You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor - New York Times
You, Too, Can Be a Banker to the Poor - New York Times. Online community meets micro-finance.
Last night I pulled together an impromptu event that Brad Burnham graciously hosted at Union Square Ventures' beautiful offices for Kiva.org. Matt Flannery, Kiva's Founder and CEO, spoke about Kiva and fielded tough questions without breaking a sweat. We had a small, high-quality turnout from the venture capital, hedge fund, foundation and entrepreneurial worlds, a true community of interest. Hopefully, it helped advance Kiva's cause a small way in New York City. It was gratifying to read and watch Nicholas Kristof's terrific piece in the Times today.
Kiva is a 501(c)(3) charity seeking to raise about $500,000 in contributions to fund growth. Amazingly, Kiva has directed about $4MM in loans since inception, $3MM of which have happened in the last five months. Matt expects Kiva to reach break-even on this funding, which is essential to allowing Kiva to scale to demand. If you have ideas for funding or wish to become a funder, let me know and I'll pass along your interest to Matt.
Great event.
At the CTIA conference yesterday, Bill Clinton talked about the company. Only he called it "kiva.org", which is the incorrect URL.
Posted by: Ken Berger | March 30, 2007 at 06:22 PM