Kiva City Los Angeles
Empowering Small Businesses.
Fueling Job Growth. Strengthening Communities.
Change a Life Today
Kiva City Los Angeles gives you a way to support to small businesses in the Greater Los Angeles Area that are working together to create thriving local economies, communities, and jobs. It only takes a $25 loan to get started.
Kiva City Los Angeles is part of the Kiva City program supported by Visa.
All loans are currently funded!
While this is great news for the borrowers, we’re working hard to get more
loans posted soon. In the meantime, you can sign up for an account today
and we’ll notify you when new loans are available so you can
come back and make a loan.
Each of Us Can Lend a Hand
Los Angeles is home to diverse communities and economies with more than 325,000 small businesses—employing nearly 2 million people—making LA the largest small business community in the U.S. Access to capital among small businesses has contracted dramatically since the Great Recession. Without access to capital, the nation’s biggest job creators—small businesses—can’t grow and create new jobs. In cities like LA, this can be especially concerning.
When small businesses do well, local and national economies do well:
- Small businesses create 2 out of 3 net new jobs in U.S. and often employ the most vulnerable groups in the workforce.
- Small businesses employ half of all private sector employees, create more than half of the non-farm GDP, and represent 99% of all businesses in the U.S.
Kiva City LA works to expand access to financial services for small business owners who have the dream and the potential, but are locked out of traditional commercial loans. For these businesses, microlending through Kiva City can serve as a bridge, providing commercial credit history and working capital to start up, expand operations, and hire or retain employees. Kiva City LA is a partnership with the Valley Economic Development Center, Mayor’s Office of Small Business, Kiva and Visa.
The power to shape the course and success of the nation’s economy belongs in all of our hands.
Why Kiva?
Kiva lenders combat poverty daily by making small loans to borrowers around the world. We believe in fair access to affordable capital for people to improve their own lives.
Often only a relatively small amount money stands in the way of Kiva borrowers and their dreams. Whether it is an aspiring caterer in Los Angeles seeking $7,000 to buy a food truck to expand his business, or a young Bolivian woman who lacks the $1,500 tuition for nursing school, Kiva lenders provide a hand up to these and countless other borrowers.
Join us and make a loan today.
How Does Kiva Work?
- Choose a borrower.
Your loan reaches borrowers via our Field Partners, who vet, distribute, and administer each loan. - Follow your loan.
You’ll get periodic updates about the progress of your loan, including repayments as they become available. - Do it all again!
Any repayments are yours to keep, but we hope you’ll make another loan... or perhaps get someone else involved with a Kiva Card.
About Kiva City
Kiva City LA joins Kiva City Detroit and Kiva City New Orleans as part of the broader Kiva City program which extends small business access to microloans in U.S. cities. The Kiva City program is the latest component of Visa's partnership with Kiva to help U.S. small businesses by expanding the awareness and availability of microfinance opportunities. With very few microfinance institutions operating at scale in the U.S., Kiva City helps address this challenge by tapping the power of local communities to come together to expand access to microfinance in their city, particularly those whose small business communities have been most impacted by the recent economic downturn.
The Kiva City LA partners each play a critical role. They include Kiva, Valley Economic Development Center (VEDC), and the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Small Business.
VEDC is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution providing loans and important educational services for business success. VEDC taps into their extensive networks to identify potential borrowers in LA, posts their profiles on Kiva, and collects payments for Kiva lenders.
Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Small Business is dedicated to connecting the Los Angeles small business community with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Through their one-on-one customer service and BusinessSource centers across the City, the Mayor’s Office of Small Business will help identify potential borrowers and refer them to VEDC.
If you are local to the Los Angeles area and would like to apply for a loan, please visit VEDC’s website. To find out how your city can be the next Kiva City, visit the Kiva City page.
Supported By
Valley Economic Development Center (VEDC) is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution and the largest provider of loans for small businesses and micro-entrepreneurs in the Greater Los Angeles area. In addition to loans, VEDC offers extensive training opportunities, workshops, consulting, and small business support services.
The Mayor’s Office of Small Business is dedicated to connecting the Los Angeles small business community with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Through one-on-one customer service and BusinessSource centers across the City, the Mayor’s Office provides the tools to help small businesses grow and thrive.
Visa Inc.. Part of the Kiva Visa partnership for U.S. Small Businesses. Kiva City is a result of the Kiva Visa partnership to help U.S. small businesses by expanding their awareness of and access to microfinance opportunities. Kiva City allows the community of Kiva lenders to help more small businesses across the United States, one city at a time. Thanks to a generous grant from Visa, Kiva City is now in Detroit, New Orleans and Los Angeles.