesses spend too much time or money on inefficient regulatory processes, or when new business projects get delayed because firms don’t understand how to comply with the rules.
Strengthening Access to Capital ProgramsMembers only Login
Vincent DiCara, Owner of DiCara Training and Consulting, LLC, discusses access to capital and the benefits of leveraging public sector support for even greater private sector investment and explore a variety of programs available in the region.
Unlocking Capital AccessMembers only Login
Representatives from the California Association of Micro Enterprise Opportunity and California Pollution Control Financing Authority look at how California creates access to capital for micro businesses and enterprises.
Search the map below for small business finance programs by state. This specialized search is part of
CDFA's State Financing Program Directory, the only online resource cataloging the development finance programs offered by state governments. Click on a state to see a sample of state small business finance programs available. Login with a CDFA Member account at the top of the page to view full results.
CDFA Food Systems Finance Best Practices Guidebook
Linking development finance and food systems can be a daunting undertaking for any community. Research on the current ecosystem of food systems finance has positioned CDFA to identify key strategies for the path ahead in this work. The Food Systems Finance Best Practices Guidebook defines how traditional development finance tools can be used to launch and expand food and agricultural-related businesses and projects, and create successful food systems finance programs at the local and regional levels.
Investing in Regenerative Agriculture Infrastructure Across Value ChainsMembers only Login
Regenerative farms rely on small-to-mid scale, aligned infrastructure to process, transport, and market their products. These middle infrastructure businesses help to improve farm income and bolster regional food economies while providing significant social and environmental benefits. However, their unique business models require innovative and patient forms of capital to grow and succeed. This report identifies finance opportunities and pathways to build resilient value chains for regenerative farms.
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Innovation Finance Reference Guide
The Innovation Finance Reference Guide explores the growing seed, venture capital and angel investment industry. Written by Robert Heard of Cimarron Capital Partners and Jim Troxel of Development Capital Networks, this guide gives development finance agencies a roadmap for building an innovation finance initiative that supports entrepreneurship, business investment, job creation, and 21st century technology development.
Practitioner's Guide to Economic Development Finance
The Practitioner's Guide to Economic Development Finance 2nd Edition is the only comprehensive resource dedicated to building and utilizing the development finance toolbox. The Practitioner's Guide provides the insight and practical information needed to critically understand how economic development is financed and the tools, strategies and techniques used to build strong communities. From bonds, tax increment finance and special districts to tax credits, seed & venture capital, revolving loan funds and much more, this Guide outlines the financing tools required for succeeding in today's competitive economic development climate.
Unlocking Capital: A Handbook for Becoming a High Performing Development Finance Agency
Unlocking Capital: A Handbook for Becoming a High Performing Development Finance Agency (Handbook) serves as a companion to the Practitioner’s Guide to help illuminate the structures of development finance agencies (DFAs), essential conduits to access development finance tools. The Handbook provides an overview of DFAs and their myriad roles in various development efforts. Included in this discussion is a comprehensive look at over a dozen high-performing DFAs throughout the country. The Handbook is designed to be a starting point for local leaders to engage in the creation or acceleration of a DFA to build and utilize the development finance toolbox.
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SSBCI for Tribal Governments
CDFA and guest speakers from The Choctaw Nation and gener8tor held this webinar on March 11, 2022 for a discussion on how Tribal Governments can utilize the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) program. During this webinar, CDFA provided an overview of the information included in SSBCI for Tribal Governments, and guest speakers discussed their approach to maximizing the program from the Tribal Government perspective and the perspective of a mission-aligned fund manager.
CDFA-Treasury: A Guide to the SSBCI Application Tables Webinar
CDFA hosted this public briefing on January 20, 2022 to provide an overview and demonstration of the new SSBCI Leverage Ratio Data Table as well as the Enrolled Loan Data Table. CDFA along with representatives from Treasury discussed key provisions in the updated guidance and fielded questions from attendees.
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