In order to help businesses, accomplish their objectives, SOFII provides support to business owners by offering them repayable loans. Fed Dev Ontario supported WOCFDCA with capital investments in SOFII, as part of the agency’s Prosperity Initiative, originally in 2012 and subsequently in 2014 and 2019.

The SOFII program supports high-growth, innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in rural and urban communities by offering loans of $150,000 to $1,000,000 to support all aspects of growth challenges facing them. The loans are intended to help finance:

• Late stage commercialization;
• New product or service development;
• New applications or markets; or
• Development or implementation of new processes or technologies.

Eligible businesses will be situated in the geographic area described as Southwestern Ontario. Both urban and rural centres are serviced by SOFII.

The Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation (SOFII) loan fund acts as a catalyst for increased investment in and support for innovation and is one element in the emerging climate of support for high-growth companies in Southern Ontario. SOFII is a $25 million fund, available to eligible organizations across South-Western Ontario.