We are excited to share that as of September 1, 2021 Centro Community Partners (Centro) will be the Kiva Hub for San Francisco.
Joshua received a $9,000 Kiva loan to help open a community-driven cafe with a mission to support the sober community and help keep Ocean Beach clean.
Centro has collaborated with local organizations and supported entrepreneurs in San Francisco since the organization started in 2010. And when Centro became the Kiva Hub for Oakland and Alameda County in 2020, we started providing informal support to local San Francisco-based entrepreneurs.
With the expansion of the Centro’s Capital Hub, our team is looking to support more entrepreneurs and organizations in the city to cultivate the ecosystem and provide them access to Kiva’s interest-free microloans of up to $15,000.
What is Kiva US?
Kiva US is an online crowdfunding platform that provides entrepreneurs with 0% interest loans of up to $15,000. To qualify for a loan, applicants must be over 18 years old, not currently in bankruptcy, have a business located in the US, and the loan must be used for business purposes.
With a $10,000 Kiva loan, Reem was able to buy a utility truck and hire staff to grow her business, eventually opened a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District.
After the success of its international model, Kiva recognized the need to support local entrepreneurs in the United States and started the Kiva US program in 2011. Since then, Kiva US has provided over $3.5 million to 6,076 people throughout the country, including nearly $3.4 million to over 700 borrowers in Oakland.
What is Kiva Hub?
A local connection that guides borrowers and trustees through the Kiva process by providing on the ground support and personalized assistance.
Kiva Hubs are local organizations committed to the success of small business owners that agree to take responsibility for Kiva’s loan activity in a specific region. These organizations hire a Kiva-trained Capital Access Manager to guide borrowers through the loan process and assist the organizations (Trustees) supporting them with access to Kiva loans. Centro is honored to have been selected as the Kiva Hub for Oakland. In the near future, we will be supporting borrowers and their Trustees for all of Alameda County, as well as participants in all of the programs we provide.
We are here to help!
Centro’s Capital Hub has been able to help hundreds of entrepreneurs access capital through Kiva, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), government loans (PPP and EIDL) and grants. We’ve had a lot of success supporting entrepreneurs in Alameda County as the Oakland Kiva Hub, and expanding our support to San Francisco is a natural step for Centro. We look forward to continuing to work closely with local partners as we bring Kiva’s 0% interest loans (up to $15,000) to entrepreneurs in San Francisco.
Contact us
At Centro we have a team ready to support entrepreneurs to start or grow their business. Our goal is to have a single point of contact to assist in the application process, have a successful fundraising campaign, and have a positive experience when paying off your loan.
We have tools like Centro Business Planning App so that entrepreneurs can complete their business plan and navigate through the different local resources that can help them move forward.
Finally, we would like to invite all the organizations that are part of the Kiva ecosystem to join us in working with Centro so that more small businesses can participate in this experience and connect them with more financing opportunities.
Entrepreneurs
Read more about the eligibility requirements and application process on Kiva’s website. Please let us know if you’re interested in accessing a Kiva loan or have any questions.
Organizations
Learn more about becoming a Trustee on Kiva’s website. Please let us know if you would like to join as a Kiva Trustee or have any questions.
We’re here for you, so please reach out to us:
Verónica Gutiérrez, Capital Access Manager: KivaUS@centrocommunity.org