Groundwork. helps approved partner organizations provide a structured readiness experience for the entrepreneurs they serve. Access begins through conversation, agreement, implementation, and authorized invitation.
Groundwork. is not a public self-service signup product. Each organization relationship begins by defining the program, responsibilities, access model, enabled workflows, and implementation approach.
We learn about the organization, its programs, team, participants, goals, and readiness challenges.
Together we identify the intended audience, workflows, information visibility, staff responsibilities, and support model.
The parties establish terms, expectations, approved use, and the path to platform access.
Groundwork. prepares the agreed program experience and works with the organization to orient authorized staff.
Approved team members receive role-appropriate access within their organization and the established program scope.
Authorized staff invite entrepreneurs into the relationship-backed program. Participation and visibility follow the applicable consent and permission flow.
Groundwork. supports approved programs and relationships. It does not replace the responsibilities of the partner organization, the participant, or a lender.
Defines the program and approved scope, designates authorized staff, manages invitations, provides appropriate human support, and uses participant information only for the agreed purpose and according to applicable requirements.
Provides their own readiness information, reviews AI-assisted output, decides whether to accept a relationship, and selects which businesses to share through the applicable consent flow.
Provides the configured platform experience, applies organization and role boundaries, supports the agreed workflows, and handles information according to the applicable terms, disclosures, and permissions.
Independently verifies information, applies its own underwriting criteria, and remains solely responsible for credit analysis, pricing, fair-lending compliance, notices, approval, and denial decisions.
An invitation identifies the organization requesting a relationship. The participant signs in through the invited account, reviews the request, affirmatively accepts the relationship, and chooses which businesses to share.
An authorized organization representative sends an invitation to the intended participant.
The participant signs in, verifies their account, and reviews the organization and requested relationship.
The participant affirmatively accepts the relationship and selects the businesses they want to share. No business is selected automatically.
Permitted organization staff can see only information made available through the accepted relationship, selected businesses, enabled workflows, staff roles, approved scope, and participant consent.
A relationship does not transfer ownership of the participant's account, businesses, or submitted content. A lender does not receive unrestricted access to the participant's complete Groundwork. account.
Invited participants can organize their own business information and work through a structured sequence designed to support more productive conversations with counselors and lenders.
Participants work through business health, business model, lender expectations, readiness self-assessment, DSCR, loan story, document planning, and business-plan development.
Scores, financial inputs, narratives, and planning materials reflect information provided by the participant and remain subject to professional and lender review.
Current coaching features provide concise suggestions based on what the participant entered. The feedback is educational, may require correction, and does not replace a counselor or professional adviser.
The plan generator uses participant-entered module information to produce draft narrative. The participant should review, correct, and refine the output before relying on or sharing it.
Participants retain ownership of the content they submit. Groundwork. receives the limited rights needed to operate the service under the applicable Terms and Privacy Policy.
Within the approved organization context, permitted staff can manage participant relationships and support readiness work without taking ownership of participant information or replacing lender judgment.
Permitted organization staff can invite entrepreneurs to establish a relationship with the named organization.
Organization teams can understand whether a relationship is pending, accepted, active, or otherwise unavailable without bypassing participant consent.
Within an accepted relationship, permitted staff can view selected businesses, recorded readiness information, module completion, and relationship status when those workflows are enabled.
Permitted staff can maintain counseling notes within the applicable participant relationship to support continuity of service.
Some capabilities are available only when enabled for a particular organization and program. Availability does not grant unrestricted access and does not change the responsibilities of the participant, organization, or lender.
When enabled, participants may upload requested documents. Storage, processing, staff access, and any AI-assisted extraction follow the applicable disclosure, permissions, consent, and approved purpose.
Where included in the partnership scope, Groundwork. may organize participant-provided application information and documents. The institution remains responsible for review, verification, and any lending decision.
The concepts below represent potential future development. Availability, scope, timing, controls, and institutional responsibilities would be established through later partnership decisions and implementation.
Planned institution-scoped views of applicable loan-count and dollar metrics against selected qualification criteria.
Planned record matching, contact history, and institution-controlled servicing workflow concepts.
Planned impact, board, portfolio, and examination-support concepts. Groundwork. does not currently promise automated or regulator-ready reporting.
Planned concepts may include application review, annual-review support, adverse-action documentation, and credit-presentation preparation. Lenders would retain all compliance and decision responsibilities.
Mission-driven lenders and business-support organizations invest time, judgment, and care in helping entrepreneurs prepare for capital. Their work depends on trusted relationships that software should support, not replace.
Groundwork. exists to give those organizations a structured readiness environment that can be configured around their programs, responsibilities, and approved relationships.
Not by shortcutting lending judgment. By helping participants organize their readiness work and helping partner teams support clearer, more productive capital conversations.
This is helping to create generational wealth for the underserved.
Partnership infrastructure for organizations strengthening business readiness.
Tell us about your organization, the people you serve, and the readiness program you are working to strengthen.
Discuss a Partnership → Open Illustrative PreviewThe preview uses fictional profiles and includes roadmap concepts that may not be available in production. Existing users can sign in as a participant or sign in as a partner.