Lendio Provides More Than 5,000 Kiva Loans to Support Women-Owned Businesses Around the World

Through this charitable initiative, Lendio has donated more than $130,000 to underserved business owners in the developing world and beyond

Lendio announced today that through continued efforts to support business growth around the world, the Lendio Gives program has funded more than 5,000 Kiva microloans. To-date, Lendio’s employee contribution and employer matching program has provided more than $130,000 in loans to underserved business owners in 78 countries.

Kiva is an international nonprofit organization that connects borrowers and lenders in an effort to alleviate poverty and expand financial inclusion. One hundred percent of every dollar lent to Kiva turns into micro credit for borrowers who can’t be serviced by traditional banks.

Recognized by Banking Technology for dedication to the industry’s betterment, Lendio Gives aims to close the financial gender gap for women business owners.

Lendio Gives allocates over 90 percent of total funds donated to loans for females or female groups in the developing world and beyond. Around the globe, women-owned businesses often fail to qualify for traditional loans and must look beyond banks to access credit.

“When the bank says no, micro credit becomes the answer for many of the world’s entrepreneurs,” said Brock Blake, CEO and founder of Lendio. “Lendio Gives was created to make a positive global impact. By giving even a small boost to underserved businesses, we empower individuals to take advantage of opportunities. Small loans really do have a big impact.”

Lendio is the nation’s largest business loan marketplace. Committed to making access to capital simpler and quicker for the millions of small business owners in the U.S., Lendio’s mission to fuel the American dream goes hand-in-hand with Kiva’s goal of fueling economic growth through entrepreneurship. As such, for every loan facilitated on Lendio’s marketplace platform, Lendio donates a percentage of funds to Kiva to support global entrepreneurship. Lendio reinvests all repayments into reloans, furthering the impact of every dollar donated.

Lendio Give’s top sectors for microloans include food, retail, agriculture, clothing, services and construction, and the top countries loaned to are Rwanda, Senegal, Zimbabwe and Peru. In less than three years, Lendio has become one of the fastest-growing Internal Business Groups on the Kiva crowdfunding platform, ranking among companies like PepsiCo, Hitachi, Apple and Google for total fundings. Lendio Gives funded 3,200 new loans in the last year alone.

“Lendio’s participation in the Kiva microloan program starts with regular, generous donations from the majority of our 150 or so employees,” said Blake. “Many of our peers that give to Kiva have upwards of 100,000 employees, and it’s an honor for Lendio to be listed among them as we strive to support the dream of entrepreneurship.”

For more information about joining the Lendio Gives Kiva lending team, visit www.kiva.org/team/lendio_gives.