Here are some big milestones we achieved during the second quarter of 2022! In addition to updates about entrepreneurs served, the Centro Business Planning App, access to capital, and one-on-one assistance, you can also see our latest impact statistics on our Overview page.
ENTREPRENEURS SERVED
During the first half of 2022, we served 640 entrepreneurs, and 172 of them graduated from our programs. Through our programs, Capital Hub and app, we are on track to help more than 1,400 entrepreneurs by the end of this year.
We would like to introduce you to Paola, who is the owner of Pao Craft Cocktails in East Palo Alto, California. She is an amazing Latina entrepreneur who went through our programs, and recently graduated from the Advanced Entrepreneurship Program.
ACCESS TO CAPITAL
During the last three months, the Centro Capital Hub helped 17 entrepreneurs access a total of $138,000 in interest-free loans through Kiva and we have a goal of helping 100 entrepreneurs receive $1,000,000 in Kiva loans by the end of the year.
So far this year, we have helped six entrepreneurs access $45,000 in grants and four entrepreneurs access $675,000 in larger small business loans with local CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions).
ONE-ON-ONE ASSISTANCE
Throughout this year, we provided 319 hours of 1-on-1 business coaching sessions to 127 entrepreneurs.
Since 2021, we have provided 1,198 hours of 1-on-1 assistance to entrepreneurs, with most of them located in Oakland, San Jose, Santa Clara, Stockton and other Bay Area counties.
W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION GRANT TO IMPROVE THE APP
We're excited to share that we received a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to invest in our technological infrastructure and scale our capacity to empower underserved entrepreneurs and families to have equal access to economic opportunity.
Thanks to this grant, we will be able to integrate impact surveys onto the Centro Business Planning App to measure an entrepreneur’s progress in real-time and gauge how many entrepreneurs are positively impacted by the app. We will also connect underserved entrepreneurs with more local resources by integrating more microlenders, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and business service organizations onto the app.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch the Centro Business Planning App Demo video here: