Omidyar Network today announced it has committed $5 million over three years to microlending pioneer Kiva.org, whose Co-Founder and CEO Matt Flannery, and President Premal Shah, are 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs. During the first two years of the grant, Omidyar Network will match up to $2 million of online donations from individual Kiva lenders.
According to [...]

The fast growing world of entreprenuers supported by Kiva recently extended to the Republic of the Congo as HOPE Congo, S.A. became Kiva’s first partner in that country. As Kiva explains in a recent blog, they normally develop partnerships with established microfinance organizations. But in the case of HOPE Congo, Kiva, headed by 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs Matt [...]

Microfinance USA 2010, taking place in San Francisco on May 20 and 21 and hosted by Kiva, Opportunity Fund, and ACCION USA, will bring together microfinance practitioners, enthusiasts, and investors, to discuss the potential of microfinance as a tool for economic development in the U.S. and internationally.  Kiva president Premal Shah, along with Matt Flannery a 2008 Skoll [...]

The 8-part BBC World News series on social entrepreneurs, Alvin’s Guide to Good Business, wraps up this week with a look at Kiva, led by 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs Matt Flannery and Premal Shah.  Kiva has been at the forefront of online peer-to-peer microlending, with nearly $130 million in loans to date going from some [...]

BBC World News will be launching this weekend an 8-part series on social entrepreneurs around the globe.  Alvin’s Guide to Good Business will follow financial expert Alvin Hall as he visits a different social entrepreneur each week.  He’ll look at business models, impact, and the challenges of scaling.  Featured organizations include Riders for Health, [...]

Three Skoll award recipients - Camfed, Half the Sky and Kiva - are among 100 organizations in the final round of the Chase Community Giving challenge.  Chase Community Giving, hosted on Facebook, is an initiative designed to harness social media for fundraising, as well as to generate exposure for social change organizations.  Each of the [...]

The Skoll Foundation got a nice send off for 2009 from the Social Entrepreneurship blog by Nathaniel Whittemore over at Change.org.  He put together a “Top Moments of the Decade in Social Entrepreneurship” and listed at #1 the initial public offering of eBay because it became the launching pad for Jeff Skoll and Pierre Omidyar’s [...]

Kiva, led by 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs Matt Flannery and Premal Shah, just had its 4th birthday.  They celebrated with a pretty cool accomplishment - surpassing the $100 million level in loans.  As of today, Kiva has raised $100,786,510, enjoys a 98 percent repayment rate, has funded 251,001 entrepreneurs, and has 587,616 lenders representing 185 [...]

Premal Shah and Matt Flannery, respectively the president and CEO-co-founder of Kiva and 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs, have landed on Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 list. This annual ranking by Fortune identifies 40 individuals under the age of 40 that Fortune describes as “business’s hottest young rising stars.  They’re innovators, value creators and agents of [...]

Camfed, founded by 2005 Skoll social entrepreneur Ann Cotton, and Kiva, run by Skoll social entrepreneurs Matt Flannery and Premal Shah, are among 50 organizations competing in America’s Giving Challenge.  This is an initiative by Facebook’s Causes, PARADE Magazine and the Case Foundation.  Organizations compete for a $50,000 prize, which will be awarded to the [...]