Set that against the formation numbers everyone quotes: 465,202 Latino-owned employer businesses, up 44% between 2018 and 2023 while white-owned businesses slightly declined, and more than 55% of every net new firm in California and Florida.
Formation is celebrated. Capital is not discussed. Those two facts appear in the same research and only one of them travels.
What actually exists
- SBA 7(a) and 504 — federally guaranteed, and the guarantee is the point: it transfers the lender's risk to the government. sba.gov.
- Community Development Financial Institutions — mission lenders that underwrite differently and are federally certified. cdfifund.gov.
- SBA Microloans — up to $50,000 through nonprofit intermediaries, for the requests banks decline without explanation.
- Small Business Development Centers — free counselling and help assembling the package before it goes in. find yours.
- MBDA Business Centers — federal, built for exactly this gap. mbda.gov.
Ask for the denial in writing, every time. A written reason is the difference between a market signal and a closed door — and you are entitled to one under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act for credit applications.
En español
Menos del 2% del capital de riesgo en Estados Unidos va a negocios latinos — mientras hay 465,202 empresas latinas con empleados, que crecieron 44% mientras las empresas de dueños blancos disminuyeron.
Cuando piden financiamiento, solo el 21% recibe la cantidad completa, frente al 40% de los dueños blancos. Y cuando les niegan el préstamo, solo al 51% le explican por qué — frente al 87%.
No es falta de mérito: cuando sí reciben capital, el monto mediano es de $6 millones, por encima de la mediana nacional, y el 84% fueron rentables en 2024.
Pida siempre la negación por escrito. Bajo la Equal Credit Opportunity Act usted tiene derecho a una razón.