NOLA Business Alliance
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Location |
New Orleans, LA |
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|---|---|---|
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Build to Scale Program |
Capital Challenge |
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Project Name |
OurNOLA - Democratizing Investment for New Orleans Scalable Companies |
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Award Amount |
Federal Share |
Local Match |
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$400,000 |
$400,000 |
Under the OurNOLA Fund project, the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA), city of New Orleans, and a host of public and private sector entities will democratize investment access for millennials and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), while bolstering promising, scalable company outcomes. NOLABA will legally structure an equity-based investment fund, launch a national marketing appeal to create the first national pipeline of thousands of non-accredited investors, and deploy $10 million in capital to a minimum of six company investments in New Orleans, Louisiana. OurNOLA is modeled on key traits of mutual and community investment funds. OurNOLA will invest in companies that enhance real estate growth, thereby healing decades of commercial corridor disinvestment and decay. OurNOLA will also address the investment needed by founders of color in green, bio, renewable, and digital technology industries—sectors that are key to rebalancing the New Orleans current economic overreliance on oil, gas, maritime, and hospitality. The project will leverage New Orleans’ brand as a destination hot spot, its strong alumni/expatriate network, and new connections to national angel and venture capital (VC) firms. Ultimately, OurNOLA will grow beyond New Orleans and set a new model for non-accredited economic development investment nationally.