Milestones include New Partnership with Verizon; Successful First Year of NYC Funds Finder; New Supplier Development Solutions Features

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 22, 2024 — Next Street, a mission-driven firm that works with public and private institutions to deliver solutions to small businesses, today shared new milestones for Next Street Scale (NXST Scale), its white label “digital front door” platform that connects small businesses to trusted capital tools, advisors, and other essential resources. Coinciding with the one-year milestone of the platform’s launch, Verizon is partnering with Next Street to offer the Small Business Funding Marketplace, powered by NXST Scale. In addition, through a partnership established in 2023 with the NYC Department of Small Business Services with support from Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Kresge Foundation, NXST Scale has been successfully powering the NYC Funds Finder—which will celebrate its own first anniversary this fall.

Verizon Partnership
NXST Scale will power the new Small Business Funding Marketplace which will allow users of the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program, a free resource for small businesses to access courses, expert-led workshops, networking and more, to find funding from a network of responsible capital partners. The Small Business Funding Marketplace is another free tool and resource designed to empower small businesses by providing a carefully curated set of small business loans and grants in one streamlined marketplace. Users will be able to filter across many small business capital providers and financial products to see what they qualify for based on their business characteristics and compare terms across their options.

Each financial product featured on the marketplace undergoes Next Street’s rigorous screening process to ensure it meets the highest standards of responsibility and transparency.*

“Verizon is excited to partner with Next Street to help our dedicated Small Business Digital Ready users learn more about raising the capital they need to thrive,” said Donna Epps, Chief Responsible Business Officer. “This is yet another free resource tailored to small business owners, who really are the heartbeat of our communities.”

NYC Funds Finder
In September 2023, the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) in partnership with Next Street and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth launched NYC Funds Finder (powered by NXST Scale), a marketplace for NYC-based small businesses to access responsible, pre-vetted capital and request free 1-on-1 financing assistance from the SBS team. Since the launch, more than 3,500 small businesses have registered, and of those businesses 71% are BIPOC-owned and 49% are women-owned. Also, NYC Funds Finder has incorporated several key enhancements, designed to make the process easier for small businesses. They include an improved design, the addition of grants, and improved resource matchmaking.

“We see Next Street Scale as an engine that helps to power and integrate public and private resources such as capital, learning, technical assistance, and supplier contracting opportunities as a much needed digital front-door unifying essential tools and services to enable small businesses to find and unlock opportunities enabling them to start, grow, or scale their businesses.” said Michael Roth, Co-CEO, Next Street. “In New York City alone, where NXST Scale is powering the NYC Funds Finder, we’ve shortened the time it takes for a small business owner to connect with an advisor from weeks to minutes. That efficiency is monumental when it comes to small businesses’ ability to do business.”

“We supported NXST Scale from its inception, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to see it thrive in New York City,” said Sandy Fernandez, vice president for social impact for North America at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. “Platforms like NYC Funds Finder show that when affordable capital, technical assistance, and resources for small businesses are combined and effectively executed, they can empower entrepreneurs who might otherwise be overlooked. We’re excited to continue supporting NXST Scale as it grows in New York and beyond.”

New Features and Benefits Aligned Around Supplier Development Solutions
As part of Next Street’s New Economy initiative work which focuses on leveraging public and private investments within clean energy and infrastructure sector and specially how small and midsize businesses stand to benefit through procurement opportunities, Next Street is building a contract-readiness and supplier development solution (SDS) experience as part of NXST Scale. Leveraging existing NXST Scale features such as connecting to industry-specific advisors, capital and knowledge learning, the SDS component will incorporate a contract-readiness diagnostic assessment to help businesses determine the relevant program track (i.e., pre-contract, contract-ready, or growing supplier) that aligns with their current capabilities and future goals.

For more information on Next Street Scale, visit www.nextstreet.com/scale or email us at contact@nextstreet.com.

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*Verizon is not a lender or broker. The Small Business Funding Marketplace is provided by Next Street. Not all applications are approved. All financing decisions are made by 3rd party capital providers. Approval and loan terms vary based on applicant qualifications and by state.