The cities we live in shape the way we see ourselves. Our favorite places become woven into our daily lives almost tangibly. They bring us closer together. And the communities and connections that form within those spaces make a place feel like home. Small businesses play a massive role in building community, and right now, many are struggling to stay afloat.

What We're Doing

To offer immediate support for the small businesses in our communities, we’re waiving all fees associated with creating a listing on the SMBX platform and have sped up the payouts process, starting with small businesses in the Bay Area. We’re calling this the Small Business Rebuild Bond Program, which is designed to help small businesses temporarily offset the adverse impact of COVID-19. Through the program, we’ll issue bonds on the SMBX up to $100k, free of charge.*

We designed the Rebuild Bond Program to embody the kind of symbiotic support that holds communities together. The program offers individual retail investors (individual investors — like you and me) a chance to support their favorite local businesses by lending them money through bonds, on which lenders then earn principal and interest monthly, and companies a way to acquire the capital they need to stay afloat.

How The Program Can Help

The program also serves as an alternative to some other financial options that small businesses have deployed recently, like selling gift cards and setting up a donation or GoFundMe pages. Gift cards decrease future revenue and donations/GoFundMe are not tax-deductible, limit how much money people can invest, and have a 5% processing fee.

Livie and Luca and Black Hammer Brewing were the first two members of the Rebuild Bond Program. Check them out here and here.

We understand that it’s not on the community alone to support small businesses, so we’ve also added four new bond funds to the program, specifically for non-retail investors like venture capital and private equity funds, family offices, impact funds, community foundation funds, government relief funds, and high net worth accredited individuals. We’re in the process of on-boarding other institutions as well.

If you’re a small business looking to raise between $25k and $100k by issuing bonds on the SMBX you need at least two years of operating history and consistent or growing revenue (positive net income). See if you qualify here.

If you’re looking to support local businesses affected by COVID-19 beyond buying gift certificates or donating go here, and be sure to check back soon — we’re adding new businesses every day.

- The SMBX Team

*The Small Business Rebuild Bond Program is no longer available. There is now a 3.5% fee charged to the issuer on the total amount raised on The SMBX for all new bond issuances.