cei

Community Development Financial Servicesceiventures.com

Company typePrivate
Founded1977
HeadquartersBrunswick, United States
Headcount—
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

cei firmographics

Firmographics

Name: cei
Legal name: Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
Website: https://ceiventures.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1977
Operating status: Operating
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

cei industry classification

Industry

Product category: Community Development Financial Services
NAICS: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
SIC: Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
akta.pro primary industry: Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA)

Keywords

Community development finance
Small business lending
Impact venture capital
Business advisory services
Microfinance services

Where cei is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Brunswick
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

cei business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Loan Interest Income: CEI generates revenue through interest on loans provided to small businesses, including microloans (up to $30,000), small business loans, real estate financing, and venture capital investments.
Fund Management Fees: CEI Ventures, a subsidiary, manages socially responsible venture capital funds and earns management fees from managing funds like the Coastal Ventures V LP (The Good Jobs Fund) at $21.5 million.
Business Advising Services: CEI provides free and fee-based business advising services including free general business assistance and specialized programs through the Women's Business Center, helping entrepreneurs become loan-ready.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Monthly	Wicked Fast Microloan for small amounts
Subscription	Monthly	Small Business Loans
Other	Multi-year contract	Venture Capital Equity Investment

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

cei product offering

Product offering

Core offering

CEI is a nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that provides flexible small business loans (including the Wicked Fast Microloan for amounts up to $30,000), venture capital and equity investment through CEI Ventures, New Markets Tax Credit financing through CEI Capital Management, real estate impact investing through CEI Boulos Capital Management, Maine Historic Tax Credit financing through 30FSI, and free and fee-based business advising (including a Women's Business Center). It serves underserved entrepreneurs, small businesses, farms, fisheries, child care providers, and community development projects primarily in Maine and across the Northeast.

Product overview

CEI (Coastal Enterprises, Inc.) is a community development financial institution (CDFI) offering a comprehensive suite of financing, advising, and investment services. The core offerings include small business loans (with the Wicked Fast Microloan for amounts under $30,000), venture capital and equity investment through CEI Ventures, real estate financing, and climate resilience funding. The organization operates through four subsidiaries: CEI Ventures (socially responsible venture capital), CEI Capital Management (New Markets Tax Credits), CEI Boulos Capital Management (real estate investment), and 30FSI (historic tax credit financing). Additionally, CEI provides specialized business advising programs including the Women's Business Center, immigrant and refugee services, child care business support, farms and food systems advising, and general business development services, complemented by workshops and events for entrepreneurs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Small Business Loans (including Wicked Fast Microloan)

Quantifiable outcome

$26/hr average entry level wage across CEI Ventures portfolio companies
+2 more outcomes

Companies that use cei

Customer profile

Named customers15 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

cei technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

cei partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

CEI's Workforce Solutions TeamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides pragmatic workforce solutions to CEI Ventures portfolio companies including workforce assessments, job quality strategies, and hiring process improvements.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

cei competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Capital Impact Partners: Capital Impact Partners is a national CDFI providing loans, investments, and capacity building to underserved communities, with a comparable mix of small business lending, affordable housing finance, and mission-aligned investment vehicles.
Nonprofit Finance Fund: Nonprofit Finance Fund is a national CDFI providing loans, asset-building programs, and advising to nonprofits and social enterprises, with a comparable integrated capital-plus-advisory model.
Self-Help Credit Union: Self-Help is one of the largest U.S. CDFIs offering small business lending, real estate financing, and venture capital through Self-Help Ventures Fund, with a similarly integrated model to CEI's lending-plus-advising-plus-VC structure.
Craft3: Craft3 is a Certified CDFI serving Oregon, Washington, and California with small business loans, real estate financing, and impact investing — a direct regional parallel to CEI's small business lending and NMTC structure.
Arctaris Impact Investors: Arctaris Impact Investors is a Bozeman, MT-based impact investment firm backing businesses in underserved U.S. communities — its Managing Director sits on CEI Ventures' Board, signaling overlapping investment strategy and LP base.
SJF Ventures: SJF Ventures is a Durham-based impact VC fund investing in high-growth companies creating quality jobs in underserved regions — directly comparable to CEI Ventures' Good Jobs Fund thesis and target geographies.
Calvert Impact Capital: Calvert Impact Capital is a nonprofit CDFI that pools capital from institutional investors to fund community development loans and impact investments, structurally comparable to CEI's CDFI + fund management hybrid model.
Three Roots Capital: Three Roots Capital is a CDFI and CDE serving East Tennessee and Appalachia with debt, equity, and NMTC financing, and its CEO recently joined CEI Ventures' Board — a tightly overlapping peer in mission and product mix.

Emerging players

Kiva: Kiva operates a global crowdfunded microloan platform for small and underserved entrepreneurs — an adjacent digital peer that competes at the microloan/small business financing layer where CEI's Wicked Fast Microloan operates.

Broad incumbents

Opportunity Finance Network: Opportunity Finance Network is the national CDFI industry association and intermediary providing capital, policy advocacy, and capacity-building to member CDFIs like CEI, framing the broader ecosystem CEI operates within.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

cei financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

cei leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

cei subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries4 records

cei funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

cei M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about cei

What does cei do?

Is cei a public or private company?

cei is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was cei founded?

cei was founded in 1977.

Where is cei based?

cei is headquartered in Brunswick, United States, in the North America region.

How does cei make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. Loan Interest Income is the primary driver. The others are fund Management Fees and business Advising Services.

Who are cei's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Capital Impact Partners, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Self-Help Credit Union, Craft3, Arctaris Impact Investors, SJF Ventures, Calvert Impact Capital and Three Roots Capital. Kiva is listed as an emerging player. Opportunity Finance Network is listed as a broad incumbent.

Does cei have an API?

No public API is recorded for cei.

What industry is cei in?

cei's product category is Community Development Financial Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGALAA, Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance). Its NAICS code is 525 and its SIC code is 6159.