Originally published in Next City
Over the past few years, Baltimore small businesses are attracting more capital than you might expect, but the nature and sources of that capital have some profound implications for the future of those businesses. That’s according to “Financing Baltimore’s Growth: Measuring Small Companies’ Access to Capital,” a new report from Johns Hopkins University’s 21st Century Cities Initiative.
The report looks at 34,982 public and private transactions from 2011 to 2015 that totaled $2.7 billion in small business investment. The most recent of those years was an above average year, with $603 million in Baltimore small business investment in 2015.
Equity investments are up in Baltimore, from $50 million a year nine years ago to over $200 million a year in 2015 and 2016. (There was more recent data available for equity investments.) These are important investments for growing small businesses, as they can be more patient investments, requiring no interest payments, and allowing for time and resources to support management, networking, or other efforts that might not bring in direct revenue but do help with overall growth.