Mona-Kiva partnership reaches $500k milestone in zero-interest capital to refugee, immigrant & women entrepreneurs.
PRESS RELEASE
March 2024 // For Immediate Release
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Today, social venture Mona announced that its partnership with crowdfunding platform Kiva and DreamxAmerica has reached a new milestone: $500,000 in zero-interest loans distributed to small businesses across the United States – primarily to immigrant, refugee, and women entrepreneurs.
Since the collaboration launched in the winter 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has supported more than 60 entrepreneurs with over $500k in zero-interest, zero-fee loans crowdfunded on Kiva’s platform. The loan opportunity is open to all small businesses based in the U.S., and the majority of recipients have been entrepreneurs of color while nearly half have been women entrepreneurs. Mona has especially emphasized reaching refugees, immigrants, and first-gen Americans, which make up 85% of their group – entrepreneurs coming from 25 nations around the world, from Rwanda to Yemen to South Korea to India and beyond.
Most importantly to Mona founder Andrew Leon Hanna, small-business entrepreneurs deserve greater access to capital to be able to advance their families and local communities. According to Hanna, about 80 percent of Mona entrepreneurs noted that they could not get loans elsewhere, and more than half of loan recipients during the pandemic stated that they may have had to shut down their business had it not been for the loan they received. On average, entrepreneurs were able to hire 1 to 2 new staff members each because of the loan, and monthly revenue increased by more than 40% after the loan disbursement.
”Entrepreneurship is one of the most potent paths to economic mobility in America, but there are severe inequalities in access to capital,” said Hanna. “The Covid-19 pandemic only highlighted and exacerbated those differences. We’re proud to play a part in supporting entrepreneurs that bring light, economic growth, and jobs to their communities.”
Mona and DreamxAmerica, two social ventures led by Hanna, have conducted the outreach to entrepreneurs across the U.S. – partnering with local small business bureaus, immigrant welcoming centers, and incubators to find entrepreneurs who need the support. Then, Mona’s team works closely with the entrepreneurs to apply for a loan on Kiva’s crowdlending platform, including providing language support. Finally, after Kiva’s approval, Mona endorses the loan on Kiva’s site and shares within its community to help the loan get fully funded.
Beyond access to capital, Mona provides its entrepreneurs with distribution opportunities through its gifting platform, design support, and more. One Mona-Kiva entrepreneur, Deborah Bafongo, discussed the impact of Mona’s team on the growth of her wedding planning venture in a Portland Press-Herald article about the local impact of the loans:
“I really needed the funds. As an immigrant, I’m really grateful that this platform is there to help us succeed in the career that we’re doing. At that point (during the pandemic), I really needed something coming from somewhere to assist me.”
Frentz Neptune – who co-founded a venture called Avanti Coffee Company that sources from farmers in Haiti, received a $15,000 loan, fully paid it back, and is now applying for a second – discussed the long-term effects of the loan on his business:
“We always enjoy working with Mona. They are patient, guide you through all the steps, and are always one email away. Our $15,000 loan helped Avanti take off - it helped us increase our inventory, and almost double our sales in the last couple of years.”
Moving forward, Mona aims to continue to grow its partnership with Kiva, while offering other funding opportunities and more varied support for its community of entrepreneurs. It’s also continuing to take a regional approach by focusing on partnerships with particular cities, as it has done with Portland, Maine and Champaign, Illinois in the past. As Hanna summarizes:
“Ultimately, our goal is to create greater socioeconomic opportunity in communities across the U.S., in particular by investing in inspiring entrepreneurs who deserve equal dignity, investment, and support – no matter where they come from.”
///
