Kiva

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Model & Strategy

As the world’s first person-to-person lending marketplace for the poor, Kiva’s vision is to create a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create an opportunity for themselves and others. Kiva’s goal is to reduce global poverty by creating a platform where internet users can lend to and connect with a specific developing world entrepreneur online. Affordable capital helps low income entrepreneurs start or expand small businesses, creating a path towards economic self-sufficiency. Kiva enables a new channel for the delivery of such funds and creates equitable partnership relationships in the process.

At a Glance
Founded: 2005
Co-Founder: Premal Shah
Co-Founder: Matt Flannery
Economic Empowerment
Location of work: Domestic, International, Africa, Asia, Latin America
http://www.kiva.org
Kiva
875 Howard Street
Suite 340
San Francisco, CA 94103
Connect people through lending to alleviate poverty
Meet Premal Shah

Premal first began dreaming of “internet microfinance” while working at PayPal, the online payments company. In late 2004, Premal took a 3 month leave from PayPal to develop and test the internet microfinance concept in India. When he returned to Silicon Valley, he met other like-minded dreamers and quit his job at PayPal to help bring the Kiva concept to life and eventually to scale. Kiva today raises over $1 million each week for the working poor in 50+ countries and was named a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine in 2009. For his work as a social entrepreneur, Premal was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was selected to FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list in 2009. Premal began his career as a management consultant and graduated from Stanford University.

Matt began developing Kiva in late 2004 as a side-project while working as a computer programmer at TiVo, Inc.  Matt helped to lead Kiva’s growth from a pilot project to an established online service with partnerships across the globe and hundreds of millions in dollars loaned to low-income entrepreneurs. Matt is Skoll Awardee and Ashoka Fellow and was selected to FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list in 2009.  In 2011, Matt was chosen for the The Economist “No Boundaries” Innovation Award.

Neville Crawley has been the CEO of Kiva since 2019.  Neville brings nearly 2 decades of experience in global business and technology ventures, most recently as CEO of Quid, a platform that analyzes the world’s collective intelligence to help answer strategic questions.

IMPACT

To date, Kiva has facilitated over $1 billion in loans to 2.6 million micro-entrepreneurs across 83 countries. The repayment rate is 96%, and the average loan size is $700.

Increase capital access to underfunded, market based, evidenced backed anti-poverty approaches: Kiva’s crowdfunding model creates a unique form of low-cost, risk-tolerant capital to help frontline innovators expand (e.g. One Acre Fund, myAgro, Komaza, etc).

Increase public awareness & engagement: Kiva seeks to create deeper public engagement in the pressing — and addressable — issues of our time. >1 million citizen lenders have participated, including programs at over 3,000 schools & universities.

Kiva News

All News

Learn More

  • "Destined to a life of re-borrowing." 😌 #KivaCommunity
  • Have you heard of AmazonSmile? 🛒 It allows you to purchase products with the same prices and shopping features you… https://t.co/v7vwPNA4VD
  • Happy Valentines Day! 💚 Thinking of what to get that special someone? Kiva Cards are an amazing and thoughtful gift… https://t.co/81NscF5Cek
  • Important Kiva update: we will soon be offering lending opportunities in Long Chile and Ohio 2! 👀 #LongChile… https://t.co/EJOmC6cCnY
  • Easier than frying an egg. 🍳 Sign up for Monthly Good today at https://t.co/O4J84BpNzO and know that you're making… https://t.co/xx6egZaH4i
  • Kiva community, you know the drill now. One of our favorite days of the year, International Women's Day, is almost… https://t.co/PP3yPv27lW
  • What's your favorite street food? In NYC, it might be hot dogs. In Mexico City, maybe tacos! But what about the cou… https://t.co/PTIivbTXI6
  • 🚨 Calling the Kiva community! International Women’s Day is coming up this March! We want to know, Kiva community:… https://t.co/amGuyoTkfe
  • We have a meaningful Valentine's Day gift idea for you! Why not spend the day finding individuals on the Kiva websi… https://t.co/rQXdD1pM5o
  • Today is Youth Day in Cameroon, a day to honor all the youth and embrace the importance of education. It is celebra… https://t.co/1zZYe3J615
  • Last week, we welcomed our new class of Kiva Fellows! Read about everything that happened during training week at https://t.co/cVjHVhoUY4!
  • Hey Kiva community, what is a powerful woman to you? Post a video response on Twitter and tag us, OR send it to soc… https://t.co/l6XICAjowu
  • We’ll pick our favorite replies to receive $50 in lending credits each! 💚 Plus, you may be featured on our social… https://t.co/rYwuHOEvkD
  • International Women’s Day is coming up this March! We want to know, Kiva community: what is a powerful woman to you… https://t.co/kgcUNwtvRm
  • RT @Getting_Smart: 🤔Have your students had a real-world impact on a project this year? 💸 @Kiva provides a great #servicelearning opportunit…
  • Today on our blog, read about Isbelia's experience as a Kiva borrower in El Salvador! 🇸🇻 Find out how a Kiva loan c… https://t.co/HI1HuqF9rU
  • It just makes us want to cuddle up and fund more loans! ☕ Head to https://t.co/lZqAFZv9tz now to get those repayme… https://t.co/zcpyNEMnH9
  • Love this idea. 💚 https://t.co/zhcCJQwR6k
  • Here's a multi-talented queen to inspire you today! 👸 Meet Lina Lucia. This 21-year-old entrepreneur spends her ti… https://t.co/VK13zjZzs0