17K apply for SBA SVOG funds in the first 24 hours

More than 17,000 indie music venues, agents, and others eligible for $16B in desperately needed Shuttered Venue Operating Grants applied in the first 24 hours, according to the SBA.

“As of noon ET today (24 hours open), the SVOG portal had received 17,356 applications and, of those, 9,472 had been started and 7,884 had been submitted,” an SBA spokesperson told Variety.

Hope returned for struggling venues on Monday after the SBA finally began taking applications after multiple false starts.