A partnership to deliver zero-interest capital to entrepreneurs across the U.S.

“One award-winning social venture, Mona, is creating new opportunities for – and amplifying the stories of – underrepresented entrepreneurs.”

As part of Mona’s Access to Capital Initiative, Mona & Kiva have partnered with the goal of providing $1 million in zero-interest, zero-fee loans to entrepreneurs across America. All U.S. small business owners are eligible. Learn more and apply below.

$1,000,000+ delivered to entrepreneurs across the U.S. so far.

FAQs

  • The vast majority of U.S.-based, registered small businesses are eligible. There is no minimum credit score requirement. Loans can be used for any legitimate business purposes. See below for details from our primary lending partner, Kiva:

    •You must be at least 18 years of age.
    • You must not currently be in foreclosure, bankruptcy, or under any liens.
    •You must not have had a violent or financial criminal conviction in the last 5 years.
    • You must not be a registered sex offender.
    • You must reside and operate your business in the United States.
    • Your business cannot be registered – nor have primary operations in – the states of Nevada or North Dakota.
    • You must be seeking a loan for business purposes other than refinancing debt and purchasing stock or equity.
    • Your business must not be of a type deemed ineligible for a Kiva loan. Some examples are: federally illegal activities (e.g., gambling, hemp-related products); businesses related to tobacco, pawn-shops, weapons, multi-level marketing, direct selling, cryptocurrencies, drones, or adult entertainment; businesses providing contract work for large corporations (e.g., AirBnB, Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc.).
    • Your must be able to prove revenue (i.e., donations) in the past 12 months if your business is a nonprofit organization.
    • You must have a PayPal account (that’s how you will receive as well as repay your Kiva loan!)
    • You must be willing to demonstrate your social capital by asking a small number of your friends, family, clients, and/or business partners to make a loan to you during the Kiva Private Fundraising Period – learn more here.

  • Correct! We partner with the non-profit Kiva to provide 0%-interest, $0-fee loans.

  • You’ll apply at the link above and then receive personal support from the Mona team, as well as Mona's endorsement as a Trustee, in applying for a loan on the Kiva site. This is a crowd-lending process, so you’ll need to get a small number (usually 10-20) of colleagues, friends, family members, customers, etc. to contribute at least $25 on your crowd-lending page during what Kiva calls the “private fundraising period.” After that, you move to the “public fundraising period” and your loan is funded by a combination of the 1 million+ individual lenders on the Kiva platform and matching institutions (e.g., Bank of America). Almost 100% of loans we endorse are fully funded and distributed – we help people get through the “private fundraising period” by reaching out to our community, and Kiva’s lending community has gotten people through the “public fundraising period” in almost every case.

  • The approved loan amounts we see typically vary from $4,000 to $15,000. Our primary partners at Kiva will determine the size of the loan based on the details in your application. We encourage you to apply for as much as you need.

  • For more details on the process and requirements, read here at the top of our application and here at the Kiva U.S. website. See here for examples of entrepreneurs that have been supported so far.