Senator Mark Warner and Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones Join Kiva and Capital One to Announce the Launch of Kiva City Richmond to Bolster Small Business Growth

Richmond, Virginia, July 30, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Capital One Financial Corporation, along with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, today announced the launch of Kiva City Richmond. The initiative brings crowdfunded loans to entrepreneurs in the Richmond region to start or expand their businesses. Through Kiva City Richmond, anyone can lend $25 to an entrepreneur of their choice at kiva.org/richmond or become a Trustee and vouch for entrepreneurs they know and trust in their community.

Every dollar lent to an entrepreneur in the Richmond region will be matched by Capital One, up to $25,000. Kiva City Richmond builds on Capital One’s $500,000 matching loan fund commitment to Kiva to help entrepreneurs across the country with funding to start, sustain and grow their businesses.

“The launch of Kiva City Richmond is a great new opportunity for hard-working entrepreneurs here in Virginia to get targeted assistance to grow their businesses,” Sen. Warner said. “Kiva is building on its proven track record in microfinance by launching this program which will support entrepreneurship, create local jobs, and continue the revitalization of our community.”

“I’m excited about the launch of Kiva City Richmond as this provides another platform for us to advance neighborhood revitalization efforts,” said Mayor Jones. “Helping local businesses grow and thrive is also central to our anti-poverty strategy in the city of Richmond and I appreciate Capital One's commitment to this important initiative.”

“Richmond is where it all began for Capital One and we’re thrilled to expand our partnership with Kiva to launch Kiva City Richmond.  Successful small businesses create ripple effects: jobs are created, communities are strengthened and we all benefit,” said Jon Witter, President of Retail and Direct Bank, Capital One. “The Kiva City model makes an important connection between local businesses and the people they serve – neighbors helping neighbors and each being a part of the other’s success. We’re proud to launch a program we know will help local businesses grow and thrive.”

Visitors to www.kiva.org/richmond can browse entrepreneurs’ profiles and stories and choose one to support with a loan of $25 or more. Every dollar helps crowdfund an entrepreneur’s microloan, which in turn supports local economies, communities and job creation. When the entrepreneur repays, the lender can provide the $25 loan to another person or withdraw their money from the system.

The crowdfunded loans are offered with very generous terms and fill a critical lending gap faced by entrepreneurs who have the plans and the passion, but lack capital to start or expand.

Kiva City Richmond is made possible by several area organizations joining the initiative as Trustees. Trustees are individuals or organizations who vouch for entrepreneurs they know and trust in their community. Once endorsed, entrepreneurs can post their loan request at zip.kiva.org and begin getting their loan crowdfunded by friends, community members and Kiva’s growing global community of 950,000 lenders. When the entrepreneur repays, they too, can become a Trustee on Kiva Zip and “pay it forward” by endorsing other small business entrepreneurs in their trust network.

“This initiative gives everyone a chance to invest in Richmond’s economy as a lender or a Trustee,” said Matt Flannery, Kiva’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Through Kiva City Richmond each of us can support entrepreneurs creating jobs and building the new economy in their community.”

Trustees in the Richmond area include United Virginia, Bizworks Enterprise Center, Richmond Craft Mafia, The Center for Women’s Enterprise, Women’s Business Center, Club de Comerciantes of Virginia, and Community Investment Collaborative. To become a Trustee, visit www.kiva.org/richmond.

Earlier this year, Capital One supported the launch of Kiva City D.C, which connects Washington, D.C.-area small businesses with Kiva’s global network of lenders, giving small business owners the opportunity to grow and improve their local economies.

Kiva City Richmond joins similar initiatives in Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, Little Rock, Newark and Washington, D.C.

About Kiva.org
Kiva is the world's first and largest crowdfunding platform for social good. Kiva is a nonprofit organization that aims to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty and expand economic opportunity. Since 2005, Kiva and their growing global community of 950,000 lenders have crowdfunded more than $450 million in microloans to over 1 million entrepreneurs in 65 countries, with a 98.9% repayment rate. For more information, visit www.kiva.org.

About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy communities – good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families – benefits us all and we are proud to support this and other community initiatives.

Media Contacts:
Jason Riggs, Kiva Communications Director, 415.871.7351, jason@kiva.org
Eva Pereira, RF|Binder, 781.559.0424, eva.pereira@rfbinder.com
Shelley Solheim, Capital One, 917.589.6203, shelley.solheim@capitalone.com