The Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) and MilitaryConnection.com today announced their partnership with peer-to-peer (p2p) small business lender, StreetShares, to further enable veteran business owners to secure growth capital for their businesses.
StreetShares recently secured $200 million to fund veteran businesses, the largest private funding commitment to veteran businesses in U.S. history. The VAMBOA and MilitaryConnection.com partnership with StreetShares includes joint marketing provisions, educational content sharing and referral agreements, with the goal of providing Veteran business owners access to capital.
StreetShares recently announced a monthly $5,000 award to qualifying veteran-owned businesses though it’s Commander’s Call Program. All VAMBOA members and MiltiaryConnection.com users who apply for a loan will be automatically considered for this $5,000 award.
MilitaryConnection CEO and VAMBOA founder Debbie Gregory stated:
“We know that given the current economic climate, strict lending regulations make it nearly impossible for small businesses to secure funding, leaving them with very few options. With StreetShares’ focus on veterans, and their ‘outside the box’ approach to lending capital, our affiliation should prove to be extremely beneficial to our membership and our users.”
Founded by Iraq War Veteran and former finance lawyer, Mark L. Rockefeller, StreetShares is a marketplace for small business loans, with a particular focus on funding veteran entrepreneurs. On StreetShares.com, small business owners pitch their business directly to investors, while retail and institutional investor members place bids to fund a portion of the loan.
Rockefeller added:
“At StreetShares, our goal is to fund the next great generation of small business owners. We believe military veterans-turned entrepreneurs will lead the way, which is why we’re thrilled to partner with VAMBOA and MilitaryConnection in their vision to equip and train veterans to succeed in business and in life.”