The SBA has announced their Early Stage SBIC Initiative, which will commit up to $1 billion in SBA guaranteed leverage over a five year period to selected early stage venture funds. For more information on the Early Stage Fund, check out this overview, and follow this link for the "Call for early stage fund managers." If you’d like additional background information on the SBIC program, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.