LA · State guide

Business loans in Louisiana

Louisiana businesses can reach three separate pools of money: lenders that publish availability here, the state's own financing programs, and federal SBA lending through local participants. We have 6 state programs on file with published terms.

5 cities covered Checked 14 Sep 2026
Get funding in Louisiana See the shortlist

Where to start in Louisiana

No lender here publishes a state-by-state availability list naming LA, so this is the directory ranked by how much each one puts on the record. Absence from a list nobody publishes means nothing.

  1. 100%

    Forward Financing

    $5K – $500K Same day Credit from 500
    9/9 on the record
  2. 100%

    ROK Financial

    $10K – $5M 1-3 days Credit from 500
    9/9 on the record
  3. 100%

    South End Capital

    $1K – $5M Same-day funding available Credit from 650
    9/9 on the record
  4. 89%

    Bizcap US

    Up to $2M Same day Credit from 550
    8/9 on the record
  5. 89%

    ByzFunder

    Up to $500K Same day Credit from 525
    8/9 on the record
  6. 89%

    Fora Financial

    $5K – $1.5M As little as 24 hours Credit from 570
    8/9 on the record
  7. 89%

    Fox Business Funding

    Up to $1M As little as 2 business days Credit from 550
    8/9 on the record
  8. 89%

    National Funding

    $6K – $500K As fast as 24 hours Credit from 600
    8/9 on the record
  9. 89%

    Straight Line Source

    Partner
    $5K – $10M Same day Credit from 500
    8/9 on the record
  10. 78%

    Biz2Credit

    $25K – $2M Decision as fast as 24 hours Credit from 650
    7/9 on the record
  11. 78%

    CAN Capital

    $2K – $400K As fast as the next business day Credit from 600
    7/9 on the record
  12. 78%

    Credibly

    $5K – $10M As fast as 4 hours after approval Credit from 550
    7/9 on the record
published not published Ordered by disclosure, not by what anyone pays us. The score is a count of what a lender publishes, not a rating of the lender.

What Louisiana itself funds

Small Business Loan Guaranty Program (SSBCI)Administered by Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) / Louisiana Economic Development, through participating banks and lenders. Loan guaranties issued to banks and other small business lenders. Eligible uses: "start-up costs, working capital, business procurement, franchise fees, equipment, inventory, as well as the purchase, construction, renovation or tenant improvements of an eligible place of business". Published amounts: "Maximum Guaranty: 80% or $1.5 million max guaranty"; "Minimum Equity Requirement: 15%"; "Guaranty Fee: 0% to 2% of guaranteed amount (determined by risk)"; "Quick Turnaround: for guaranty amounts <$500,000". Eligibility as published: Authorized to conduct business in Louisiana with a Louisiana office; 500 or fewer employees. Job requirements: loans of $100,000 or less must create at least one new permanent job or retain one job; loans over $100,000 must create at least two new permanent jobs.
Collateral Support Program (SSBCI)Administered by Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), through participating lenders. "Establishes pledged cash collateral accounts to enhance loan collateral" for small business borrowers with a collateral shortfall. Published amounts: "Pledged cash of up to $250,000 to secure small business loans of up to $1 million". Eligibility as published: Louisiana small businesses with collateral shortfalls borrowing from a participating lender.
Micro Lending Program (SSBCI)Administered by Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). "Establishes a revolving loan fund to provide access to capital" for very small businesses with start-up or expansion needs. Published amounts: "$1,000 - $100,000" (LED's announcement describes it as "Loans of up to $100,000"). Eligibility as published: Very small Louisiana businesses with start-up or expansion needs.
Seed Capital Program (SSBCI)Administered by Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), through participating equity funds. "Invests capital in your start-up or early-stage business" — "Capital for start-up or early stage businesses". Eligibility as published: Louisiana start-up and early-stage businesses; investment is made through participating equity funds, with investor involvement in the venture.
Louisiana Growth Fund (SSBCI)Administered by Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), through participating equity funds. "Directly invests capital into high growth, scalable startups" based in Louisiana. LED's announcement describes the venture capital track as "Capital for existing small businesses". Eligibility as published: Louisiana-based high-growth, scalable startups.
Bonding Assistance ProgramAdministered by Louisiana Economic Development (LED), with the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority and surety partners. Guarantees supplied to sureties so small contractors can obtain "access to quality bid, payment and performance bonds at reasonable rates from surety companies" for public or private construction work. Published amounts: "25% of contract price or $100,000, whichever is less, in bond guarantee to surety"; the default mitigation fund provides recipients "up to $40,000 of that guarantee, or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less". Eligibility as published: Applicants must be "certified Small and Emerging Business Development (SEBD) Program clients that require bid, payment or performance surety bonds." The program requires "at least seven business days to finalize all of the needed paperwork from the surety company and the bank issuing the bond guarantee."

Federal money behind these programs

Louisiana was allocated up to $113.0 million under the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative, which is what funds most of the credit enhancements above. SSBCI money reaches businesses through participating lenders rather than from the state directly, so the application still goes through a bank or a CDFI.

What we could not confirm

Louisiana's SSBCI programs are described on a dedicated site, louisianassbci.com, which is LED's official SSBCI resource hub but is not on a .gov domain; the LED announcement at opportunitylouisiana.gov corroborates the same five program names and amounts. LED's public-facing domain is opportunitylouisiana.gov (formerly louisianaeconomicdevelopment.com). An older LED site, ledbizloan.com, still describes a "Small Business Loan and Guaranty Program"; it was not treated as current and is not listed here, because the current program of that name is the SSBCI Small Business Loan Guaranty recorded above. Louisiana uses parishes rather than counties; the county field carries the parish name. Cities: threshold is 2020 census population >= 20,000 (slightly below the ~25,000 target so the list is not too thin), giving 15 municipalities. Only incorporated municipalities and consolidated governments are included; large census-designated places such as Metairie (143,507), Marrero, Chalmette, Laplace and Prairieville are unincorporated and excluded. Next below the cut: Hammond (19,584), Zachary (19,316), Natchitoches (18,039), Gretna and Opelousas (15,786).

Cities in Louisiana

Baton RougeLafayetteLake CharlesNew OrleansShreveport

More for Louisiana

Question and answerDo I get a disclosure sheet before I sign business financing? In eleven states, yes, though what is on it and when it arrives varies a great deal. Everywhere else you get whatever you insist on. Question and answerDoes my state cap the interest rate on a business loan? There is usually a cap in the statute book and usually an exemption that removes it before it reaches you. Question and answerIs a merchant cash advance legal in my state? No state has banned the product. What differs between states is how much a funder has to tell you first and whether anyone has to be registered. GuideLouisiana wrote revenue-based financing into the statute books, and wrote usury out of it Act 198 of 2025 added R.S. 9:3137.10. It requires six written disclosures at or before consummation and says the amounts charged are not interest. GuideSmall business funding in Louisiana: liens go to the parish, and the state never adopted UCC Article 2 Louisiana's civil law heritage produces a UCC filing system unlike any other state's, and it will catch out an unfamiliar funder. GuideWhich states make a funder show you the numbers before you sign Eleven states have commercial financing disclosure regimes on the books as of 2026. Only two of them make the funder state an APR.

Business funding in Louisiana — common questions

Can I get business funding in Louisiana?

Yes. 12 funders in this directory serve businesses in Louisiana, and 0 of them name Louisiana explicitly in their published availability rather than being included by default.

Does Louisiana require lenders to disclose the cost of business financing?

Louisiana's position is set out on this page. As of 2026 only a small number of states require a commercial financing disclosure, and in the rest you will not receive one — which means you have to ask for the total dollar cost, the term and every fee in writing yourself.

Are there state programmes for small business capital in Louisiana?

3 state-level programmes are recorded here with a link to the administering agency. Programmes open and close, so confirm the current position on the agency's own site before relying on one.

Is a merchant cash advance legal in Louisiana?

Commercial financing generally sits outside the consumer credit rules most people have heard of, and most state usury caps do not reach business-purpose transactions. What varies is disclosure, broker registration and lender licensing. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

How do I check for liens filed against my business in Louisiana?

Through Louisiana's UCC filing office, which is named on this page. Search your exact registered entity name — a filing under a slightly different name will not come back, and neither will a stale one nobody terminated.

Which lenders will not fund in Louisiana?

Where a funder publishes an excluded-states list, this page shows it. Many publish nothing, which is not the same as being available — it means you have to ask.

Does being based in Louisiana change what I pay?

Not directly in most cases. What changes is what you are told before you sign, and what recourse you have afterwards, both of which depend on your state's rules and on the jurisdiction clause in the contract.

What should I have ready before applying?

Three months of business bank statements, your time in business from a verifiable date, average monthly deposits, your entity's good standing, and a clear figure for what you need and what for.

How current is this page?

Every figure carries the date it was checked. Where a check has passed its review date the page says so rather than presenting as current.