Denver-based Greenline Ventures announced Tuesday it has launched a $20 million Small Business Capital Fund to provide loans ranging from $250,000 to $2 million to financially underserved businesses.
“We anticipate roughly half of the fund, $10 million, being invested in Colorado, with a majority of that being in the Denver metro area,” said Patrick Vahey, president of Greenline, which has managed investments worth over $2 billion nationwide the past 15 years.
Vahey said the fund will provide equitylike financing at favorable rates with a goal of benefiting economically struggling communities and low-wage workers.
Objectives of the lending program include job creation and retention, worker training, improving employee benefits, boosting minority- or women-owned businesses, reducing environmental impacts and assisting low-income workers.
The debt capital for the new fund is being provided by investors affiliated with the Calvert Foundation in Bethesda, Md., while the U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., based in St. Louis, is the equity investor.
Among the local projects and companies Greenline has assisted in the past are , , Bode Tree, Tersus Solutions, Medilogix and Roximity.