SBA lenders approved 281 7(a) loans to computing infrastructure, data processing and web hosting companies between October 2023 and June 2026, $138,388,900 from only 72 lenders. The median loan was $200,000, above the national $150,300, but the median rate was 11%, well above the national 10.25%, and only 7.1% of loans were fixed-rate. Acquisitions were 5.7% of loans, against 10.4% nationally, but large: a median of $1,276,300. Lenders underwrite contracted recurring revenue and churn, the cost of replacing equipment, and customer concentration.
| Measure | Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) loans approved | 281 | 162,355 |
| Median loan | $200,000 | $150,300 |
| Middle half of loans | $72,000 – $500,000 | $50,000 – $500,000 |
| Loans of $1 million or more | 11.7% | 12.9% |
| Median rate at approval | 11% | 10.25% |
| Middle half of rates | 9.75% – 11.5% | 9.3% – 11.25% |
| Acquisitions (change of ownership) | 16 (5.7%) | 16,849 (10.4%) |
| Median acquisition loan | $1,276,300 | $693,000 |
| Lenders that made these loans | 72 | 1,648 |
| SBA 504 loans (real estate, equipment) | 8 | 16,714 |
Approvals FY2024 – FY2026 to date (1 Oct 2023 – 30 Jun 2026), cancelled loans excluded. Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records, as of June 30, 2026.
- SBA 7(a) loans approved
- 281 (Oct 2023 – Jun 2026)
- Lenders
- 72
- Median loan
- $200,000 (national $150,300)
- Median rate at approval
- 11% (national 10.25%)
- Acquisitions
- 16 loans (5.7%), median $1,276,300 at 10%
- Fixed-rate share
- 7.1%
Fewer lenders, and a higher price
NAICS 518210 covers companies that provide computing infrastructure and process data for others: web and application hosting, managed hosting and colocation, data processing and storage services, and related work. From FY2024 through June 2026, 72 lenders approved 281 SBA 7(a) loans to these companies, worth $138,388,900. That is a small number of lenders for this many loans: the market for this kind of borrower is narrower than the loan count suggests.
| Figure | Hosting and data processing | National | What it says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenders approving loans | 72 | A narrow market for 281 loans | |
| Median loan | $200,000 | $150,300 | Larger than the typical SBA loan |
| Middle half of loans | $72,000 to $500,000 | Wide spread of needs | |
| Loans of $1 million or more | 33 (11.7%) | About one loan in nine | |
| Median rate | 11% (middle half 9.75% to 11.5%) | 10.25% | Priced for thin collateral |
| Fixed-rate share | 7.1% | Almost all variable | |
| SBA Express | 33.8% of loans | Smaller equipment and working capital needs | |
| SBA 504 | 8 loans, median $732,500 | Few companies own their space |
The median rate of 11% is three-quarters of a point above the national median, and the middle half of rates starts at 9.75%. Loan size does not explain it, since the median loan is larger than the national one. Collateral is the likelier reason: servers and network equipment lose value fast, most facilities are leased, and what the company really owns is customer contracts and know-how. Lenders comfortable with that price for it; others may decline the industry altogether. With only 72 lenders active, finding the ones that understand hosting matters more than in most industries. Transparent's book holds 278 lenders that write SBA 7(a) and 504. See SBA loan rates and fixed versus variable rates.
Recurring revenue, read closely
Monthly contracted revenue is the strongest thing these companies bring to a lender. But not all of it is equal, and an underwriter will take it apart.
| Revenue type | Why lenders like or discount it | What they ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Managed hosting under contract | Recurring, with switching costs for the customer | Contract terms, renewal history, churn by month |
| Colocation | Recurring, but tied to a facility the company may lease | The facility lease, power costs, occupancy |
| Data processing for clients | Recurring if contracted; volume can swing | Contracts, volumes by client, pricing terms |
| Resold public cloud capacity | Recurring, but thin margin and easy to move | Gross margin after the cloud provider's bill |
| Migrations and one-time projects | Not recurring | Separated out, and not counted as run rate |
Three numbers carry the file. Churn: how much monthly revenue leaves each month, and whether it is rising. Gross margin after power, bandwidth, facility and cloud costs, because hosting revenue with a thin margin covers little debt. And concentration: a single customer that is a large share of revenue is a single decision away from a very different business. Lenders look at what the company actually earned over the historical period, not at an annualized current month. See lending on run-rate EBITDA.
Monthly revenue by customer, for two years, answers most of an underwriter's questions before they are asked.
Equipment that ages faster than the loan
7(a) equipment loans can run up to 10 years, or 15 if the equipment's useful life supports it. Servers, storage and network gear do not last that long, and lenders match the term to the useful life. That has two consequences. Hardware folded into a longer loan, as it is when a purchase price includes it, can be obsolete before the loan is paid. And the cost of replacing it is a real, recurring claim on cash flow: lenders subtract it before counting what is available for debt service. See maintenance capex.
Many hosting companies finance hardware separately, through leases or equipment loans matched to its life, and keep the SBA loan for goodwill, working capital or a purchase. See equipment leases versus loans and equipment financing versus SBA 7(a). Only 8 SBA 504 loans went to this industry, at a median of $732,500; few of these companies own their buildings, and the data center space they use is usually leased or rented by the rack.
Buying a hosting or data processing company
Only 16 loans, 5.7% of the total, financed a change of ownership. But those loans had a median of $1,276,300, more than six times the industry's median loan, at a median rate of 10%. These are purchases of established businesses with real recurring revenue, priced mostly as goodwill.
- Valuation. Where the amount financed, less appraised real estate and equipment, exceeds $250,000, SBA requires an independent valuation and the purchase loan cannot exceed it. With aging hardware appraising low, nearly all of a hosting purchase is subject to it. See the SBA valuation requirement.
- From 1 October 2026, every change of ownership needs financial due diligence and 1.25x coverage on historical results, acquisitions of $3 million or more excluding real estate need a quality of earnings report, and the loan amortizes over no more than 10 years except for real estate.
- No earnout. Technology deals often tie price to customer retention after closing; SBA prohibits an earnout to the seller, so retention risk has to be settled in the price. A seller note is allowed, but its payments cannot depend on results, and it counts toward up to half of the equity injection only on full standby for the life of the loan.
- Contracts and consents. Customer contracts, facility leases and software licenses may need consent to transfer. See change-of-control consents.
- The seller's knowledge. The systems often live in the founder's head. The seller may consult for up to 12 months, or up to 24 months under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026, and lenders want a buyer with technical operating experience. See buyer industry experience.
See financing an IT services company acquisition and financing goodwill.
Uptime, security and the questions that come with them
A lender to a hosting company is also lending against its operational record. A serious outage or security breach can trigger service credits, customer losses and claims at once. Underwriters and buyers ask about the company's incident history, its service-level commitments and what they cost when missed, its insurance, including cyber coverage, and any independent reviews of its controls it can show customers. None of this replaces the financials, but a company that can answer these questions plainly reads as a lower risk than one that cannot.
Start-ups were only 5% of loans. A new hosting company has no contracted revenue to show, and lenders rarely lend against a plan to win it.
Preparing a hosting company's SBA file
The SBA list comes first: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule with copies of notes being refinanced, and personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more. Add:
- Monthly recurring revenue by customer for the last two years, with new, lost and changed accounts
- The customer contract list with terms, renewal dates and notice periods
- An equipment schedule with ages, and every equipment lease or loan on the debt schedule
- Facility, colocation, power and cloud provider agreements
- For a purchase, the letter of intent and the target's latest full year of figures, never an older year
For working capital outside the term loan, see lines of credit for IT services companies. Related industries: software publishers, computer systems design and other computer services. Once the documents are in, Transparent builds the financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo in a day, and takes the file to the lenders that write this kind of business.
Common questions
- Can a web hosting company get an SBA loan?
- Yes. 72 lenders approved 281 7(a) loans to hosting, data processing and computing infrastructure companies from October 2023 to June 2026, at a median of $200,000.
- Why do hosting companies pay more for SBA loans?
- The median rate was 11% against 10.25% nationally. Servers depreciate quickly, facilities are usually leased, and the business's value sits in contracts and people, so lenders have less collateral and price for it.
- Can servers and network equipment be financed with a 7(a) loan?
- Yes, but the term is matched to the equipment's useful life, which is short. Many companies finance hardware separately and use the SBA loan for goodwill, working capital or an acquisition.
- How large are SBA loans to buy a hosting or data processing business?
- The median acquisition loan was $1,276,300 at 10%. Expect an independent valuation, no earnout to the seller, and from 1 October 2026 financial due diligence, 1.25x coverage on historical results and a quality of earnings report at $3 million or more.
- Do lenders count monthly recurring revenue at its current run rate?
- No. They underwrite what the company actually earned over the historical period, and look at churn, gross margin and customer concentration behind the recurring revenue.