The Harbor Entrepreneur Center in Mount Pleasant has a new backer, and the money comes with an expectation that it will be paid back.

The Lowcountry Impact Fund, a locally led charitable investing fund powered by the nonprofit Abundance Capital, made a $250,000 investment in The Harbor as its first deal, according to an announcement published by the Moultrie News on Sept. 24 and the fund’s website. The fund presented the investment Sept. 23 at Harbor House Party Vol. II, a fundraiser at the Music Farm in Charleston.

Unlike a traditional grant, the money is meant to be repaid and then put to work on future community projects, WCSC Live 5 reported Sept. 27. The announcement did not disclose the repayment terms.

“This investment comes at a critical time for The Harbor as we experience rapid growth and increasing demand for our programs,” Executive Director Grady Johnson said in the announcement.

The Harbor plans to use the money to expand its work with entrepreneurs, startups and growing companies in the region, including affordable office space and more programming, according to the announcement.

A different kind of charity

The fund describes itself as a way to put charitable dollars to work where “traditional philanthropy or conventional financing may not be the right fit,” according to the announcement. Its website highlights three ideas: local leadership, flexible capital and renewable impact.

“There is tremendous generosity in the Lowcountry, and we believe there is an opportunity to make some of those charitable dollars work in a different way,” said Pete Sniderman, a co-founder of the fund.

Co-founder Alex Opoulos said The Harbor felt like a natural place to begin because “successful entrepreneurs build businesses, create jobs and strengthen communities.”

The fund says it will consider future investments in businesses, nonprofits and community projects across the Lowcountry.

What The Harbor does

The Harbor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2013 by two local entrepreneurs, according to its website. It says it has supported more than 200 companies through its programs and that its alumni have raised more than $7 million in private investment.

Those founders are John Osborne and Patrick Bryant, according to a 2016 Charleston Magazine profile. On Oct. 14, the State Law Enforcement Division charged both men and a third man with sex crimes stemming from an alleged 2018 assault on an intoxicated woman at a Sullivan’s Island home, The Post and Courier reported. Osborne is charged with first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, and Bryant with voyeurism. Osborne’s attorneys said he is innocent, and Bryant’s attorney said he denies the allegations, CNN reported. The Harbor’s board said in a statement that day that the co-founders have not held a formal role in the nonprofit since February 2025.

The Harbor’s home is a campus at 11 eWall St. that “sat largely vacant for years following the pandemic,” board chair Jessica Munday wrote in a Sept. 12 commentary in the Moultrie News. Today it houses more than 130 companies, and more than 70 volunteer mentors give over 14,000 hours a year, she wrote. Munday, who owns a company based at The Harbor, wrote that the Chabad of Charleston bought the property last year.

The center has added artificial intelligence training for business owners. Its “AI Agents for Entrepreneurs” program, a four-course series aimed at people with no technical background, was set to start a cohort the week of Aug. 24, according to The Harbor’s website. An introductory class costs $25, and a three-part series on building AI agents costs $150.

In July, The Harbor said it had received a grant from the Truist Foundation to expand the Harbor Accelerator, its program for early-stage founders in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, the Moultrie News reported. The amount was not disclosed. The grant is meant to add cohort capacity, technical help with product-market fit, sales strategy and capital readiness, and a stronger mentor network.

“For 13 years, the Harbor Accelerator has been built by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, and this support from Truist Foundation allows us to do even more of what works,” Johnson said then.

A warning about money

Munday’s Sept. 12 commentary made the case that The Harbor’s success can be misleading.

“Yet a dangerous assumption persists,” she wrote. “Because the building is beautiful, the parking lot is full and entrepreneurs are showing up, the organization itself must be financially secure and not need community support.”

She credited the Town of Mount Pleasant, which has supported The Harbor since its 2023 move to eWall Street, and Charleston County, which she said has invested in its mission for years. She also named the South Carolina Research Authority and the companies Atlas Tech and Zoho as supporters, and noted the impact fund’s investment. She wrote that companies in The Harbor’s network support more than 1,000 jobs.

“Entrepreneurial infrastructure is not a nicety,” Munday wrote. “It is a necessity.”