Dakota Business Finance: SBA Lending Profile
Dakota Business Finance is a Certified Development Company (CDC), headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD. It is active in 7 states, concentrated around SD, IA, MN. Everything below comes from federal SBA loan records, not from the lender's marketing. This is what it has actually funded.
Loan sizes Dakota Business Finance actually approves
The median SBA approval at Dakota Business Finance is $386,000. The middle 80% of its loans fall between $134,000 and $1,400,300. The smallest funded approval in the available source window is $47,000 and the largest is $5,500,000. If the amount you need sits far outside that range, this is probably not the right first call, no matter what the website says.
Industries it funds most
| Industry | Funded loans in source data | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels | 56 | 10.2% |
| Child Day Care Services | 23 | 4.2% |
| Full-Service Restaurants | 18 | 3.3% |
| General Automotive Repair | 15 | 2.7% |
| Car Washes | 14 | 2.6% |
| Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units | 11 | 2% |
| Limited-Service Restaurants | 10 | 1.8% |
| Offices of Dentists | 8 | 1.5% |
| Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) | 8 | 1.5% |
| Offices of Lawyers | 8 | 1.5% |
| All Other Personal Services | 8 | 1.5% |
| Dairy Cattle and Milk Production | 8 | 1.5% |
How fast Dakota Business Finance actually funds
Approval is not money in the bank. Across 494 loans where both dates are on record, the typical gap between SBA approval and first disbursement at Dakota Business Finance is 170 days. Half its loans fund between 104 and 327 days. That is slow relative to the roughly 20 day typical SBA lender, which is normal for real estate backed deals that need appraisals, but worth planning around if your timeline is tight.
Lending momentum
Dakota Business Finance is expanding its SBA program. Approvals are up 30% from FY2023 to FY2025, which usually means an active appetite and a team that wants deals.
Funded approvals by SBA fiscal year (October to September). FY2026 is excluded because it is still in progress.
Borrower profile
- 19.3% of its funded SBA records with known business age went to startups or businesses under two years old.
- Collateral was taken on 98.4% of its recent SBA loans.
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Sources and limits. Figures are derived from U.S. Small Business Administration 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level records (data as of 2026-06-30, retrieved 2026-08-08) and FDIC public institution data. Funding speed is the median gap between approval date and first disbursement date in SBA records. Some lenders report disbursement at month end, which can round the figure upward. They describe past lending activity only. They are not rate quotes, not current offers, and not an indication that any business will qualify. Lender programs and criteria change. Big Brain Funding is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dakota Business Finance.