Article from : http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneursfinance/2008/06/03/kiva-microfinance-uganda-ent-fin-cx_0603whartonkiva.html
.... That decision proved prescient. Today, the Web site the Flannerys created-- Kiva.org--is one of the hottest and hippest on the Web. One online commentator compared it to an online dating service, and even former U.S. president Bill Clinton has praised its virtues. Kiva's 270,000 lenders--people who typically hand over their money, via credit card, in $25 increments--have funded borrowers in places as far flung as Tanzania and Tajikistan.
So far, they have assisted about 40,000 borrowers in 40 countries and provided a total of about $27 million in funding. A wave of international attention came to the practice of micro lending when Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering work in the field.
Kiva, founded in 2005, has been so successful that it has already spawned imitators: Last year, eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) launched a lending site called MicroPlace. Flannery, Kiva's chief executive, and Premal Shah, its president, spoke about the business and its evolution at the University of Pennsylvania Microfinance Conference.
Read more from: http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneursfinance/2008/06/03/kiva-microfinance-uganda-ent-fin-cx_0603whartonkiva.html
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