Kiva

Kiva is a non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty through microfinance, enabling individuals and communities to access small loans for various purposes. Founded in 2005, its mission is to connect people through lending in order to create opportunities for socio-economic growth and development in underprivileged areas globally. Kiva operates on the principle of crowdfunding, allowing for individual loans as low as $25, which can help finance education, agriculture, small businesses, and more. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Kiva partners with local institutions and NGOs to identify borrowers and projects requiring financial support. They prioritize empowering women, who constitute over 80% of their borrowers, along with focusing on underserved and marginalized communities, including those in remote or conflict-ridden regions. As a leader in the field of microfinance, Kiva has facilitated over $1.6 billion in loans to date, benefiting more than 4 million borrowers in over 80 countries, with a noteworthy repayment rate of approximately 96%. Kiva's unique platform and model have found widespread recognition and support, attracting a strong network of more than 2 million lenders and around 450 field partners. In addition to their microloan initiatives, Kiva also provides innovative solutions such as Kiva Capital and Kiva Protocol to address challenges like lower-cost financing and credit identity, and build a more inclusive global financial ecosystem.