The Best Start-Up Business Loans for 2021

Fundbox is an online platform where you can obtain some of the best startup business loans currently available. Although the company was established in 2013, it began offering lines of credit just four years ago. Since then, hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs have turned to Fundbox for their business financing needs.

Loan Features

Fundbox is an excellent choice if you need to borrow a small amount to plug up a few holes in your startup. The maximum amount you can borrow is $150,000, and you can choose to repay your debt in 12 or 24 weeks. Fundbox will auto debit your payments from your bank account. Once you’ve paid back what you owe, your approved amount will be available to you again.

To get a startup loan for a new business through Fundbox, you won’t have to pay an application fee, but once you’re approved for funding, you’ll be obligated to settle a borrowing fee every time you draw funds. The fee may vary from one consumer to another and change over time. It’ll be around 4.66% for a 12-week term and 8.99% for a 24-week term.

Application Process and Funding Speed

One of the best things about Fundbox is that it has a unique approach to loan applications – there is no paperwork. To establish an account you just need to connect your accounting software or bank account to the Fundbox platform. You’ll get a decision regarding your small business startup loan in a matter of minutes thanks to the platform’s data analytics tools. 

Once you’ve made a withdrawal request, the money will be deposited directly into your account within 24 to 48 hours.

Qualification Requirements

You’ll have a hard time finding a loan company with fewer eligibility requirements than Fundbox. Aside from a credit score of at least 500, it’s preferable that you have two or more months of activity recorded on your accounting software or three months of transactions on your business bank account.

Although Fundbox doesn’t have any strict minimum annual revenue stipulation, it does suggest that earnings of approximately $100,000 would increase your chances of approval.

Additional Services

Aside from enabling customers to obtain start-up business loans with bad credit, Fundbox offers invoice financing and a Paycheck Protection Program. Invoice financing allows you to get money before your customers pay, while Paycheck Protection lets you borrow up to $2 million at a 1% interest rate. 

The PPP is part of the coronavirus relief program, and the loans are 100% forgivable as long as you use 60% of the money for payroll costs within a period of eight or 24 weeks.

Reasons to choose Fundbox:

• Fast credit decisions
• Paycheck Protection Program
• Invoice financing

Since it was founded in 2009 by Rob Frohwein, Marc Gorlin, and Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage has extended more than $9 billion in loans to small business owners. If you need a business loan for your startup that’s quickly deposited into your account, then you’ve come to the right place.

Loan Features

With Kabbage, you can qualify for a line of credit ranging from $1,000 to $150,000 and six, 12-, or 18-month terms. However, Kabbage’s interest rate structure is a bit more complicated. For the first six months of a six-month loan, you’ll pay an interest rate that’s between 1.5% and 10% of the principal.

The same goes for the first six months of a 12-month loan and the first nine months of an 18-month loan. During the remaining months of small startup business loans, the interest rate is reduced to 1%.

Since January 1,  2021, clients can pay just 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction through the use of Kabbage Payments.

There’s also a late fee you should be aware of, which varies based on your outstanding account balance. If the balance due is less than $100, the fee is $10. For amounts between $100 and $5,000, you’ll need to pay $35, and for any unsettled debt over $5,000, you’ll be charged $100. The fee is applied if your payment is more than four days late.

Application Process and Funding Speed

Kabbage’s application process for startup business loans is similar to that of Fundbox. After you’ve connected your checking account, bookkeeping software, or payment platform, it’ll only take a few days for your line of credit to be approved and funded.

Through the Kabbage Funding dashboard or mobile app, you can withdraw as little as $500, and with the Kabbage Card, which you can request at no extra cost, there’s no minimum withdrawal amount. Withdrawals can be made whenever you like, and the money is deposited into your account in under 10 minutes.  

Qualification Requirements

Kabbage is a good option for startup business loans with no collateral since the company’s qualification criteria aren’t very demanding. There’s no official credit score requirement, but you’ll need it to be around 540 in order to qualify. Plus, your business will need to be at least 12 months old and make $50,000 per year or $4,200 per month over the last three months.

Additional Services

Small businesses are able to apply for a Payment Protection Program loan through Kabbage. These loans are available for up to 2.5 times your average monthly payroll during the year preceding the application, and they can’t exceed $2 million.

If you plan on using one of these loans for a startup business, you should know that PPP loans are forgiven in full only if the number of people you employ and their paychecks remained consistent with pre-COVID levels.

Reasons to choose Kabbage:

• Small minimum withdrawal limit
• Free Kabbage Card
• Extremely flexible funding

Lendio’s CEO Brock Blake originally set up a lending company called FundingUtah in 2006, which later became FundingUniverse. In 2011, he decided to start over and launched Lendio. Today, this online marketplace offers several great funding options for startups, has a network of more than 75 lenders, and has funded over 300,000 loans.

Loan Features

Typically, loans intended for newly formed businesses range between $9,000 and $20,000 with interest rates that go as high as 28%. Lendio, on the other hand, takes a different approach. It connects you to lenders that offer loans for amounts as low as $500 and as high as $750,000 with interest rates that don’t exceed 17%.

Seeing as you’ll have plenty of startup loans to choose from, you’ll also encounter a number of term lengths. The options range from a single year to 25 years.

Perhaps the best part about using Lendio to obtain business capital is that it’s free. But while Lendio doesn’t charge an application fee, many individual lenders do, so make sure you’re familiar with these expenses before starting the paperwork.

Application Process and Funding Speed

As a Lendio customer, you won’t have to go through a long application process - finding the right new business loan is stressful enough as it is.

All you have to do is create an account and fill out a single online form after which Lendio will perform a soft credit check, which won’t impact your credit score. The whole process shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes. 

You’ll probably start to receive offers within 72 hours, and once you’ve made your decision, it’ll take around two to four weeks for the funds to be credited to your account.

Qualification Requirements

Through Lendio, you can acquire either a secured or unsecured business loan for your startup. Which one you get depends on your level of creditworthiness.

The majority of Lendio’s partners have a credit score requirement of 680, which unfortunately might be too high for some. On the plus side, you only need to be in business for six months in order to qualify. Certain lenders will also want to know if you’ve had any prior experience with setting up or running a startup.

Additional Services

Lendio specializes in providing its clients with a wide selection of financial products, but instead of listing them all, we’d like to direct your attention to a loan that is similar to loans for a startup business.

If your startup is in need of new software, cooking appliances, vehicles, or any other supplies, you should consider an equipment financing loan. Although you can use a startup loan to buy these things, equipment financing has its own perks. 

In just 24 hours, you can have anywhere between $5,000 and $5,000,000. The loan terms range from one to five years, and your loan rate can be as low as 7.5%. All in all, you’ll have a hard time finding better equipment financing for startups anywhere else.

Reasons to choose Lendio:

• Free service
• Soft credit check
• Many loan types

OnDeck is headquartered in New York, but it also has offices in Virginia, Colorado, Canada’s Toronto, and Montreal as well as Sydney, Australia. In July 2020, OnDeck was acquired by Enova. Nevertheless, all of its services and products have remained the same. This global loan company is best suited for borrowers that can anticipate needing a second small business loan for their startup.

Loan Features

The maximum amount you can get with an OnDeck term loan is $250,000, and the minimum is $5,000. This might be too much money for some borrowers, but remember that you can get up to 18 months to repay the loan. You’ll be able to choose between paying back the loan in daily or weekly installments.

The SMART Box Capital Comparison tool will enable you to see a detailed overview of your business financing. For example, if you borrow $75,000 with a 12-month term and weekly payments, your origination fee will be $1,875 with an APR of 24.20%.

You can pay off OnDeck’s online business loans for startups early and have the rest of the interest waived. Moreover, you can do it without incurring any penalties.

Application Process and Funding Speed

Whether you choose to apply over the phone or by filling out an online form, you won’t need more than a few minutes to complete the process. The company will ask you for your Business Tax ID number, Social Security number, estimated annual gross revenue, and average bank balance. Those eligible for an OnDeck loan will receive their funds on the same day they apply.

Qualification Requirements

To get unsecured startup business loans from OnDeck, your business needs to be 12 months old with annual revenue of $100.000, while your personal FICO score should be no less than 600. This loan company doesn’t offer its services to a number of industries including adult entertainment, drug dispensing, firearms vendors, vehicle dealers, and gambling.

Additional Services

If your first OnDeck lending experience was satisfactory and you realize that you could use a few more dollars, we suggest that you go back to this same lender because returning customers are entitled to generous benefits.

After you take out a second small business loan for startup financing, the remaining interest on your current loan will be removed, and the origination fee on your next loan could be as low as 0%. 

OnDeck’s revolving credit line is another excellent loan option you should consider. It allows you to borrow anywhere from $6,000 to $100,000. The funding is instant, and the 12-month repayment term resets after every single withdrawal.

Another advantage to choosing OnDeck as your lender is that it reports your payment history to credit bureaus. It may not seem like much, but if you’re diligent in repaying your unsecured startup loans on time, you could see a notable credit score increase.   

Reasons to choose OnDeck:

• Highly transparent pricing
• 0% origination fee for repeat borrowers
• Repayment term resent for credit lines

Unlike the other companies on our list, Fundera doesn’t originate any loans itself. Instead, it acts as a matchmaking service that connects you with the funding sources you are eligible for.

At Fundera’s platform, not only will you be able to compare several business loans for startups, but you’ll receive some very useful advice as well. This makes it a great starting point for those overwhelmed by the number of options available to them.

Loan Features

Fundera offers a variety of products, including SBA microloans, business credit cards, asset-based loans, and many others. Since its partners are responsible for funding the loans, there are no specific sum ranges or loan terms we can give you. 

What we can tell you is that while other platforms of this kind tend to partner up with as many funders as they can, Fundera takes a different approach. It chooses quality over quantity, so you can rest assured knowing that every startup funding option you come across here is safe and fair.

Whenever someone takes out a loan through Fundera, it charges the lender a fee equal to a small percentage of the loan amount, which is how the company makes money.

This means that borrowers can use this website for free. However, Fundera can’t guarantee that its partners won’t pass some of the costs they have to pay onto you. In such scenarios, your loan might end up being a bit more expensive than if you had gone to the lender directly.

Application Process and Funding Speed

Applying for startup business grants or loans through Fundera is extremely simple. After you create an account and answer a few questions about your business, credit score, and the amount of funding you need, you’ll be presented with all the loan products that you may be able to qualify for.

What’s more, one of Fundera’s lending experts will contact you and go through each of these products with you and help you pick the one that’s best for your business.

The documents you’ll be required to provide and the speed at which you’ll get your money will vary depending on your chosen lender.

Qualification Requirements

The qualification requirements for startup financing are yet another variable at Fundera. But although they differ from funder to funder, most of the time, you’ll need a score of at least 550 to be eligible for the most lenient of funding solutions, which are short-term financing and merchant cash advances.

Additional Services

As we’ve already mentioned, in addition to helping you compare and find loans, Fundera also provides you with a lending specialist. Once the specialist assists you with choosing your first loan, they’ll continue to work on your case and develop a plan to get you an even better startup business funding offer in the future. On top of that, the Fundera website is filled with helpful guides and resources, which are regularly updated.

Reasons to choose Fundera:

• Lending advice
• Loan product comparisons
• Free to use

BlueVine is a California-based fintech company started by three entrepreneurs – Eyal Lifshitz, Nir Klar, and Moti Shatner.

Lifshitz was the one that came up with the idea of offering small business banking and financing when he saw how hard it was for his father to maintain cash flow while running his small business.

Loan Features 

Funding a startup day in and day out is made easy with BlueVine’s line of credit, which comes with a draw limit of  $5,000 to $250,000. Through the lender’s online dashboard, you can request funds whenever your business needs them. 

You’ll have 6 or 12 months to repay each sum that you withdraw and you’ll also be able to choose between making fixed weekly or monthly payments. With every amount of money that you return, your available credit will be automatically replenished.

The only costs associated with this type of new business funding from BlueVine are the interest rate and the potential bank wire fee. The interest rates start as low as 4.8% but to get the best rates, you’ll need a very good credit score.

To avoid the bank wire fee of $15 you can opt for the free ACH transfer option.

Application Process and Funding Speed 

BlueVine focuses on convenience and speed, which is why its application process doesn’t take longer than 2 minutes.

While filling out the online form, you’ll be asked to provide some basic information about your business, yourself, and either your bank statements for the last 3 months or a read-only connection to your company’s bank account.

You can expect to have your application for startup business financing approved within 5 minutes. After that, once you access the online dashboard and request your loan, you should receive your funds within a few hours. 

Qualification Requirements

To get the credit line from BlueVine, you need to have a credit score of at least 600, a business that’s 6 months old or more and generates $10,000 in monthly income. Keep in mind that, due to regulations, this service isn’t available to citizens of North and South Dakota, as well as any US Territories.

Additional Services

There are many different ways to get funds for a startup business. One such method involves taking advantage of BlueVine’s invoice factoring. It should be considered by those that may need more than the $250,000 offered by the credit line since the company’s factoring lines can go up to $5 million. 

Once you’re approved for invoice factoring, BlueVine will provide you with a cash advance equal to 85%-90% of your submitted invoice value and you’ll get the rest of the money minus BlueVine’s fees after the invoice has been paid.

The minimum qualification conditions for this kind of funding for startups are a credit score of just 530, 3 months in business, $10,000 in monthly revenue, and your business should be in the B”B industry.

Reasons to choose BlueVine:

• Low credit score requirements
• ACH payments
• Cash advance with invoice factoring