Kiva Detroit is expanding into a couple of different areas, making loans to start franchise businesses and partnering with Detroit SOUP to create KivaSOUP.
"You will continue to see more things like this come down the pipeline," says Elizabeth Garlow, director of strategic initiatives for
Michigan Corps which runs
Kiva Detroit.
Kiva Detroit got its start last year by providing an internet platform that enables local residents to improve their communities by making microloans to local businesses and entrepreneurs. Through Kiva Detroit, individuals can lend as little as $25 to local, small businesses looking for capital to launch or expand.
Detroit SOUP serves a similar purpose. The monthly event gathers Detroiters to a communal dinner featuring soup. Each attendee pays a small entrance fee, which goes for the food and a pool of money that a handful of local entrepreneurs make pitches for. Attendees get one vote and the winner walks away with the pool of money, usually a few hundred dollars, to use as start-up capital.
KivaSOUP combines the two funding sources to help create start-up funding synergies. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 2900 E. Grand Blvd. The entrance fee is $5, which gives each attendee dinner and a vote. "We may look at an ongoing partnership," Garlow says.
Kiva Detroit is also launching a new micro-franchise program through a partnership with
Thrive Detroit. The program allows users to raise money to begin their own
Pro Windshield Repair business, giving them access to turn-key businesses with proven roads to entreprenuerial success.
Source: Elizabeth Garlow, director of strategic initiatives for Michigan Corps
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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