CLEAR DATA REPORT · PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2026 · COVERS JANUARY–DECEMBER 2024

Small Business Funding Report: 2024 Data

A full-year look at the small business funding Clear arranged in 2024: deal sizes, industries and how owners used the money. Part of our Small Business Funding Report.

Median deal, 2024
$70K
Deals under $50K
33%
Debt consolidation & refinance
19%
New 2024 clients who came back
54%
Real funded deals
Every figure comes from deals Clear arranged, not surveys or applications
Fully anonymized
Medians and percentages only, with no client names or details
Same rules every year
Consistent definitions since 2015, so the years compare like for like

2024 key findings

All figures cover funded deals from January 1 to December 31, 2024.

Full report, 2015–2025 · 2025 data

  • Smaller deals than 2023. The median funded deal was $70,000, down from $100,000 in 2023 but above 2022’s $60,000.
  • Debt consolidation grew. 19% of owners who stated a use wanted to consolidate or refinance debt, up from 11% in 2023.
  • Retail and manufacturing gained. Each made up 12% of deals, up from 9% and 8% in 2023.
  • More than half of new clients came back. 54% of businesses first funded in 2024 have since received additional funding.

Deal sizes in 2024

The median 2024 deal was $70,000, with the middle half of deals between about $40,000 and $150,000. 33% of deals were under $50,000 and 9% were $250,000 or more.

2024 turned out to be a pause between two strong years: the median rose to $124,000 in 2025.

Median funded deal size by year

2015–1720182019202020212022202320242025
Source: Clear funded-deal data. Median funded deal amounts.

Industries funded in 2024

Professional and business services led with 26% of deals, followed by construction and trades (18%), retail (12%), manufacturing and wholesale (12%) and healthcare and dental (10%).

Industry guides: construction, retail, manufacturing and medical practices.

Funded deals by industry, 2024

Professional & business services26%
Construction & trades18%
Retail & e-commerce12%
Manufacturing & wholesale12%
Healthcare & dental10%
Personal services, fitness & hospitality8%
Technology & telecom5%
Restaurants & food service4%
Auto sales & repair2%
Trucking & transportation2%
Other1%
Source: Clear funded-deal data. Percentages are shares of deals with that field recorded.

How businesses used the money

Working capital was the top use at 24% of stated uses, followed by debt consolidation or refinancing (19%), expansion (13%), inventory and materials (10%), equipment (9%) and payroll (8%).

Stated use of funds, 2024

Working capital / cash flow24%
Debt consolidation / refinance19%
Expansion / new location13%
Inventory & materials10%
Equipment9%
Payroll8%
Other18%
Source: Clear funded-deal data. Percentages are shares of deals with that field recorded.

New clients coming back

54% of businesses first funded in 2024 have since come back for additional funding, above the long-run average of 51%. The median funded business had been operating for about 12 years. The leading states were Texas, New York, California, Florida and New Jersey.

New clients who came back for more funding, by year first funded

20182019202020212022202320242025
Source: Clear funded-deal data. Repeat funding counted through October 2026, so recent years have had less time to return.

Product mix

Short term loan products make up about 48% of Clear’s funded deals, lines of credit about 22%, long term loan products 19% and specialty finance 11%. The mix is broadly similar from year to year.

Learn more about short term loans, merchant cash advances, lines of credit and term loans.

Funded deals by product type

Short term loan products48%
Line of credit22%
Long term loan products19%
Specialty finance11%
Source: Clear. Approximate share of funded deals by product type; the mix is broadly similar from year to year.

How 2024 compares with every other year

Funded deals at a glance, by year

YearMedian dealMiddle 50% of dealsUnder $50K$250K+New clients who came backLargest industry
2015–17$71K$36K–$106K24%7%——
2018$61K$30K–$126K42%5%61%Healthcare & dental
2019$60K$34K–$100K41%7%42%Healthcare & dental
2020$70K$37K–$119K32%8%34%Healthcare & dental
2021$72K$35K–$108K36%10%68%Technology & telecom / Healthcare & dental
2022$60K$34K–$150K36%11%52%Healthcare & dental
2023$100K$40K–$200K28%20%45%Construction & trades
2024$70K$40K–$150K33%9%54%Professional & business services
2025$124K$55K–$250K18%26%49%Professional & business services
Source: Clear funded-deal data. "New clients who came back" = share of businesses first funded that year that later received additional funding (counted through October 2026).

Full report, 2015–2025 · 2025 data

One of my major vendors was slow to pay and I was having a hard time making payroll. Clear was able to quickly get me approved for a merchant cash advance. The terms were much better than I found elsewhere and I had funds in my account the very next day. Thank you Clear!

Stephen T CFO

About the 2024 Data

Every figure comes from small business financing deals that Clear arranged through its network of 100+ lenders, taken from our own deal records. It is not a survey and it does not include applications that were not funded.

In October 2026. It covers funded deals from January 1 to December 31, 2024, using the same definitions as every other year in the series.

A handful of very large deals can pull an average far away from what a typical business receives. The median is the deal in the middle: half of deals were larger and half were smaller, so it better reflects a normal funding experience.

Every figure we publish is based on at least 30 funded deals or businesses. Where a group is smaller than that, such as single industries within a single year, we combine years or leave it out rather than publish an unreliable number.

Industries and uses of funds are recorded in free text, so we group them into consistent categories using the same rules for every year. Percentages are shares of deals where that field was recorded. The product mix is an approximate breakdown of all funded deals by product type, which is broadly similar from year to year.

It is the share of businesses that received additional funding through Clear after their first deal, such as a renewal, an additional advance or a different product. For a given year, it covers businesses first funded that year, with repeat funding counted through October 2026. Businesses funded more recently have had less time to come back.

Yes. The data is free to use under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Please cite it as the Clear Small Business Funding Report and link to the page you used. Journalists and researchers can reach us through our contact page.