SBIC

The SBA licenses, regulates, and helps provide funds for privately owned and operated venture capital investment firms through the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC). The SBIC specializea in providing long-term debt and equity investments to high-risk small businesses. Its creation was the result of a Federal Reserve study that discovered, in the simplest terms, that small businesses could not get the credit they needed to keep pace with technological advancement. [1]

Through its Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, the SBA is currently authorized to invest up to $4 billion annually at zero subsidy cost, making the Agency one of the larger players in funding high growth businesses. To better serve these businesses, the SBA has expanded its reach through two initiatives: an Impact Investment initiative that is focused on economically distressed regions and an Early Stage Fund. Both strategies use the existing SBIC platform and are designed to fill gaps in the current market and to spur new business starts.