Wokai Launches Pilot Version of New Lending Platform
Published by Jerry Ostradicky, | 19 Oct 2008 at 09:14 pm
It’s no suprise that I am a big fan of microfinance lending platforms. I have always been a big supporter of Kiva and Microplace, but am always looking for new platforms to join. Recently, I discussed the launch of a new platform called Veecus, which is a new organization in the microfinance scene.
However, one of the newest platforms out there might not sound so new. Wokai, who has been working on launching their new platform, has been discussing their journey through their blog. Recently, Wokai announced that they are launching a pilot version of their lending platform. With the pilot platform, Wokai is looking for 200 people to test out the site by making $50 in contributions directly to microentrepreneurs in Inner Mongolia, and providing feedback on this process.
Here is a short video clip describing their new platform:
Author's Website: http://www.mykro.org
Leslie Forman on 19 Oct 2008 at 11:56 pm #
Thanks Jerry for writing about our Pilot Program. This week we’re starting its second stage. I especially love reading the stories, from both the entrepreneurs and contributors.
Also, I recently attended a conference at Stanford where I met representatives from many different microfinance marketplaces. You might be particularly interested in RangDe (from India) as it is a microfinance lending platform by Indians for Indians. The full list of online giving marketplaces that attended this conference is here (scroll down to the middle) http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2008/10/online-giving-marketplaces.html
Bhalchander Vishwanath on 20 Oct 2008 at 1:42 pm #
Hi Jerry,
My name is Bhalchander Vishwanath. I am the founder and CEO of United Prosperity. We launched on October 9th. You could check our website http://www.unitedprosperity.org. With our model, the general public can guarantee loans on our website. With the guarantee model, $1 in guarantee translates to $2 to $5 in loan to entrepreneurs, thereby maximizing the impact for social guarantors.
Cheers
Bhalchander
Jerry Ostradicky on 22 Oct 2008 at 1:32 pm #
Thank you Leslie and Bhalchander for your feedback. I will definitely take a look at both of the websites that you suggested, and will most likely make a follow up post.
In the meantime, if you know of anybody who uses the platfroms you suggested, either as donors, recipients, or employees, who would be interested in sharing their experiences on the mykro blog, please send them our way
Thanks
Jerry
Bhalchander Vishwanath on 24 Oct 2008 at 8:23 am #
Hi Jerry,
Thank you very much. We do not have any guarantors or entrepreneurs yet as we are not yet operational. A few of my team mates and myself will be happy to share our experience over the last one year on the mykro blog. Let me know how we could do that.
Cheers,
Bhalchander
Wokai NYC Launch Party - May 27th | myKRO on 25 May 2009 at 9:17 am #
[...] a microfinance event in your neck of the woods this coming Wednesday worth checking out. Wokai.org, which has been covered here on myKRO before, is doing a fundraising party to celebrate the launch of their New York [...]
The Microfinance Conversation on Twitter | myKRO on 31 May 2009 at 5:15 pm #
[...] Wilson – The CEO and co-founder of Wokai.org (a lending platform Jerry first covered in October) is a fairly active tweeter. I had the chance to meet her a couple weeks ago, and she’s [...]