Kiva Columbus Meet Up
As a Columbus resident, I am excited to be working as a Kiva Fellow to help engage the people of Columbus by building a community of trustees, borrowers, and lenders on Kiva. Having seen the value of 0% interest loans to entrepreneurs in Louisville, Access Ventures has decided to help expand Kiva throughout Columbus. Kiva Fellowships are typically four months long, however, Access Ventures is providing funding for a 12-month fellowship to help the program take full root in the city.
Kiva had its official kickoff in Columbus on June 24th at 400 W. Rich St, a converted warehouse featuring co-working space, a restaurant , an event venue, and over a hundred artist studios. Located in the developing neighborhood of Franklinton, 400 W Rich is a center of entrepreneurship and innovation in Columbus and served as the perfect launch point for bringing Kiva’s international crowdfunding platform to Columbus.
I hosted a presentation and Q&A discussion in the 400 co-working space that was attended by small business owners, non-profit trustees, and organizations interested in sponsoring Kiva’s work in the city. Members of the Columbus startup community stayed late talking about how they could best leverage the new funding source.
Kiva is already working across Columbus. Cultivate, a newly established CDC focusing on development in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood,shared the success story of their first funded campaign Stephen Lo Photography. Stephen is a successful local photographer who wants to grow his company’s presence.
“To date, Kiva in Columbus has successfully raised over $15,000 in 0% interest loans for four local small businesses, all minority-owned and operated.”
Most recently, on July 4th, local trustee Forge Columbus successfully closed a $4,700 campaign for Charley’s Buckeye Cooking Sauce, a Southside startup focused on expanding their retail business in the city.
This was the first of many meetups, the next one will be held at Rambling House Soda Pop. Rambling House is a local heirloom soda maker that hosts a popular bluegrass bar served by local food trucks. Local entrepreneurs John and Jane Lynch are raising funds on Kiva to grow their bottling production so that they can continue to expand into retail markets across the Central Ohio region. Be sure to mark your calendars for July 23rd, and come out to learn more.
