Business financing

Borrow $25,000 to $500,000 at a fixed rate, and keep all of your company

Funded by many investors rather than one bank, and repaid in equal weekly instalments over anything from one month to twelve. Rates start at 12.99% and are set by assessment, not negotiation. You build it in the Bootcamp like every Backers company — and your note funds as soon as investors fill it.

I would rather raise capital by selling equity
Interest, annualized
12.99%–17.99%
Set by assessment — most businesses get 14.99%
Amount
$25k–$500k
One to twelve months, weekly payments

One origination fee, taken from the advance — nothing is billed before you are funded, and there is no penalty for repaying early. Full rates, fees and a worked example.

Get Backers

Four steps to funded

Backers operates this funding portal under the start-up crowdfunding exemption, so the money comes from the public rather than from a lender’s balance sheet. What investors buy is a note — your company’s promise to repay a fixed amount on fixed dates. That is what makes the rate what it is, and it is also why there is an offering document and a short funding window rather than an instant yes.

  1. 1

    You apply

    How much, what the business does, what you turn over, how long you have been trading and what the money is for. Free, and it takes minutes.

  2. 2

    We assess you

    Backers reviews the business and decides whether it can be listed and on what terms. We may decline, and we will tell you why. Nothing is charged either way.

  3. 3

    Investors fund it

    Your note is listed and ordinary Canadians put in from $100 each. Their money sits in trust until it fills, then it is released to you, less the origination fee.

  4. 4

    You repay weekly

    Equal payments come out of your business account every week by pre-authorised debit, starting the week after funding. The last one clears it.

How fast is it really? Days, not months — but not the same afternoon. Your note has to be listed, investors have to fill it, and every investor has two business days to change their mind. If you need money by Friday, start well before Friday.

What we look for

Financing repaid weekly across one, three, six or twelve months only works for a business that already takes money in weekly. This is working capital — stock, a contract, a payroll gap, a piece of equipment that starts paying for itself immediately — not runway.

  • A Canadian company that has been trading, with revenue we can see
  • Enough regular cash coming in to cover the weekly payment comfortably
  • A business bank account the payments can be taken from
  • A clear reason for the money and a date it starts earning

If your company has no revenue yet, this is the wrong instrument and we will say so rather than list a note that weekly revenue cannot visibly cover. Selling equity exists for exactly that company.

What you are signing

Two things, and both are shown to you in full before you agree to either.

  • The note. Your company’s promise to repay a fixed amount on fixed dates. It is the security investors are buying, and its terms are in your offering document before anyone puts money in.
  • The debit agreement. A Payments Canada business pre-authorised debit mandate letting Backers take the agreed weekly amount from your account. It names the exact amount and the exact dates, and you can cancel it — cancelling the debits does not cancel the debt.

What you repay does not stay with Backers. It goes to the investors who funded you, every week, in the proportion each of them put in.

Questions

The terms, and the rule that lets the public fund you.

How much can I borrow, and for how long?+
Between $25,000 and $500,000, over one, three, six or twelve months. Neither bound is arbitrary: below the floor the credit advanced falls outside the commercial credit rules these terms are built on, and the ceiling is the top of the same band — the whole range prices under one rule. A larger note simply needs more investors to fill it, at up to $2,500 each.
What does it cost me?+
An origination fee of 0.99% to 9.99% depending on the length, deducted from the money you receive; interest at your assessed rate — 12.99% to 17.99% annualized, most businesses at 14.99% — which goes to the investors; and a $1.05 servicing fee on each weekly debit. A returned payment costs $15, capped at four charges over the life of the note. Nothing else — no application fee, no access fee, no monthly fee and no early repayment penalty. Every one of those charges is inside the annual rate quoted in your offering document, because Canadian law counts a fee to a borrower as interest whatever it is called.
How is my rate decided?+
By assessment, on stated facts: how long you have traded, how comfortably your weekly revenue covers the payment, what you already owe, whether the note is secured, and whether the principals stand behind it. The same facts always produce the same rate — there is no negotiating and nobody to charm. A business that has repaid a Backers note before scores better the second time.
When does the first payment come out?+
A week after you are funded, then weekly on the same day until it is cleared. Every payment is the same amount, and you get the full schedule — every date and every dollar — before you sign anything.
Do I give up any of my company?+
No. A note is debt. Backers takes no shares, no options, no warrants and no board seat on this path, and neither do the investors. When the last payment clears, the relationship is over.
Do I do the Bootcamp too?+
Yes — every Backers company goes through the rolling 21-day Bootcamp. It is where your listing, numbers and company record are prepared. Business financing is not tied to a LIVE cohort or stage selection: an approved note opens and funds on its own schedule once the required work and Backers review are complete.
Is this a personal loan or a company one?+
It is your company that borrows and your company that repays, and the debits come from a business account. Whether a director is also asked to stand behind it is part of the assessment and is settled before you sign, never afterwards.
What if I cannot make a payment?+
Tell us before the date, not after. We can re-present a returned debit and we would rather work out a plan than default a business that talked to us. But this is real debt owed to real people: a note that is not repaid can be pursued like any other commercial debt, and it can be reported.
Can I repay early?+
Yes, at any time, by paying what is outstanding. Interest stops the day you clear it. The origination fee was already deducted at funding and is not refunded.
Who is actually lending me the money?+
Members of the public who chose to fund your note, from $100 each and up to $2,500 each. Backers is the portal that lists it, holds subscriptions in trust, collects your weekly payments and passes them on. Backers does not lend its own money.
Why is there an offering document for a loan?+
Because a note is a security, and the exemption that lets ordinary people fund it — National Instrument 45-110 — requires one. Investors read what your business does, what the money is for and what could go wrong, sign a risk acknowledgement, and may withdraw within two business days. It is the same protection an equity investor gets.
Does say whether this is a good idea?+
No, and it is not allowed to. A funding portal relying on this exemption may not give advice about the merits of a security. We check whether you meet the rules and we run the process. Whether the financing is right for your business is your call, and whether it is a good risk is the investors’.
Can I do this more than once?+
Yes, subject to the same limits everybody has: up to $1.5M across all distributions your company makes under this exemption in any twelve-month period, and an assessment each time. Repaying one note on time is the best thing you can bring to the next application.

This page is a plain-language summary and not legal or financial advice. The governing text is National Instrument 45-110, and the rules can differ slightly by province.

Start with Get .

Tell us what the money is for and what you turn over — the assessment is free, decisions come back in days, and nothing leaves your account before you are funded.

Get Backers

Not what you were looking for? Raising capital by selling equity is the other way to do this, and it has no repayments.

Backers Securities Inc. operates this funding portal under the start-up crowdfunding exemption and is not registered under securities legislation in any jurisdiction of Canada. We do not advise companies or investors on the merits of an investment, and nothing on this page is a recommendation or a promise that you will raise money or be approved to borrow. Start-ups fail often and investors can lose everything they put in, including money lent under a note. Regulatory information.

Business financing - Backers