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Black Restaurant Fund

Capital is critical to small business growth and success.

The Black Restaurant Fund invests in the growth of restaurants and food service businesses, filling historic capital gaps in financing.
LISC Local Initiatives Support Corporation
uber eats LISC partner

HOW DOES IT WORK?

*This video is just an example of how the program could work and is not an outline of terms nor represent all scenarios.

ABOUT THE BLACK RESTAURANT FUND

Capital is critical to small business growth and success, but many restaurant owners in underserved communities don’t have access to it due to historical economic disparities. Consequently, restaurants in these areas fail in higher numbers compared to others. If they survive, they grow more slowly, produce lower profits, hire fewer employees, and are less able to fuel wealth creation. [1]

LISC created the Black Restaurant Fund, made possible by a donation from Uber, to bridge this capital gap by creating an equity-like investment fund to invest in the growth of restaurants and food service businesses in underserved communities, with the objective of building a sustainable investment model to seed wealth building in these communities.

 

[1] Small Business Labs: Number of Minority Owned US Small Businesses Growing Rapidly

What does the fund provide?

The Black Restaurant Fund provides growth capital to restaurants in underserved communities. Growth Capital is an innovative financing product that gives business owners the time they need to invest in and stabilize their companies. Unlike loan products, growth capital does not have fixed repayment terms; instead it is designed as a long-term investment where businesses repay only when they are successful in growing their revenue.
The Black Restaurant Fund aims to:
  • Build wealth for restaurant owners in undercapitalized communities 

  • Create and retain sustainable jobs

  • Build a track record of success for small business owners to attract future investment dollars

  • Offer flexible re-payment terms based on revenue and mutually agreed-upon targets

How do we invest?

LISC makes growth capital investments in restaurants ranging from $25,000 to a maximum of $250,000 with flexible repayment terms.
 
Restaurants may use these funds to support growth and expansion plans such as: 
  • Expanding into new locations

  • Diversifying into new product lines, business lines, or business strategies 

  • Streamlining, automating, or creating efficiencies in business processes

Who is Encouraged to Apply?

The Black Restaurant Fund focuses on restaurants or food service businesses, especially those that are:  
  • Restaurants in underserved communities

  • Earning annual revenues above $250,000 and below $3,000,000   

  • In operation for at least two years, with an ability to deploy capital toward business improvement and growth   

  • Active Uber Eats partner (verified by Uber)

* Sole proprietors and non-profit organizations are ineligible for this particular program.  Be sure to check LISC’s COVID-19 Resource Page: https://www.lisc.org/covid-19/covid-resources/  for the latest resources available to nonprofit organizations and individuals.   

Supported by:

UE_Logo_Horizontal_RGB_Pepper Green_2x.png

“Black-owned restaurants have historically been locked out of economic opportunity, which limits their ability to grow and thrive. Uber created the Black Restaurant Fund with LISC to help close the resource gap by connecting Black food entrepreneurs to flexible capital to fuel growth and expansion while seeding wealth creation in Black communities.”

- Julia Paige, Uber

Baker Portrait

The investment pools sponsored by LISC are available only to eligible investors, are offered only pursuant to their official offering documents, and are managed by LISC Fund Management, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LISC.  LISC Fund Management is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).  Registration of an investment adviser with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training. Please visit the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov to see LISC Fund Management’s Form ADV, which contains important disclosures, including further disclosures about material conflicts of interest, risks, and limitations associated with LISC Fund Management.

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