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Flexible Capital Fund

...invests in growing Vermont companies that fill a gap, or strengthen the supply chain in sustainable agriculture and food systems, forest products, renewable energy, clean technology, and other natural resource sectors.

The Flexible Capital Fund, L3C (Flex Fund) provides creative financing in the form of near equity capital (subordinated debt and royalty financing) to Vermont’s growth-stage companies in sustainable agriculture and food systems, forest products, and clean technology sectors. As the only licensed lender in Vermont to provide royalty financing, the Flex Fund invests in Vermont companies that strengthen or fill a gap in their supply chain. The Flex Fund is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) lender, which provides advisory and development resources to help portfolio companies grow.

Learn more about where the Flex Fund (and other organizations that provide funding) fit along Vermont’s capital continuum.

Download Vermont’s Capital Continuum

“We are committed to helping our portfolio companies grow and stay in Vermont so they can create quality jobs and sustainable products and services. Ultimately, our aim is to support the businesses that can accelerate the rate at which we move towards healthy food systems, renewable energy, and climate change solutions.”

– Janice St. Onge, Flex Fund President

Background

The Flexible Capital Fund, L3C (Flex Fund) is a low profit, limited liability company launched in 2011 by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, a non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate Vermont’s green economy.

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Financing

The Flexible Capital Fund (Flex Fund) offers Vermont growth-stage companies in sustainable agriculture and food systems, forest products, and clean technology sectors.

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Portfolio

The Flex Fund investments support portfolio companies which will strengthen their existing markets across the value chain – now and for future generations.

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News & Press

+ Ericka Weik and Michael Zebrowski in front of a satellite at the Up End This headquarters in Johnson. Zebrowski needed capital and reached out to Janice St. Onge, president of the Flexible Capital Fund last year. The Flex Fund provided Up End This with a $300,000 loan and brought in Northern Community Investment Corporation in St. Johnsbury as a participant in the loan for an additional $150,000. Photo by Erica Houskeeper.

Through Flood and Pandemic, Entrepreneur Michael Zebrowski is Determined to Up End the Affordable Housing Crisis

Being an entrepreneur takes grit, determination, and vision, all of which Michael Zebrowski, founder of...
+ Photo by Isora Lithgow Creations.

An Impact Fund Investor’s Musings: Lessons Learned from a Decade of Investing in Rural Communities

By Janice St. Onge, President, Flexible Capital Fund, L3C Since 2011, I’ve been running the...
+ A trained chef in Kenya, Damaris Hall, right, emigrated to the United States in 1991 with her now husband and business partner, Mel. In 2016, the couple launched Global Village Foods in Quechee. Photo by Erica Houskeeper.

Pioneers of African Cuisine, Global Village Foods Finds Community in Vermont

“If you look online, you can find Chinese food, Italian food, and so many ethnic...
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In accordance with federal laws and U.S. Department of the Treasury policy, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Director, Office of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20220; call (202) 622-1160; or send an e-mail to: crcomplaints@treasury.gov.