RALEIGH – Andrea and Charles Inokon are a Match.com success story. The two met on the platform in 2011, when the concept was still novel.
“This was when you used your PC to fill out your profile,” Charles told me.
The two got serious pretty quickly, after an intense third date to find ugly Christmas sweaters was derailed by an armed man at the mall they were visiting.
“So we did not get our sweaters,” Andrea said. “But we went to a restaurant. We just started talking and decided to become official,” she recalled. “It definitely accelerated our relationship.”
So much so that when they separated over New Year’s a month later, Charles drove Andrea to the airport.
“If you know anything about LA,” said Charles, “you have to love someone to drive them to the airport.”
Now, 12 years and 2 kids later, the couple is finding a new way to partner. The two are working with Charles’ sisters Cheryl and Angel Inokon to build Cadence Cash, a company to support minority and women-owned businesses in acquiring capital.
'Friendly' Funding
Small business funding has traditionally been a challenge for minority and women-owned businesses, a problem that has remained despite awareness of the issue. According to the US Small Business Administration data for 2022, only 3.9% of total funding went to Black or African Americans, vs. 42.4% of funding to White applicants. A further 25% went to applicants who declined to share their race.
Meanwhile, in the same period, majority-female-owned businesses represented 14.8% of distributed funds, vs. 71.6% of funding for male-owned businesses. (13.6% of funding went to companies "Female owned 50% or less.")
Business loans are vital for small businesses seeking to grow or make it through periods of short-term financial stress. According to a Forbes article, a recent Federal Reserve survey reported 59% of small businesses identified as being in “fair or poor” financial condition.
These are the stats the Cadence Cash team wants to help address.
“I think for us it really is about making it fast, making it easy, but also giving good terms,” said Andrea. “Honestly, making it friendly.”
“A lot of times when small businesses, especially women and minority small businesses do get loans, it's on worse terms, it's on a higher interest rate, it’s a lower amount than was asked for,” she continued. “And so, for us, it really is at the heart of this that the terms are friendly. We're really helping to support these companies to help them thrive and grow.”
The 'Lifeblood' of Business
Charles and Andrea have backgrounds that could have been tailor-made to bring them to this moment. Charles has 30 years of experience in finance, law, and accounting, and Andrea brings a career in law, specifically working on private equity and hedge funds.
Over the years, Charles says, he noticed that many of the small contractors he worked with had three major pain points. “One was cash flow. The second was access to capital. And the third was being able to be approved for loans at banks.”
These problems were familiar. Both Charles and Andrea also have family experience with entrepreneurship. Both of Andrea’s grandfathers were serial entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Charles and his sisters watched their parents start and run their own businesses.
“As children we worked in their businesses. We saw them struggle with the same three pain points.”
Charles explained the name - Cadence Cash - came from the idea that cash is the lifeblood of any business.
“‘Cadence’ is the heartbeat for small entrepreneurs who need cash, a cadence of cash to help them run their businesses.”
Building an Inclusive Ecosystem
Charles pitched the company at Venture Connect in March and joined his start-up colleagues at Grep-a-palooza earlier this month. The need for more funding in the system is a message he’s heard repeatedly in the Triangle start-up community.
“We need more access to capital in this ecosystem. That's the only way we're going to get to better inclusivity,” said Charles. “And in particular, we need capital at the stage where companies are moving from pre-seed to seed. That's where there's, I think, a real gap. And so we built Cadence to fill that gap and to give small entrepreneurs a bridge between zero and their first round of venture capital funding.”
https://maritdigital.com/2023/03/30/what-a-startup-show-behind-the-scenes-at-the-biggest-ever-venture-connect/
The company is still in start-up mode, with an app in beta and customer discovery ongoing, however, the team already has visions for extending services. Early feedback has led to the recent addition of micro-loans to the company offering, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 Current access is invite-only, but those interested can sign-up on the website.
In addition to funding, the company wants to help its small business clients with valuable insights. Charles recently offered a LinkedIn event on Securing Grant Funding, and there are more to follow on contracting, credit, and other business coaching.
“When we're lending to a company, we're de-risking it by teaching them good financial hygiene,” said Charles.
The couple also wants to develop a supportive community for those who need it.
“We're trying to build out our network so that hopefully, as these companies grow, and they get to say, a seed stage, we can make friendly introductions, help them continue along the path,” said Andrea. “Those words ‘community’ and ‘friendly’ are actually really at the heart of who we are.”
