An Essential Boost
The road to the Next Economy is anything but linear: innovators and social entrepreneurs are building and implementing solutions from a number of fields in a variety of ways. That’s why we created the Ontario Catapult Microloan Fund, which provided social enterprises with loans of $5,000 to $25,000.
True to its namesake, the Catapult Microloan sought to amplify the growth of its recipients, whether through hiring, expansion of operations, or capital investments.
Since its inception in 2013, this fund has awarded $355,000 in loans to social enterprises like:
- Peekapak: grew their business by building inventory and hiring a full-time operations manager
- Toronto Tool Library: grew their business by purchasing a laser cutter for Makerspace and supplementing salaries
- Twenty One Toys: grew their business by contracting staff for a $25,000 Kickstarter campaign that increased manufacturing capacity
- Fresh City Farms: grew their business by customizing their warehouse and developing an e-commerce platform
- Grantbook: grew their business by hiring a new staff member and increasing organizational capacity
- ZooShare: grew their business by hiring a sales person and amplifying their marketing
The Catapult Microloan wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of Alterna Savings, the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Industry, and TD Bank. Thank you to our partners for helping make this collective impact possible!
Although we are currently not making loans, you can find other sources of capital in our Business Resources Guide, and support through our education and acceleration programs.
