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Whether you want to invest in your community, grow your business with a loan, or build a fund — tell us what you're working on.
Advance
Capital for impact-focused small businesses and nonprofits where conventional capital often passes them by.
Building on a decade of missing-middle lending
Since 2016, Mission Driven Finance's Advance strategies have made more than 300 loans to impact-focused small businesses and nonprofits across California and New Mexico. We've refined our underwriting, deepened our community relationships, and proven the thesis: there's a real, fundable market between small business lending and commercial bank credit.
Advance is our flagship fund family. Each Advance fund applies the same disciplined approach — flexible underwriting, no minimum credit scores, no personal guarantees — at a different scale and geography.
Why invest in Advance
Three reasons capital allocators back our Advance strategies:
1. A market that needs us
Conventional lenders increasingly serve the top and bottom of the small-business market while leaving a growing gap in the middle. Advance closes that gap with patient capital and operator-friendly terms.
2. Disciplined underwriting
Every loan goes through the same credit process — historical or contracted revenue, DSCR-based coverage, structured amortization, and ongoing portfolio servicing.
3. Measurable impact alongside financial return
Each fund tracks three outcomes: inclusive access to capital for businesses historically overlooked, job quality and retention, and community-level economic mobility.
Advance III — our next national fund
Advance III is our first nationally-scoped Advance fund, targeting $100M to deploy lower-middle-market private credit to impact-focused small businesses and nonprofits across the United States.
CHECK SIZE
$1M – $10M
target average
$3M – $5M
TERM
6 mo - 3 yrs
fund life
10 years
What Advance funds
- Food and beverage — restaurants, mills, agriculture, distribution
- Health and human services — clinics, behavioral health, nonprofit services
- Clean energy and climate — EV infrastructure, cleantech, regenerative agriculture
- Affordable housing — nonprofit developers, supportive housing operators
- Food and beverage — restaurants, mills, agriculture, distribution
- Health and human services — clinics, behavioral health, nonprofit services
- Clean energy and climate — EV infrastructure, cleantech, regenerative agriculture
- Affordable housing — nonprofit developers, supportive housing operators
The Advance fund family
Multiple Advance vehicles, one underwriting model.
ACTIVELY RAISING
Advance III
National lower-middle-market private credit. $1–10M checks. Targeting $100M to first close.
ACTIVELY LENDING
Advance California
California-based small businesses and nonprofits. $350K–$10M checks. Active loan inquiries via /loans/california/.
IN ARCHIVE
Advance New Mexico
New Mexico-based small businesses and nonprofits. Investor capital closed; portfolio actively managed.
IN ARCHIVE
Advance Climate
Climate-focused extension of the Advancemodel. Closed to new capital.
An investor in our work.
“Mission Driven Finance has proven to be a key strategic partner as SLDC has evolved our impact investing approach. Their team demonstrates flexibility and creativity in structuring results-driven solutions while maintaining a strong commitment to St. Louis's economic landscape.”
— Stephanie Grise, Executive Vice President & COO, St. Louis Development Corporation
Let's talk.
Investment minimums and accreditation requirements vary by fund. Our team is happy to walk through fit and structure on a confidential call.