Small Business Mobility Fund
This grant is provided by LA County Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and ICON CDC
Grant Amount
$2K–$10KOpen date
Application Deadline
Grant Frequency
Until funds are exhausted
About This Grant
The Small Business Mobility Fund is part of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity’s Economic Mobility Initiative (EMI), designed to reduce barriers to business success by expanding access to education, training, technical assistance, and capital to small businesses across all five Supervisorial Districts.
The fund offers three grant types with approximately $500,000 available to 100 businesses:
- Launch Grants ($5K for non-retail or $10K for retail brick-and-mortar locations in unincorporated LA County)
- Entrepreneurship Academy Grants ($2K for EMI Academy graduates)
- Formalization Grants for sidewalk vendors looking to formalize their business. Funding is made possible through LA County’s Care First Community Investment (CFCI) funds
How You Can Use the Funds
- Tenant improvements
- Facade improvements
- Signage
- Related building permits
- Permit and license fees
- Website development and branding
- Start-up and set-up costs
- Accounting software
- Intellectual property protections
- Packaging, inventory, and equipment
Documents Required
- Business plan detailing planned usage of funds
- Proof of lease or ownership of commercial space
- Government-issued photo identification
- Proof of residency in LA County
- Current business license
- Doing Business As (DBA) / Fictitious Business Name (FBN) filing
- California Secretary of State filings
- Any related industry permits (e.g., Health Permit, Establishment License)
- Signed most recent tax return (2023 or later)
- Form 941 (if firm has employees)
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be a for-profit business
- Applicants must reside in LA County
- Business must be headquartered in LA County
- Applicants must be the majority owner and manager
- Annual gross business revenue must not exceed $6 million
- Business must have fewer than 100 employees
- Must be domiciled in California with required filings with the California Secretary of State
- Existing businesses must be in good standing with all local, state, and federal taxing and licensing authorities
- Cannot be listed as an ineligible business type (e.g., non-profits, liquor stores, smoke shops, cannabis, franchises, gambling, gun stores, etc.)
- Launch Grants: Must be launching in a brick-and-mortar location in unincorporated LA County (opened after September 1, 2025)
- Entrepreneurship Academy Grants: Must be a graduate of an EMI Entrepreneurship Academy (currently closed)