NOW ACCEPTING COHORT & MENTORSHIP PROGRAM APPLICATIONS
Download our Cohort Brochure for More Info.
Rolling admissions until 15 applicants are selected.
Next Cohort Starts: May 22, 2025
Application deadline: May 8, 2025
Only 8 spots left!
2025 Program Offerings
Finance Matchmaker Program*
*Program is open to Massachusetts and Rhode Island based companies
ElevAsian is piloting this program with Nectar Community Investments, which is a Massachusetts based Community Development Finance Institution. Nectar invests, lends, and finances accounts receivables. Once ElevAsian road tests this relationship it will invite other financiers into its matchmaker program. The following is a description of Nectar’s investment programs.
Patient Capital Opportunities
Through the Business Equity Investment Fund, Nectar invests in and purchases equity in your business to support your long-term growth and development. Our investment goes beyond dollars: we’re your strategic partner, offering resources and experience to help you expand, all while giving you the freedom to run your business the way you want.
With competitive terms, cash flow freedom and a genuine interest in your success, we’re working to generate growth and create long-term impact.
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1. Business Loan Criteria
- Amount: $3,000-$500,000
- Terms: 1 to 7 years
- Interest: Competitive rates
- For startups or expanding businesses
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2. Accounts Receivable Loan Criteria
Through our partner Liquid Capital, we offer accounts receivable financing that gives your business faster access to capital and more predictable cash flow.
Details
- Amount: $100,000+
- Your loan is based almost exclusively on the credit quality of your customers.
- Current Rate: 1.50% to 2.20% per invoice per month
- For businesses with $200,000+ annual revenues seeking to bridge the cash flow gap to address payroll and other expenses.
- Financing is based on the credit quality of the invoicing counterparty, e.g., a commercial corporate or governmental entity.
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3. Business Equity Investment Fund Criteria
- An established business or startup on a growth trajectory
- Generating positive revenue
- Making a positive impact in the community
Details
- Amount: Up to $750,000
- Terms: Up to 10 years
- Mission: Alignment with business owners
- Type of Equity: Preferred
- Percentage Ownership: Valuations to be determined on individual company basis
- Value: Patient capital that purchases company shares (equity) to support growth
Glynn Lloyd
Executive Director At Nectar
Glynn has been an innovator in transformative urban economic development for more than 30 years. As Nectar’s Executive Director, he leads our efforts to invest in small businesses and create innovative residential programs that advance environmental justice and stable housing. Glynn also serves on the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Economic Development Planning Council, which is responsible for crafting a strategic plan to guide Massachusetts economic development policy over the next four years, and the Energy Transformation Advisory Board, which helps guide and advise the work of the Massachusetts Office of Energy Transformation. Prior to this role, Glynn was the founding Executive Director of the Foundation for Business Equity (FBE), one of our legacy organizations. There, he oversaw our unique approach to truly scaling up local Black and Latino enterprises to close the racial wealth gap.
Once FBE merged with Mill Cities Community Investments to make broader impacts in addressing New England’s wealth gap, Glynn became executive director of the combined entity — now known as Nectar.
Glynn was also the founder of City Fresh Foods, a nationally-renowned food service business. Over 20 years, Glynn grew the business an average of 15 percent annually to reach an eight-figure revenue. He is also a founder of the Urban Farming Institute (UFI), a community-led nonprofit supporting the development of the urban farming industry in Massachusetts, and helped establish the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA), a coalition of black business, community, religious and labor leaders working together to improve economic indicators in the Black community.
Female CEO Leadership Group Leader Mai Ton
The idea of forming a female CEO support group came from alumnae, who were looking for an intimate community that understands the unique challenges that female entrepreneurs encounter. The purpose of our female CEO support group is to co-create a safe space to understand each other’s businesses at a deeper level and support its member’s efforts to grow their businesses.
ElevAsian staff schedules and facilitates regular meetings of 6-8 ElevAsian female CEOs. Each meeting begins with brief progress updates from each member and a powerpoint presentation by 2 members of the group. Meetings are hosted by members of the group and typically feature a potluck dinner.
Mai Ton has been a People Leader at ten different technology startup companies in San Francisco and New York City. She formerly led the People team at Fabric, Kickstarter, White Ops, HelloSign, OneLogin, RichRelevance and Trulia. She's created her own company, and founded EMP HR Consulting to help more companies cross the chasm. She is the author of a book called Come into My Office: Stories from an HR Leader in Silicon Valley.
Over the course of her career, Mai built what is called the operating system for all 9 companies by hiring the team, creating the recruiting flow and architecting the HR roadmap, and processes for these ten global companies. She has handled 1 IPO, 9 M&A transactions, 1 divestiture and 5 CEO replacements. Mai has won 14 awards for her companies, and was named to the list of the Top 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business, Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology, Top 50 Tech Leaders, and Top 20 Tech Trailblazers.
Mai is a global expert on HR operating systems, and her writing has appeared in the Economist, The New York Times, and Time magazine.
Mentorship Program 2.0
The purpose of this program is to support alumni as they strive to implement what they learned during the cohort program to build their businesses. Alumni can continue to work with their cohort program mentor or select a new mentor based on the evolving needs of their businesses. In this program mentors play a deeper role in the daily operations of the business, which might include participating in meetings with prospective financiers and partners as an example.
ElevAsian has created a skills inventory to help alumni fine tune the selection of their mentors. Participating mentors rate their skills in all facets of operating and building businesses on a 0-3 scale with 3 indicating deep expertise.