The Startup Junkie Foundation said Tuesday that it has received a three-year, $470,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to continue facilitating the Northwest Arkansas Kiva Hub.
Startup Junkie said the money will allow the foundation to help entrepreneurs and small-business owners access capital through Kiva's community-backed microloans through the fall 2025.
It also said the Walton Family Foundation will continue to provide dollar-for-dollar matching of loan funds for every new, Kiva-approved small business borrower in Washington and Benton counties.
"Since the launch of the NWA Kiva Hub, we have assisted 80 local borrowers in obtaining crowdfunded loans ranging from $1,000 to $15,000," Martha Londagin, NWA Kiva Hub capital access manager, said in a news release. "Of those, 76 have been borrowers who identify as a person of color, minority or woman business owner, with 34 percent of them identifying as being a Black-owned business."
With the help of the Walton Family Foundation, Startup Junkie Foundation launched the hub, one of 40 located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, in December 2019.
Through it, entrepreneurs and small-business owners can access the Kiva platform to obtain no-fee, no-interest microloans of up to $15,000 from a community of local and national lenders.
The repayment rate for Kiva loans is about 78% across the U.S., according to Startup Junkie.
