is Investopedia’s pick for best overall startup business loans because of its low advertised APﷺRs, wide range of loan amounts, and low annual income requirement. Fundbox is a good c✅hoice if you’re looking for a short-term loan of just a few months. If you have unpaid invoices, Upwise will use them as collateral for a business loan. We’ve also included a big national bank, Wells Fargo, for its SBA lending and business line of credit.
The best startup business lenders wi𝓀ll have affordable APRs, few or no fees, a streamlined application process, and relaxed business age and annual re🐠venue requirements.
We collected hundreds of data points on cost, customer experience, and 🐼more from 14 lenders to create this list of five startup bꦺusiness loan lenders.
Best Startup Business Loans
- Best Overall: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Finance Factory
- Best for Short-Term Funding: Fundbox
- Best for Fast Funding: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Become.co
- Best for Unpaid Invoices: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Upwise Capital
- Best from a Big Bank: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Wells Fargo
Best Overall : Finance Factory
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Finance Factory
- APR Range: 0%–15%
- Loan Amounts: $5,000–$100,000
- Loan Terms: 0–84 months
In our analysis, Finance Factory took the priz༺e due to its affordable APRs, low annual businesဣs income and business age, and low minimum credit score requirements.
No business age requirement
Low annual business income requirement
Streamlined application process
Ideal credit score is at least 700
7-10 day funding time for business credit cards
Finance Factory offers several different types of startup credit, including un🃏secured loans, unsecured lines of credit, credit cards, and SBA loans. Business age and annual income requirements are loꦕw, especially if founders have strong personal credit (at least 700).
Finance Factory touts its streamlined application process and a short list of required documentation: credit reports, personal tax returns, personal credit history, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:personal financial statements. Applicants work with loan ꦜspecialists to find the lending program that best matches the business’s needs.
Founded in 2006, Fi𒁃nance Factory is headquarter🧜ed in Towson, Md. It has facilitated more than $1 billion in business funding since then.
Additional Details
Minimum Credit Score | 600 |
Origination Fees | None |
Minimum Time to Fund | 3 days |
Best for Short-Term Funding : Fundbox
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Fundbox
- APR Range: 4.66%–8.99%
- Loan Amounts: Not disclosed
- Loan Terms: 3–6 months
If yoꩵur startup needs money to launch and you aren’t looking to add a long term loan, Fundbox provides short-term loans of three or six months, repaid oᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚn a weekly schedule.
Low minimum credit score requirement
Low business age requirement
Fast funding
Autopay required
Short repayment terms
Fundbox offers a business line of credit available to businesses with just $30,000 in annual revenue and just three months in operating history. You’ll also need a business bank account to make weekly autopay payments. Fundbox says it can make a funding decision in just a few minutes without hitting your personal or business 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit score. Funds can be in your bank account in two days.
Loan terms are brief, either three months or six months. Maximum and minimum loan amounts are not disclosed, bu🦩t Fundbox’s loans are like lines of🍒 credit so you decide how much to draw and when.
Fundbox was founded in 2013 by💝 a small business owner who couldn’t get funding for her business. It is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.
Additional Details
Minimum Credit Score | 600 |
Origination Fees | None |
Minimum Time to Fund | 2 days |
Best for Fast Funding : Become.co
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become.co
- APR Range: Not disclosed
- Loan Amounts: $5,000–$500,000
- Loan Terms: 3–36 months
Become.co is a lending platform that connects small business borrowers with small business lenders. The company says it can fund loans o🗹n the same day they are approved.
Fast funding
Large loan amounts
So-so online experience
Few loan details disclosed
Because it’s a lending platform, Become.co can connect a small business borrower with many lenders. The company says it can fund a loan the same day it’s approved. It offers several types of business credit, including unsecured business loans, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:merchant cash advances, invoice factoring, SBA loans, and more.
Borrowers can take advantage of Become.co’s “Lending Score” tool that evaluates a business’s fundamentals and ra♛tes its “fundability.” The tool follows up with tips and suggestions on how a business can improve.
A business should have at least four months of operating history and $36,000 in annual revenue to be approved for a loan through Become.co. Minimum credit scores (personal and 💯business) are not disclosed. In fact, many key details about loan terms and borrower requirements are not disclosed on Become’s website, which makes it difficult for borrowers to shop around. Fortunately, pre-qualification is av🌟ailable.
Become.co says it has facilitat♍ed $316 million in business credit since its founding.
Additional Details
Minimum Credit Score | Not disclosed |
Origination Fees | None |
Minimum Time to Fund | Same day |
Best for Unpaid Invoices : Upwise Capital
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Upwise Capital
- APR Range: 5.99%–26.99%
- Loan Amounts: $25,000–$20,000,000
- Loan Terms: 12–84 months
Upwise offers funding using your business’s unpaid invoices as collateral—澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:invoice factoring. Upwise al♋so offers u𝔍nsecured business loans, lines of credit, and more.
You ꦇcan finance up to 100% of invoices and accounts receivable
Funding as soon as the same day
Invoices must be from well-qualified customers
Fees based on invoice repayment time
Upwise Capital offers businesses se𒈔veral kinds of financing: unsecured loans, lines of credit, merchant cash advances, and more. If your business has unpaid invoices, you can use those as collateral for a loan, a process known as invoice factoring or invoice financing. During our research, we found that Upwise provided the most education and transparency regarding this kind of funding.
Upwise works with businesses in operation for as few as six months. The minimum annual income requirement of $120,000 is onไ the higher side among the companies we researched.
Upwise was founded in 2020 and is ওheadquartered in New ღYork, New York.
Additional Details
Minimum Credit Score | 550 |
Origination Fees | 1%–3% |
Minimum Time to Fund | 2 days |
Best from a Big Bank : Wells Fargo
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Wells Fargo Logo
- APR Range: Prime +1% and higher
- Loan Amounts: $10,000–$150,000
- Loan Terms: 36–60 months
Wells Fargo rated highest among big banks due to its low minimum APR, minimum p💝ersonal creꦕdit score, and loan pre-qualification.
Pre-qualification
Low minimum APR
Highly rated mobile app
Narrow range of loan amounts
Two years required business age
A big national bank is probably not the best option when seeking out startup business funding because most require that a business have at least two years of operational history. Wells Fargo is no different, but it also sꦡupports younger businesses that can satisfy SBA borrower requirements. (Among the four banks we researched for startup loans, only American Express offered a lower requirement: 12 months.) But even if your business hasn’t crossed that hurdle, Wells Fargo may be a good choice for you.
Wells Fargo offers two avenues for business funding: 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:lines of credit and SBA loans. It’s one of⭕ the nation’s largest SBA loan providers, approving mo👍re than $567 million SBA loans in 2024, with an average loan amount of $255,000.
The bank offers two kinds of lines of credit. One is designed for older businesses, and the other serves bus🐠inesses in operation for less than two years that meet SBA loan requirements. With this program, credit line amounts are modest (between $5,000 and $50,000) and APRs start at prime plus 4.5%.
Wells Fargo was f🧸ounded in 1852 and today is headquartered in San Francisco♔, California.
Additional Details
Minimum Credit Score | 680 |
Origination Fees | None |
Minimum Time to Fund | Not disclosed |
Compare the Best Startup Loan Lenders
Lender | APR Range | Loan Amounts | Loan Terms |
---|---|---|---|
0%–15% | $5,000–$100,000 | 0–84 months | |
4.66%–8.99% | Not disclosed | 3–6 months | |
Not disclosed | $5,000–$500,000 | 3–36 months | |
5.99%–26.99% | $25,000–$20,000,000 | 12–84 months | |
12%–14% | $10,000–&150,000 | 36-60 months |
Why Trust Us
Investopedia researchers collected data on 35 factors from each of 14 business lenders. We used this information to 𝓀evaluate each service on cost, reputation, customer experience, and more. We created this process as part of our mission to provide unbiased, comprehensive reviews and help rꦉeaders make the right financial decisions. Investopedia launched in 1999 and has been researching and evaluating startup business loans since 2020.
How We Choose the Best Startup Business Loans
To evaluate and rank startup business loan lenders, we collected 406 data points covering 35 factors from 14 lenders. We researched and evaluated APRS, loan amounts and terms, 🏅minimum credit score, minimum income, and minimum business age requirements, online experience, and the helpfulness of educational resources. We assigned weights to the most important factors to consumers and scored them to generate our star ratings. The weighted factors fell into five broad areas:
- Cost: 28%
- Terms: 20%
- Borrowing Requirements: 24%
- Reputation: 5%
- Customer Experience: 23%
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