PayPal announces Venmo Small Business Grant Program to support small businesses

By Edlyn Cardoza

PayPal Holdings, Inc. announced the Venmo Small Business Grant, a new program for emerging and small businesses that will provide financial grants and mentorship services to 20 new and existing Venmo Business Profile customers. Each 20 selected businesses will receive $10,000 to cover expenses, such as rent or helping to digitise and promote their businesses.

According to a U.S. Bank study, 82% of businesses that failed cited cash flow problems as a factor in their failure. In addition to providing a financial grant, the Venmo Small Business Grant program will provide recipients with access to technical expertise and mentorship on topics such as legal services, financial analysis, digital marketing and more. These resources will be provided in partnership with PayPal community partners, Start Small, Think Big, and Taproot Foundation, along with PayPal and Venmo employees who will provide mentoring, coaching and pro bono services.

“The last two years have been tremendously difficult for small businesses in communities across the United States, like your local dog walker, barber and florist. Nearly 200,000 U.S. businesses have been forced to close because of the pandemic,” said Denise Leonhard, Vice President of Venmo. “Small businesses are vital to a healthy economy and thriving communities, and through the Venmo Small Business Grant we can provide much-needed funding and support to help them build resilience, grow and succeed.”

Given PayPal’s ongoing commitment to advancing racial equity and creating an inclusive economy, the selection process for Venmo Small Business Grants will include special consideration for underrepresented communities. This builds on PayPal’s 2020 commitment of $535 million developed to provide immediate financial relief, sustained support and long-term investment to expand economic opportunity and address the racial wealth gap for Black and underrepresented businesses and communities.

Since the launch of Venmo Business Profiles in February 2021, more than 1.5 million small businesses have created profiles to organise, market, and grow their business cost-effectively. Olive Atelier, a modern reused goods business, said, “Venmo enabled our business to start selling quickly and without friction, which was a major advantage for moving fast and gaining early customer response. We opened a business account and started receiving payments on the same day. Venmo also offers very business friendly rates and fee structures, so we are able to reinvest more profits into growing our brand.”