Startup & Under 2 Years: Build Credit While Growing Your Delivery Business in 2026

If you are under 2 years in business, do not start by asking, “What loan can I get?” Start by matching your situation to the right path below: if you need approval criteria first, open startup financing requirements; if you are ready to submit an application, go to apply for startup delivery funding.

Key differences

New delivery contractors usually have three real choices: asset-backed financing for a vehicle or major equipment, short-term cash for working capital, or a startup-oriented smaller loan that helps build credit over time. The right answer depends on what you need money for, how fast you need it, and how much history you can actually show on paper.

Option	Best fit	What usually trips people up
Equipment financing for delivery vans	You need a van, truck, trailer, or other asset that can support the deal	Not enough down payment, weak personal credit, or a vehicle that is too old or too expensive for the cash flow
Revenue-based financing or working capital	You need fuel money, repairs, tires, insurance, or payroll buffer	Irregular deposits, thin bank statements, or payments that would squeeze margins too hard
SBA microloan / startup delivery loan	You want a smaller amount and can wait longer to build lender trust	Underwriting standards, documentation gaps, and the fact that many SBA-style loans still expect stronger history than a brand-new operator has

For a startup delivery business, the main number to watch is not the headline rate. It is whether the payment fits your actual route volume after fuel, maintenance, insurance, and downtime. A truck payment that looks fine on paper can break a new operation if one repair cycle or slow week wipes out the cushion. That is why the fastest deal is not always the best deal.

If your business is still under 24 months, expect lenders to look harder at bank deposits, business-bank separation, and whether you can show the past year of activity cleanly. That is also why requirements for delivery startups under 2 years matter so much: newer operators often have enough work, but not enough tidy documentation yet. The fix is usually not “wait forever.” It is choosing the product that matches the proof you can already provide.

A practical rule: if the money is tied to a van or other hard asset, equipment financing is usually the cleanest starting point. In many cases, approvals land in 1 to 3 days, with typical 8% to 11% APR pricing and 10% to 20% down. If you need cash for fuel, repairs, or to bridge slow-paying contracts, revenue-based financing for startup delivery operations is often a better fit than forcing a vehicle loan to do a working-capital job.

The same logic shows up in other asset-heavy businesses too. For example, ghost kitchen equipment financing tends to work best when the new equipment is what creates the revenue, not just a balance-sheet purchase.

When you are ready to move, use the link that matches the hole in your business: credit-building startup capital, faster working capital, or a smaller SBA-style option like SBA microloans for new delivery contractors.