TopFunders Small Business Funding Study
Nearly half of funding applications ask for more than $50,000, while more than half report monthly revenue under $10,000. Almost 45% put their own credit below 600. The first two groups overlap heavily: 44.9% of applications for more than $50,000 come from businesses reporting under $10,000 a month.
This study covers more than 1,000 funding applications from US small businesses. Everything here is self-reported by the applicant, none of it is verified, and all of it describes businesses that applied for funding rather than businesses that received it.
How much do small businesses ask for?
Just over half ask for $50,000 or less, and roughly one in five ask for $100,000 or more. Applicants choose from ranges rather than entering a figure, so these are shares above and below a band edge.
| Requested amount | Share |
|---|---|
| $100,000 or more | 22.5% |
| $75,000 or more | 30.9% |
| More than $50,000 | 48.3% |
| $50,000 or less | 51.7% |
The split is close to even, which is itself worth noting. Small business funding is often described as a market for small tickets, and roughly a third of these applications are for $75,000 or more.
What revenue do applicants report?
53.4% report monthly revenue under $10,000. That is the single largest band by a wide margin, and it sits alongside the amounts above.
| Monthly revenue (self-reported) | Share |
|---|---|
| $0 to $9,999 | 53.4% |
| $10,000 to $19,999 | 21% |
| $20,000 to $49,999 | 11.4% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 6.6% |
| $100,000 to $199,999 | 4.3% |
| $200,000 or more | 3.4% |
Read against the amount table, this is the central tension in small business demand. Most online lenders look for $10,000 a month or more before they will consider an application, and a majority of applicants report less than that. Larger requests do come from somewhat larger businesses: of applications for $50,000 or less, 61.3% report under $10,000 a month, against 44.9% of applications for more than $50,000. But that still leaves close to half of the largest requests coming from businesses below the revenue level most online lenders look for.
These figures are self-reported at the point of application and are not verified against bank statements.
What credit do applicants report?
44.6% place themselves below 600, and a further 32.2% put themselves in the 600 to 649 band. Applicants select a range; there is no credit pull.
| Credit (self-reported) | Share |
|---|---|
| Very poor (under 550) | 13.2% |
| Poor (550 to 599) | 31.4% |
| Fair (600 to 649) | 32.2% |
| Good (650 to 719) | 16.4% |
| Excellent (720+) | 6.8% |
More than three quarters of applicants place themselves under 650.
What are they borrowing for?
Expansion leads, with equipment close behind. Together they account for roughly two thirds of all applications.
| Purpose | Share |
|---|---|
| Business expansion | 34.4% |
| Equipment purchase | 29.0% |
| Other | 13.9% |
| Debt consolidation | 7.6% |
| Business or franchise acquisition | 7.2% |
| Real estate or commercial mortgage | 4.6% |
| Property remodeling | 3.1% |
Equipment at 29.0% is the figure most at odds with how this market is usually described. Business lending coverage tends to treat cash flow gaps as the default reason a small business borrows. In this data, close to three in ten applications are for a specific asset, which is a materially different kind of borrowing: the purchase can often secure its own financing.
Which industries apply?
Transportation is the largest identifiable industry at 14.5%, ahead of construction and retail. "Other" is the application's own catch-all option rather than a long tail of small industries.
| Industry | Share |
|---|---|
| Other | 21.8% |
| Transportation | 14.5% |
| Construction | 11.1% |
| Retail trade | 8.6% |
| Food services | 7.7% |
| Arts and entertainment | 6.1% |
| Real estate | 4.8% |
| Healthcare | 4.6% |
| Agriculture | 4.1% |
| Technology services | 3.5% |
| All smaller industries combined | 13.3% |
Twenty distinct industries are represented.
Where are they?
Three states account for nearly 30% of applications between them. Only states with a large enough sample to report are shown.
| State | Share |
|---|---|
| California | 11.4% |
| Florida | 9% |
| Texas | 8.9% |
| New York | 6% |
| Georgia | 5.4% |
| Missouri | 3.9% |
| Illinois | 3.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 3.1% |
| Michigan | 3% |
The three largest states in the table are also the three largest by business population, so the concentration at the top is unsurprising.
Which industries borrow for equipment?
Transportation is the clearest case. Equipment purchases account for 6.7% of all applications on their own, which is 46.3% of every transportation application.
| Industry | Expansion | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 3.6% | 6.7% |
| Construction | 4% | 3.1% |
| Retail trade | 3.7% | 2.5% |
| Food services | 2.6% | 2.4% |
Shares are of all applications, not within each industry. Transportation is the only one of these where equipment outweighs expansion, and it does so by almost two to one.
What this study cannot tell you
Three limits are worth stating plainly, because they bound every figure above.
It measures demand, not outcomes. These are businesses that applied. The study says nothing about how many were approved, how many were funded, on what terms, or by whom. Being matched with a funding partner is an introduction and not an approval, and no figure here should be read as a success rate.
The revenue and credit figures are what applicants say about themselves. There is no credit pull and no document check at application.
The bands are the application's bands. Amount, revenue and credit are all chosen from ranges, so the data can answer "how many asked for more than $50,000" and cannot answer "what is the average request". Any threshold that is not a band edge cannot be derived from it.
Methodology
More than 1,000 funding applications from US small businesses, submitted through TopFunders.ai. Every figure is a share of the applications that answered that question.
- Self-reported and unverified. Revenue and credit are selected by the applicant at the point of application. There is no credit pull and no document check.
- Applicants, not funded businesses. Nothing here measures approvals, funding, or lender performance. Being matched with a funding partner is an introduction, not an approval.
- US only. Internal test submissions and affiliate-sourced applications are excluded.
- Not deduplicated. The base counts applications rather than distinct businesses. A small share, under one in ten, are repeat submissions from a business that had applied before.
- Ranges, not figures. Amount, revenue and credit are all chosen from bands, so amount shares are reported above or below a band edge only.
- TopFunders.ai is not a lender and not a loan broker. It introduces applicants to lending partners; the partner makes every credit decision.
- Rounding means a column may not total exactly 100.
Quote this
Five figures, free to cite with attribution.
- 48.3% of small business funding applications are for more than $50,000.
- 53.4% of applicants report monthly revenue under $10,000.
- 44.6% of applicants self-report a credit score below 600.
- 29.0% of applications are to buy equipment, second only to business expansion at 34.4%.
- 14.5% of applications come from transportation businesses, the largest identifiable industry in the data.
Source: TopFunders.ai Small Business Funding Study.
For anything further, a TopFunders.ai spokesperson can be reached through the contact page.