Bridge Loans for Impact

We provide fast and flexible bridge loans to impact-first companies.

In a Cash Crunch?

Open Road is committed to supporting you on your journey to impact.

Our loans eliminate funding delays and accelerate growth for impact-first companies.

Whether it’s closing a Series A round or supply chain delays, we provide fast, flexible, and affordable financing in the form of short-term bridge loans that ensure impact companies can continue to scale their growth without interruption.

An Open Road Loan Keeps Impact on Track

Funding Derailments

Delays in investment closing
Short-term working capital needs
Lack of access to capital in specific markets
Backlog of high-quality purchase orders or contracts

Open Road Loan

Impact Kept on Track

Continue to service customer or beneficiary base
Keep on-time payment of staff salaries
Avoid inventory stockouts
Maintain momentum for entering new markets
Ensure steady resources
Enable partnership opportunities requiring upfront investments

Our Criteria

Open Road provides rapid access to bridge financing to “unstick” impact capital across geographies and sectors. The projects we fund must meet the following criteria.

Impact First

Short-Term

Funding Need

Accountability

The organization is impact first, meaning their products or services explicitly solve a social need at scale, and the company explicitly tracks this outcome.

Meets Criteria

A fast-growing startup with a mission to deliver reliable, affordable, renewable-based grid-quality electricity to remote and underserved communities. The company is scaling an innovative solar mini-grid business model to provide energy access to over 25,000 people.

Does Not Meet Criteria

A wearable tech company with a vision to provide athletes with precise data to enhance their performance aims to expand its reach across U.S. college campuses.

The organization is experiencing a short-term financing need due to an externally caused delayed capital event.

Meets Criteria

A company secured a large contract from a government entity to expand its impact, but the contract only pays in arrears. The company requires upfront capital to service the contract. Once the contract begins paying out, the company will reach profitability and be able to attract commercial debt to serve its long-term capital needs.

Does Not Meet Criteria

A company has a cash flow mismatch between when they are obligated to pay suppliers and when receivables are converted to cash.

Our short-term bridge loan can fully solve the funding gap, enabling the company to continue to scale.

Meets Criteria

A company has a cash gap and needs $500k to cover its operating expenses for the next 3 months as it waits for its financing round to close.

Does Not Meet Criteria

A company is raising a financing round and needs $1M to complete the round.

The organization can fully repay the loan.

Meets Criteria

A company is raising a Series A and has a binding term sheet from a lead investor. The round is fully committed, but legal due diligence and paperwork are delaying disbursement.

Does Not Meet Criteria

A company is raising a Series A and is in early-stage conversations with a few potential leads. While there appears to be strong interest, the round has not been priced, and the Investment Committee from the preferred lead has not taken place.

Application Process

We accept applications on a rolling basis and follow a proven screening process designed for speed. Our full process, from inquiry to decision, typically takes four to six weeks.

1. Inquiry Submission

The process begins when you submit an inquiry through our Salesforce platform.

2. Initial Review

A member of our Investments Team will review the submitted inquiry and determine eligibility.

3. Initial Call

We will schedule an initial conversation to learn more about your situation and will continue our internal review.

Submission

Potential partners will be invited to complete a short online application.

5. Review & Revise

A member of our team will work with you to refine your application and prepare for investment committee review.

Final Call & Decision

Potential partners will join the investment committee for a final interview and a decision will be made within one week.

Need Funding?

We’ll help you through it.

Our investment strategy is designed to keep impact first. We seek to maximize social returns while meeting financial requirements. We exist to serve the social sector, not the other way around. If you think that you are eligible for an Open Road loan, please submit an initial inquiry.

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Case Studies

Mr. Green Africa

Mr. Green Trading Africa (MGA) is a for-profit start-up company located in Nairobi, Kenya. It was founded in 2014 by two entrepreneurs, Keiran Ni...

Jibu

Lack of meaningful business ownership opportunities and massive under-employment trap most people in emerging markets to an undesirable standard ...

Prograin Organic

Prograin Organic operates in the cultivation, processing, storing and trading of organic grains, seeds and pulses in the Republic of Moldova.

Loans: Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for a loan? What are your terms?

Open Road serves both nonprofits and for-profit impact companies with a focus on climate change and inequality reduction, globally. Our funds eliminate impact and climate funding delays through fast, flexible, short-term bridge financing—enabling impact ventures, fund intermediaries, and project developers to overcome systemic bottlenecks that threaten to derail their work or delay time to impact.

Terms:

Average loan size: $500,000, max $1M

Interest rates: 10-12%

Average term: 3-12 months

Do you charge interest? Why?

Loan interest rates range from 10-12%, depending on the relative risk of repayment. The average loan term is 9 months. By charging interest, Open Road is able to preserve the value of its capital in the face of inflation, as well as cover expected losses. Open Road Ventures is not designed to generate profits, and Open Road Impact Fund distributes below-market returns to investors.

Who are the investors?

Open Road Alliance and Open Road Ventures are solely and privately funded by its Founder, Dr. Laurie Michaels. The Open Road Impact Fund is funded by a variety of investors.