Kiva Kansas City
Kiva connects entrepreneurs with 0% interest loans between $1,000-$15,000 that are crowdfunded by a community of 2M+ individual lenders on their online platform. The Kiva Kansas City team works with local entrepreneurs to help them succeed throughout the Kiva loan application, fundraising, and repayment processes. Kiva engages a community of over 2 million lenders who crowdfund the loans by contributing as little as $25, providing entrepreneurs with affordable capital to support their business. Kiva and its lenders want to support small business owners to create jobs, support their families, and make a positive impact in their communities.
Program Type: Crowdfunded Microloans
For more information contact: Email Kansascity@local.kiva.org or by phone 816-691-2120
Kiva offers crowd-backed microloans
- 0% interest, no fees, no collateral
- Up to $15,000 loan amount
- Up to 36 months terms
- Social underwriting - character not credit score
To qualify for Kiva Kansas City:
- Borrower and business must be U.S. based.
- Borrower must be 18 years of age or older.
- Loan must be used for business purposes.
- Business must not be engaged in multi-level marketing, direct sales, pure financial investing, etc.
- Borrower or business must not be under foreclosure, bankruptcy, or under any liens.
- Home-based businesses are eligible for a Kiva loan.
- Businesses must have a business bank account connected to PayPal. Kiva loans are disbursed and repaid through PayPal.
How does Kiva Kansas City work?
- Application: 30 min. - 1 hour-Start your application at Kiva.org/borrow. Meet with the KivaKC team to review and edit your application as needed.
- Kiva Review: 1-3 weeks-Your application is reviewed by Kiva. You may be asked to clarify information or make edits to your application. Kiva determines if you are approved and for what loan amount.
- Private Fundraising: Up to 15 days-If you're approved, you have to demonstrate your creditworthiness by having between 5-40 of your friends, family, and personal network lend as little as $25 to your loan. The pitch section of your application is posted on Kiva's platform.
- Public Fundraising: Up to 30 days-Kiva lenders around the world (and here in Kansas City) read your pitch and support your loan $25 at a time until your loan is fully funded. Loans must be fully funded within the stated timeframe to be disbursed.
- Repayment: 30 days after fully funding loan- Repayments terms are between 12 to 36 months, based on loan size. There are no penalties for repaying early, and six-months after repayment, you can apply for another, larger loan.