Village Micro Fund (VMF)
Founded: 2014
Focus: West Atlanta
Village is social impact fund and entrepreneurial ecocystem dedicated to teaching, supporting and investing in black owned businesses.
Orgin
Feburary 2014 a to be named VMF organized a series of events with the goal to connect ~10,000 students in the Atlanta University Center with small businesses in West Atlanta. This resulted in VMF closing the first crowd funded microloan in Georgia in 2015. We thought then and still do now that the customers, connections and capital needed to stimulate local economies are right around the corner.
Current
Through community organizing and advocacy, cohort based small business classes and partnerships with CDFIs and impact investors:
Village has trained 150+ businesses, granted $1.8m and catalized ~$20m of economic development in the city of Atlanta.