Non-Extractive Financing

DCWF provides loans to democratically owned businesses

Who we lend to:

Traditional banks overlook worker cooperatives because they don’t fit the mold of a conventional business. DCWF was built because we see it differently: cooperatives are the future of a Detroit economy where workers control their labor, share in profits, and keep wealth in the community.

We lend based on viability, not credit history. When a business succeeds, repayment flows back into the fund to finance the next cooperative. If it struggles, we don’t extract payments at the cost of a workers’ livelihoods. That’s what “non-extractive” means in practice, capital that serves people, not the other way around.

Our Priorities:

We work with businesses that:

  • Actively practice democratic decision-making, or intend to

  • Have equitable ownership among members, with the intention to grow member-owners

  • Center Black, Brown, immigrants, and indigenous members, and/or focus on serving people of color

  • Include women and gender non-conforming members, and/or focus on serving them

  • Address a specific community need within Detroit

  • Create meaningful, and living wage jobs, and ownership positions

  • Have demonstrated financial viability and sustainability

Our Process:

This process is hands-on and iterative, typically 5+ months from start to finish. The timeline depends on how quickly your cooperative can develop a strong business model, with our guidance at every stage.

  1. Intake (2-4 weeks) — Submit contact info, a description of your business and governance structure, why you need funding, and any financial history. We assess fit and viability.

  2. Business Model Preparation (8-12 weeks) — In partnership with DCWF, we co-create a business model canvas, financial analysis, and answer questions that test your assumptions (who are your customers, how will you compete, can you scale to profitabilitly).

  3. Loan Approval (4-8 weeks) — DCWF presents your business model to the Seed Commons Sustainability Committee, who evaluates financial sustainability, execution feasibility, capacity, and community impact.

  4. Ongoing Assistance — After funding, we check in regularly, provide training on governance and finances, and help you adapt when challenges come up.

  5. Success & Repayment — Steady revenue for worker-owners, timely repayment that gets reinvested in the next cooperative, and a stronger local economy.

 


Our non-extractive Loan Terms

● No personal guarantees or credit checks necessary — We never go after personal assets to secure a loan.

● Repayment as a percentage of monthly profits — Not a fixed monthly cost. Our interest rate doesn’t compound, and you don’t begin repayment until you break even.

● Ongoing support from DCWF — We only succeed when your business does. Many businesses will continue to working with us for future financing needs.

Our Shared Values

● Cooperative, democratic ownership — Resources move to locally-embedded, collective businesses under community control.

● Productive Sustainability — We investing in financially sound businesses to protect worker-owner interests and the longevity of our fund.

● Maximizing community benefit — Local wealth building with social, economic and environmental upside.

● Radical inclusion — We lend to those who have been historically excluded from capital and provide the technical assistance to close that gap.

● Non-extraction — Repayment only comes from profits we helped create, never extracted from individual owners.