Enterprise Fund
A fund for the businesses and entrepreneurs building emerging markets.
DGC Finance provides low-interest capital to companies and individuals with a sound plan and part of the money already in hand. Funding is spread over up to 36 months at a flat 4%, and covers the deficit in a defined project — so a venture can start growing now rather than after years of saving.
Open to trading businesses, and to individuals with a committed contribution and a direction we can verify.
A single facility, set out in full.
DGC Finance invites applications from businesses already in operation, and from individuals with a sound plan who hold part of the required capital. We are not an equity investor, and capital is not provided against intentions alone. What the fund covers is a defined deficit attached to a purpose that can withstand assessment, and to a direction the applicant can evidence.
No partnership is created and no shareholding in the company passes to the lender. The arrangement is a facility in the ordinary commercial sense: principal is advanced, principal together with interest is repaid over an agreed term, and upon settlement the relationship is concluded. Ownership of the business is unaffected throughout.
- Purpose Working capital, inventory, equipment acquisition, or other defined business expenditure
- Repayment Up to 36 months, with instalments distributed across the agreed term
- Interest 4% flat, agreed in advance and fixed for the duration of the term
- Eligibility A trading business, or an individual or new venture holding a portion of the required capital and able to evidence a clear direction for the funds
In partnership with
We finance the deficit, not the entirety.
The sum advanced is always the shortfall between the total cost of a project and the funds the applicant has already set aside for it. We describe this as funding the deficit; in ordinary terms, we bridge the gap.
In most instances that deficit should not exceed 80% of the project budget. The remaining 20% is the responsibility of the borrower. It is the capital you have accumulated yourself, and it is the basis upon which lending proceeds: it establishes that the funds requested complete a genuine undertaking rather than carry one in its entirety.
Once the project is funded, the amount released is not advanced as unrestricted cash. It is applied to the stated purpose alongside the contribution already committed, enabling the business to take possession of the inventory, equipment or capability for which funding was sought.
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01
State the deficit
Provide the total cost of the undertaking and the amount already set aside toward it. The difference, being the deficit, is the sum assessed.
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02
State the intended use of funds
The purpose of the funds must be set out in writing, with the effect upon the business clearly described. Capital is advanced against defined business expenditure, and that definition must exist before assessment begins.
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03
Sign for the deficit; repay over the term
Once approved, the facility is documented at a flat rate of 4% and made repayable over an agreed spread of up to 36 months. The asset acquired, and every return it produces, remains yours.
Your contribution is never transferred to us. It is applied to the purchase, and we finance the balance.
Two kinds of applicant qualify.
We fund businesses that are already trading, and equally individuals with a sound plan who have not yet begun to trade. A trading record is evidence; it is not a precondition. Where the record is absent, the applicant's own capital and the clarity of their direction take its place, and it is upon those grounds that the exposure is assessed and managed.
The condition that is not negotiable is the contribution. Part of the required money must already be held by the applicant. From that starting point, a case without a trading history can be financed, provided the direction is evidenced rather than merely described.
The following matters must be evidenced before terms can be offered:
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01
A trading record, where one exists
For an operating business: registration, trading history and the ordinary documentation of a going concern. Where the applicant is not yet trading, their own records, standing and background are assessed in its place.
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02
Evidence of revenue, where sales exist
For a trading business, sustained sales are what make a scheduled repayment credible and must be shown. For a venture yet to trade, the commercial basis of the plan is examined instead.
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03
A contribution from your own resources
Capital of your own must already have been committed before the remainder is financed. Our function is to complete the funding of a project, not to substitute for it. This is the condition that admits a new venture to consideration at all.
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04
A written statement of direction and use
The purpose of the funds, and the direction of the venture, must be set out in writing. For an applicant without a trading record, this statement is the substance of the case and carries corresponding weight in the assessment.
Applications are assessed by an officer.
There is no automated credit engine at the conclusion of this page. Each application is read by a loan officer and answered directly. Where the deficit, the intended use and the applicant's own contribution are clearly evidenced, assessment is concluded without delay.
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01
Write to our loan officers
Set out the undertaking, the project budget and the funds already set aside. Either use the application form or write to [email protected].
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02
Submit the documentation
Business records where the business is trading, the project budget, evidence of your own contribution, and a written statement of the intended use and direction of the funds.
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03
Receive terms in writing
The deficit amount, the flat rate of 4%, the term of up to 36 months and the instalment figure, stated in writing prior to signature.
Matters commonly raised.
Does DGC Finance take a share of my business?
What precisely does “funding the deficit” mean?
May I borrow if my business has not yet commenced trading?
How is interest calculated?
What documentation is required?
State your deficit. We will advise what can be advanced.
A short message to our loan officers is the most efficient means of establishing whether your business qualifies and what the repayment schedule would be.