The Kresge Foundation has announced the launch of Ebiara, a new $11 million commitment to fund designed to provide early-stage capital and process assistance to minority-owned development companies in Detroit.

Launched by Invest Detroit in partnership with consulting firm URGE Imprint, with a $10 million program-related investment from Kresge’s Social Investment Practice, Ebiara provides a lower cost of capital and is more inclusive of earlier-stage firms. A loan fund with wrap-around support, it relies on three primary tools: a low-cost alternative to equity to act as early-stage capital for the developer, coaching and technical assistance to help navigate city processes and ensure project completion, and access to assets. In its first two-year pilot phase, Ebiara plans to work with approximately 10 developers and support between $100 million and $200 million in new development activity.

“Ebiara exists to help combat the challenges that minority developers face growing their business–from accessing capital to securing talent and resources,” said URGE Imprint CEO and chief strategist Roderick Hardamon. “Ebiara wants to be a partner for real estate development firms who want to scale their impact in Detroit. While the ecosystem has evolved to lower the barrier of entry into real estate development, more work is needed to crack the code on scalability.”

“Detroit’s minority-led developers need better access to capital on their balance sheets to compete and bid on public projects and community development work in the Detroit neighborhoods where they live and work,” said Tosha Tabron, a social investment officer at the Kresge Foundation. “The status quo of limited access to capital is unacceptable. It significantly reduces these developers’ ability to accumulate wealth and impedes their efforts to move Detroit neighborhoods forward. This fund directly addresses both of those issues and is one of several city-based funds that Kresge is working with partners like Invest Detroit to build.”

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