I follow Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch pretty closely – in the online space, who doesn’t ?
Today I read a long write up Mike did on Kiva, the microloan site. As of late, I have been putting my money where my mouth is, donating to the EFF, the ACLU and Freepress.
Through a Facebook group Indie Credit that is rallying people to collectively donate to Kiva, I opened one, then two Kiva ( Abiba Awel + Mrs. Savong Hang Village Bank Group ) loans, which I found somehow gratifying. It wasn’t motivated by guilt, of ego, just that here was an opportunity to really help individuals realize their dreams, in a different way that just giving money to a charity group.
The financial crisis has made a lasting impact on small businesses around the world and here at home in the United States. With the credit crunch creating a virtual standstill of lending, small businesses in the U.S. are facing an uphill battle to find funds, especially if their financial history isn’t stellar. Kiva.org,
one of the web’s most interesting innovators in the micro-lending space, is hoping to come to the aid of U.S. entrepreneurs and small businesses by launching a pilot expansion that would allow individuals anywhere to make small loans to low-income U.S. entrepreneurs through Kiva’s platform. ~
In April alone, Kiva members loaned $4.5 million to entrepreneurs, a 56 percent year-over-year increase and a record month for Kiva. Since the microfinance platform’s birth in 2005, over $75 million has been loaned through Kiva.org to support more than 180,000 individuals from 44 developing countries. Kiva’s president, Premal Shah, says this new initiative to include U.S. businesses increasingly made sense as the financial markets deteriorated and traditional lending began to dry up even in the U.S.
According to Kiva, small businesses represent more than 87 percent of all businesses in the United States, and, on average, these micro-enterprises are responsible for 900,000 new jobs created per year according to the Association for Enterprise Opportunity. This number seems small to me but the impact of small businesses on job creation is clear. To make matters worse, Kiva says more than 10 million business owners faced difficulty obtaining capital—even before the credit crisis and economic slowdown.
Kiva will launch today with the ability to for anyone to make loans to 45 small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking funding from the areas of New York, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta and Miami. The businesses range in purpose and services, from salons to landscaping to day care facilities. For example, a Queens, NY-based entrepreneur delivers baked goods to bodegas in New York. He is looking to raise $6000 to fund insulation technology for his trucks.
So now Kiva is coming to the USA – Thanks Mike for the info – in this new political landscape – irony abounds !
