CDFI Partners

The Network

Eight engaged CDFI partners through direct relationship-building across the Western North Carolina lending ecosystem. Combined addressable deal flow: 60 to 90 qualifying affordability-declined deals per year at full network participation.

Your loan product. Your borrower relationship. More deals closed.

ARC Fund operates in the background. You originate, underwrite, and service under your existing standards. The rate buy-down is invisible to the borrower.

No Change to Standards

You apply your existing underwriting criteria. ARC Fund does not add documentation requirements or override credit decisions.

Retain Full Revenue

You keep origination fee income and all interest revenue. Service fee is 3% of the subsidy, netted automatically from the quarterly payment.

Expand Your Market

Qualify borrowers who pass your credit review but fail at monthly payment load. ARC Fund bridges that gap without changing your loan terms.

~4.2% Net Annual Yield

On a $150K deal over 60 months, CDFI net income is $31,828 after provision and servicing costs. The ARC subsidy makes your portfolio work harder.

Eight partners. One mission.

Eight CDFI partners confirmed through direct relationship-building across the Western North Carolina lending ecosystem. Together they represent deep coverage of the region: small business lending, Native community finance, BIPOC entrepreneur access, women-owned business development, housing and broadband, and employment social enterprise. Combined addressable deal flow is 60 to 90 qualifying affordability-declined deals per year at full network participation.

Anchor Partner
Mountain BizWorks
Western North Carolina

ARC Fund's anchor CDFI partner. Provides business loans from $1K to $500K across Western North Carolina with approximately 50 loans originated per year.

$1K – $500KLoan Range
~50/yearAnnual Originations
WNCGeography
9-State CDFI
Partner Community Capital
9-State Appalachian Region

Regional CDFI with active Hurricane Helene recovery operations across a nine-state Appalachian footprint. Active lending continues post-emergency relief wind-down.

9 StatesCoverage
Helene RecoveryActive Program
22-County Region
Carolina Small Business Development Fund
Western Women's Business Center

CDFI serving a 22-county region in Western North Carolina with particular depth in women-owned business lending through the Western Women's Business Center.

22 CountiesGeography
Women-Owned FocusSpecialty
BIPOC Focus
Eagle Market Street Development Corporation
Western North Carolina

Engaged lender with specific focus on BIPOC entrepreneur access to capital. Provides business development support alongside lending.

BIPOC EntrepreneursPrimary Focus
Engaged LenderStatus
AI Underwriting
Carolina Community Impact
Western North Carolina

Business lending and housing CDFI piloting AI-assisted underwriting. Combined business and housing lending portfolio with a growing Appalachian footprint.

Business + HousingLending
AI UnderwritingPilot
Social Enterprise
Redefine Alliance (RedF)
Appalachian Region

Employment social enterprise CDFI with a mission focus on job creation and retention in Appalachian communities through business lending.

EmploymentMission Focus
Social EnterpriseModel
Native CDFI
Sequoyah Fund
Eastern Band Cherokee Territory — 7 Counties

Native CDFI serving the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and surrounding communities across the seven westernmost counties of North Carolina.

7 CountiesGeography
EBCI TerritoryPrimary Service Area
Expanding
Institute Capital (ICAP)
Appalachian Region — Expanding

CDFI expanding its Appalachian presence with a combined small business and housing lending focus. ICAP brings institutional capacity and a growing regional network.

Small Business + HousingLending
ExpandingStatus

Four documents. One master agreement.

Partner onboarding requires four standard legal documents. ARC Fund covers the estimated $8,000 to $12,000 in one-time legal costs through the operating budget.

01

Master Rate Buy-Down Service Agreement

The governing document between ARC Fund and the CDFI partner. Defines eligibility criteria, payment terms, reporting requirements, and fee structure.

02

Affordability Decline Certificate

A standardized CDFI document certifying that the borrower qualifies on credit but was declined for affordability at the standard rate. ARC Fund is building this as a field-standard form.

03

Quarterly Portfolio Reporting Template

A standardized report submitted within 15 calendar days of each quarter end listing all active qualifying loans and their status.

04

Data Sharing Agreement

Governs how deal-level outcome data flows into ARC Fund's proprietary dataset. Defines privacy protections, permissioned uses, and ARC's publication rights.

Deal Flow

What ARC Fund qualifies

Minimum Loan Size
$75K
Below $50K the fee advantage is marginal vs. per-deal admin overhead of ~$350
Eligibility Criteria
Passes CDFI credit underwriting
Declined at standard rate for affordability
Qualifies on credit at effective rate payment
Documented via Affordability Decline Certificate
Network Deal Flow
60–90
Qualifying deals per year at full network participation

Every deal builds the dataset.

ARC Fund is building a proprietary deal-level dataset on affordability-declined borrower outcomes in Appalachia. This data has no precedent in published research and will be published through open field-building channels to strengthen the broader CDFI ecosystem.

Moat 1

Deal-Level Dataset

Affordability-declined borrower outcomes in Appalachia. Built through every transaction in the portfolio and published through open field-building channels.

Moat 2

Affordability Decline Certificate

A field-standard document ARC Fund is building to become the national standard for documenting affordability-based declines.

Moat 3

Replication Playbook

Published through national CDFI channels. Open field-building research through ARC Fund 501(c)(3).

Moat 4

AI Scoring Model

Years 3 to 5. Trained on deal-level outcomes from the ARC portfolio. Commercial deployment through Eli Innovation Group, LLC.

ARC Fund is accepting CDFI partner applications now.

Pre-launch development is underway. Complete the expression of interest form and we will follow up with the full partner packet.

Express Interest as a CDFI