Over the next 12 months, Reese Neader, a native of Columbus, Ohio, will be working as a Kiva Fellow to help engage the people of Columbus by building a community of trustees, borrowers, and lenders on an online platform called Kiva Zip. Kiva Fellowships are typically 4 months long, however, Access Ventures has provided funding to make a 12-month term possible.
Kiva Fellows are a diverse group of individuals who apply to work with Kiva, and are chosen from a large pool of applicants around the world. Tey are the “boots on the ground” working to strengthen partnerships and scale new initiatives for Kiva. Because Reese is one of many Kiva Fellows currently working across the country, Columbus’ entrepreneurs and small businesses are uniquely positioned to beneft from Kiva Zip.
Kiva is a non-proft tech company founded in 2005 that facilitates crowdfunded micro-loans in over 85 countries around the world. Teir original platform enables individuals to lend interest free to a borrower who uses the loan for their small business. To date, over $700,000,000 has fowed through Kiva with an impressive 99% repayment rate. After seeing success internationally, the Kiva Zip platform was created to provide greater access to capital for small businesses in America. Access to capital is a major concern for 1 in 3 small businesses, especially minority and underserved entrepreneurs.
The Kiva Zip platform successfully enables the community to support local entrepreneurs by transforming character into collateral for small business loans up to $10,000 (no minimum credit score or fnancial collateral requirements). All loans have 0% interest and no fees. Kiva is the frst online platform designed to leverage an entire community for job creation. Individuals, corporations, banks, non-profts, foundations, small businesses, and others are all able to participate on Kiva Zip.
Having access to Kiva Zip means greater access to capital for small businesses of all shapes and sizes in every neighborhood of Columbus. In a city the size of Columbus, Kiva Zip could easily have $200,000 worth of impact in a year by unlocking new funds sourced from both local, out-of state, and foreign lenders! And even better, Columbus has the potential to become the next Kiva City. Reese will be holding an informational meet up on the evening of June 24th. Te event is open to the public and will be an opportunity to learn more about Kiva Zip in Columbus.
Access Ventures is an impact-investment group that deploys holistic investments to see communities flourish. We provide capital to the organizations and solutions which we believe have the most significant potential to impact their community. We tailor our investment strategies with a layered capital approach which is predicated on the belief that all people matter.
