An online platform to help entrepreneurs get startup loans launches next week, and it will start with a six-figure boost.
Kiva offers access to zero-interest, no-fee loans funded by dozens of people pitching in $25 or more. The Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation is pledging a match fund.
"We'll match every dollar that you loan dollar-for-dollar, up to $250,000," said LTFF Founding Board Member Kathy Taylor. "And, when those loans are repaid, that money will go back into an evergreen fund to be loaned again and again to Tulsa entrepreneurs."
Backers say Kiva can help entrepreneurs who can’t get traditional loans secure funding to start a business. There will be a live marketplace event Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Cox Business Center.
"The marketplace will be an opportunity for you to meet the businesses that have fully funded or are currently fundraising on Kiva for you to lend and support those businesses," said Kiva Tulsa Lead Casey Allen.
Kiva loans average $5,000, and the repayment rate is 97 percent. It was announced in May the platform would come to Tulsa this fall.
