New Funding Rounds for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development logo

Office of the Small Business Advocate Announces New Funding Rounds for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program.

The additional $1.5 billion expansion, for a total of $4 billion, makes California’s small business relief program the largest in the country.

The funding will support small businesses and nonprofits that have struggled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

New applications will be accepted starting September 9th.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chris.Dombrowski@gobiz.ca.gov
July 29, 2021

Sacramento, CA – California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA), part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), announced today that there will be three additional rounds for the California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program following Governor Gavin Newsom signing into law the largest economic recovery package in state history. 

“With three new rounds to aid equitable economic recovery, California is keeping its promise to small businesses, families, and individuals to push back on the pandemic-induced financial hardships and create the environment for small businesses to come back better than before,” said Tara Lynn Gray, Director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate.

Guided by a principle of equity, the program provides a crucial financial recovery resource to traditionally underserved small businesses and nonprofits. As of today, in the first six funding rounds of the program, 180,939 small businesses and nonprofits have been awarded for a total of $2,034,395,811 in grant funding. Additional data can be found at https://business.ca.gov/coronavirus-2019/.
The additional $1.5 billion expansion, for a total of $4 billion, makes this the largest small business grant program of its kind in the country and provides grants up to $25,000 for small businesses impacted by the pandemic. The three new competitive funding rounds will be conducted by CalOSBA’s selected intermediary, Lendistry. 

In accordance with the signed legislation (SB 151), there will be a closed round for existing eligible applicants who were waitlisted in previous rounds.  These applicants do not need to reapply. There will be at least one additional round for nonprofit cultural institutions. 

We are excited to announce that with the signing of the 2021 state budget, the California Relief Grant Program received an additional $1.5 billion for an additional three rounds of funding!  Please help distribute the following information on the next three rounds:

  • Round 7:  This is a closed round and only available to eligible applicants who were waitlisted in certain previous rounds (new applications will not be accepted during this round).  Waitlisted applicants do not need to reapply. Keep an eye out for any emails from Lendistry with more information.  Round 7 is open now and closes on September 16th. 
  • Round 8:  For nonprofit cultural institutions only.  This round opens on August 27th and will close on Sept 8th.  Eligible nonprofit cultural institutions must complete a new application even if they already applied in Rounds 1, 2, 5, or 6; nonprofit cultural institutions that applied in Round 4 do not need to reapply (Round 4 was specific to nonprofit arts and cultural institutions).  Grants will only be available to nonprofit cultural institutions that did not receive funding in any of the previous rounds.  FYI, the definition of an “Eligible Nonprofit Cultural Institution” can be found on page 4 of the updated Program Overview and Application Guide HERE.
  • Round 9:  For NEW applicants and waitlisted applicants from any of the previous rounds.  This Round opens on September 9th and will close on September 30th.  New applicants will need to apply HERE.  Applicants not selected in any of the previous Rounds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 7 do not need to re-apply and will be automatically moved into Round 9.

To help prepare for the upcoming rounds, please review the updated Program and Application Guide HERE for a detailed overview of the program and step-by-step instructions for the entire process.

Additional Resources:

 

Business Services
Business