Small Business Investment Companies
Active
- Assistance listing
- 59.011
- Grant awards
- Not on record
Program facts
- Also known as
- SBIC
- Treasury account
-
- 73-1154-0-1-376
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated .
About this program
The Small Business Administration (SBA) licenses and capitalizes privately owned and managed Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) under Assistance Listing 59.011, a program that issues debt to licensed SBICs enabling them to provide private equity capital and long-term loans to small businesses.
This is a licensing and debt-issuance program rather than a traditional grant vehicle. The SBA does not disburse grant awards to SBIC applicants; instead, it issues licenses that permit private investment firms to operate as SBICs and access SBA-guaranteed debt financing. The program supports the creation and operation of investment funds that deploy private capital into small business equity and debt instruments. Applicants must demonstrate an experienced management team with complementary skills and a proven track record, including at least two principals with ten-year histories of successful investments analogous to the proposed fund strategy. The fund structure must align manager and investor incentives and generate sufficient revenue to service SBA-guaranteed debt obligations on schedule.
The licensing process is lengthy and multi-phase, taking up to two years. Applicants enter a three-phase process in which the second phase provides eighteen months to raise the private capital required for viability and submit licensing documentation. The SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation reviews applications, issues licenses, and conducts ongoing oversight through annual certified public accountant audits and periodic on-site examinations. Pre-screening participation is strongly encouraged before formal application submission. Proponents may reapply at any time. Applicants must submit the appropriate forms and pay an application fee to the Office of Investment and Innovation and maintain current financial records, meeting minutes, and management consulting documentation throughout the license term.
No recent grant awards or grant opportunities are present in the source. This program is a regulatory licensing and debt-financing mechanism for private equity managers, not a grant-making program in the traditional sense. Organizations pursuing equity capital for operating businesses should consider whether SBIC licensing and debt access align with their capital formation strategy, recognizing that the process involves substantial documentation, extended timelines, and ongoing regulatory compliance.
Objective and description
- Objective
To establish privately owned and managed Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), which are licensed and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and to issue debt to licensed SBICs that may provide private equity capital and lo
Eligibility
- Applicant eligibility
Any chartered small business investment company having private capital of not less than $5 million, having qualified management, giving evidence of sound operation, and establishing the need for SBIC financing in the geographic area in which the applicant proposes to operate. For more information, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic#section-header-4.
- Beneficiary eligibility
Individual businesses (single proprietorship, partnership or corporation) which satisfy the established criteria of a small business. For more information, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic#section-header-6.
- Credentials and documentation
A small business investment company must be chartered as a corporation, limited partnership (with individuals, corporation, partnership, or limited liability company as general partner), or limited liability company. Determination is made as to need in area, general business reputation and character of proposed owners and management and probability of successful operations. All loans to, or investments in, small concerns shall be of such sound value as reasonable to assure repayment. For more information, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic#section-header-4.
- Uses of assistance
SBICs provide management and financial assistance on a continuing basis to eligible small business concerns in which they invest. Financial assistance is provided by making long-term loans to these small concerns, and/or by the purchase of debt or equity type securities issued by these firms. Emphasis is on providing assistance to the pioneering, innovating-type concerns developing new products, processes, and markets. Specialized investment companies (SSBICs) organized/licensed under former Section 301(d) of the authorizing statute must restrict eligibility to small concerns owned and operated by individuals whose participation in the free enterprise system has been hampered by social or economic disadvantages. Debentures are issued by leveraged SBICs and guaranteed by SBA for a term generally not to exceed ten years. SBICs may not self-deal, finance "big business," or invest over 10 percent of combined capital in any single small concern.
- Length and time phasing of assistance
Additional information available at SBA's website at https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic#section-header-8.
How to apply
- Preapplication coordination
Preapplication coordination is required. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372. SBIC applicants are strongly encouraged to participate in a pre-screening process. For more information, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic#section-header-8.
- Application procedure
Request information and appropriate forms from SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation. Complete application requirements and submit with required application fee to SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation. For more information, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic.
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Investment funds licensed as SBICs must demonstrate ability to generate enough revenue to pay their SBIC debt obligations on a timely basis and typically have four basic characteristics: 1) Experienced management team with team members having complementary skills and a history of working with each other; 2) Proven investment strategy with track records contain enough successful, income-generating investments to prove an ability to service SBA-guaranteed debt; 3) Track record of success with at least two team members' 10-year track records clearly showing success with investments analogous to the ones proposed for the applicant SBIC; 4) Appealing fund structure that aligns the incentives of the SBIC's managers and investors.
- Award procedure
Applicant is notified by issuance of a license from SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation.
- Time to approval or disapproval
Applying for an SBIC license is generally a three phase process and may take up to two years. In the second phase of the process, applicants are given 18 months to raise the private capital needed to be viable and submit required information for licensing. For more information on the licensing process, please go to: https://www.sba.gov/partners/sbics/apply-be-sbic.
- Appeals
Proponents may reapply at any time.
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 59.011?
Assistance Listing 59.011 is Small Business Investment Companies, a federal grant program run by Small Business Administration.
What is the CFDA number for Small Business Investment Companies?
Its CFDA number is 59.011: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
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