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Lender · SBA 7(a) record

PeopleFund

TX · lends in 1 state · 549 SBA loans since 2010, 192 in the last five years.

Practical minimum
$72k
5th percentile, last 5 years
Typical loan
$129k
median, last 5 years
Median rate
variable-rate loans only
Typical term
7 yr
Recent volume
$30.3M
last 5 fiscal years

How fast they approve. PeopleFund made 68% of its recent SBA 7(a) loans under Preferred Lender (PLP) authority — it can approve them in-house without sending your file to the SBA to re-underwrite, which is the biggest single driver of how fast a loan closes. Why approval speed comes down to the lender.

What stands out about PeopleFund

vs every other SBA lender

It leans into one industry. 10% of PeopleFund's loans go to fitness and recreational sports centers — roughly 3× the share you would expect, so it clearly knows that business.

PeopleFund lives at the small end. Its median loan is just $129k, well under the $347k typical of SBA lenders — one of the banks genuinely willing to write small.

PeopleFund is startup-heavy. 85% of its loans are startups, well above the norm — a good sign if that is your deal.

This read is built from 192 funded 7(a) loans over the last five fiscal years; outside its core states the sample thins out, so weigh the rest accordingly.

Will they talk to you?

loan sizes funded
Under $150k
58%
$150k – $350k
42%
$350k – $750k
0%
$750k – $2M
0%
Over $2M
0%

The spread of loan sizes tells you where this lender is comfortable. Ask for something far outside it and expect friction.

Do they fund businesses like yours?

last 5 years
Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers
6%
Limited-Service Restaurants
5%
Child Care Services
4%
Full-Service Restaurants
4%
Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars
4%
Everything else
78%

A lender who already knows your industry asks better questions and closes faster. One who doesn't will treat your file as an education.

Takes on more risk than most banks

9.87% of their loan dollars have charged off, against 2.11% across all SBA lending. That is not a warning — if you have been turned down elsewhere, a lender with more appetite is exactly who you want. Expect to pay for it in rate.

Their loans, year by year

cumulative % of dollars charged off
ApprovedYr 1Yr 2Yr 3Yr 4Yr 5Yr 6Yr 7Yr 8Yr 9Yr 10
20140.00.01.71.77.78.710.810.810.810.8
20150.01.87.912.213.514.814.814.814.814.8
20160.01.87.39.89.814.716.816.816.8·
20170.02.25.19.810.510.811.112.2··
20180.02.72.72.710.210.210.2···
20190.00.01.54.58.78.7····
20200.00.00.02.82.8·····
20220.02.75.4·······
20230.00.0········
20240.0·········
2025··········
0%
12%+▨ too recent to know

Each row is one year's lending. Read down a column to compare years at the same age — that is the only fair comparison, because losses take three to five years to appear and a fast-growing lender always looks clean on a raw average.

Source SBA 7(a) FOIAReleased 2026-06-30 Loans judged 343 Measured at 5 years

What this page cannot tell you

Federal records show what was approved, not how long it took, how the bank communicated, or whether your loan officer returned calls. Ask any lender directly: are you a preferred lender, how many deals like mine did you close last year, and who underwrites it.

Check your eligibility first → Decode what they say to you →

Lenders worth comparing against this one

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Common questions

Does PeopleFund make SBA startup and acquisition loans?

Yes — its recent SBA 7(a) record includes 80 startups, 14 franchise loans. If your deal is one of these, it has funded that kind of loan many times before. See how it ranks for your exact deal.

What is the smallest SBA loan PeopleFund will make?

Its practical minimum — the 5th percentile of what it has actually funded — is about $71,855, and the typical (median) PeopleFund loan is $128,550. If your loan is well below its practical minimum, it is unlikely to be interested however strong your file.

What states does PeopleFund lend in?

Most of PeopleFund's recent SBA lending is concentrated in Texas. Compare lenders by state.