LENDISTRY SECURED A $100 MILLION DEBT FACILITY FROM KEYBANK, LAUNCHED FINANCING FOR WALMART MARKETPLACE SELLERS, AND THEN ADDED ANOTHER $100 MILLION FOR AIRPORT BUSINESSES — PROVING A MISSION-DRIVEN LENDER CAN SCALE NATIONWIDE.
Everett Sands built Lendistry to solve a problem he watched for decades in banking: capital was becoming less accessible and more expensive for small businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and rural entrepreneurs. Founded in 2015, the Los Angeles-based, minority-led fintech Community Development Financial Institution has used technology and community partnerships to deploy more than $10 billion in its first ten years. That scale — and the discipline behind it — is why stories like Black entrepreneurs building worldwide keep pointing to access to capital as the difference between an idea and a business that can hire, stock inventory and grow.
A $100 Million Vote of Confidence From KeyBank
On December 11, 2025, Lendistry announced it had received a $100 million debt facility with a $400 million accordion from KeyBank Specialty Finance Lending. The capital supports Lendistry’s conventional, non-SBA 7(a) lending product for small businesses nationwide — flexible funding for owners as they grow, uncover opportunities and serve their communities.
“Small businesses have a lot to suit up for with the World Cup, the Olympics and more coming to the U.S. in the near future,” Everett Sands said in the announcement. “This capital from KeyBank will help us provide those businesses and entrepreneurs across the country with the support they need to grow, meet opportunities and serve their communities.” The deal deepened a relationship that began in 2023, when Lendistry obtained a $20 million line of credit from KeyBank’s Community Development Financial Institutions Group.
Financing Where Sellers Already Do Business
Weeks earlier, on October 16, 2025, Lendistry announced it was now offering financing to small business sellers in the Walmart Marketplace. Through Lendistry’s platform, qualified sellers can access capital to purchase inventory, support operations and grow to the next level, using a fully online process with multiple financing options, including very low loan amounts and the SBA 7(a) loan program.
Lendistry’s Walmart Marketplace page lists a business term loan of $25,000 to $5 million with terms up to five years, and an SBA 7(a) loan for fast working capital starting at $10,000 with terms up to 10 years. For small retailers, longer terms combined with no prepayment penalties can free up cash flow — a practical advantage at a moment when many lenders focus on short-term loans.
Another $100 Million — This Time for Airport Businesses
Lendistry kept building in 2026. On July 9, 2026, it announced a $100 million credit facility from East West Bank, including a $100 million accordion, to support its Airport Concessions Program, created to fund small businesses that operate in airports nationwide. Since the program launched in 2019, $98 million had been deployed to airport businesses in 16 states, according to the announcement.
“Airport concession businesses are historically undercapitalized due to their unique business structures and complex financing needs,” Sands said. “We took the time to learn, then built ACP with the right team and technology to provide the capital they need.” The East West Bank transaction built on a 2025 relationship in which the bank provided a $75 million credit facility for Lendistry’s SBA 7(a) lending platform. By then, Lendistry said it had deployed more than $10.5 billion since its founding.
Everett Sands: The Banker Who Decided to Change the Game
Everett Sands brings more than 25 years of experience in banking to the work, according to Lendistry’s own biography. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he has shared his recommendations before Congressional committees, appeared as a subject matter expert on CNBC, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, and was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year Greater Los Angeles award winner and national finalist in 2024.
Today Lendistry holds both CDFI and Community Development Entity certifications, is an SBA Preferred Lender, and describes itself as the No. 2 non-bank SBA 7(a) lender in the country. In collaboration with The Center by Lendistry, its nonprofit business education organization, it also helps owners prepare to scale. For Everett Sands, the facilities and partnerships are not the story by themselves — the story is what happens when an undercapitalized owner finally gets a fair shot at capital, on responsible terms, and puts it to work.
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