Fund
The Gumball Fund is a pool of funds generated by Gumball Challenge teams. These funds are used to support loans to the working poor in the developing world through the online lending platforms of Kiva.org and Wokai, social entrepreneurship in the local community, and microfinance around the world. The funds create a revolving pool of money that, as the lenders build their businesses and return the money, is lent out again to new entrepreneurs.
How it Works
- Teams participating in the Challenge direct their revenue to the Fund.
- The Fund then allocates the revenue either to an organization that shares our passion for entrepreneurship and microfinance, or as a loan to an individual entrepreneur through Kiva or Wokai, organizations that lets people make low interest microloans to the working poor in developing countries. Most of the fund goes through Kiva and Wokai.
- Kiva and Wokai work with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to distribute those loans to entrepreneurs.
- Loan recipients pay back their loan within the specified period (usually around 1 year).
- We loan the capital out again to a new entrepreneur.
Who we Fund
When we choose an entrepreneur, we make sure the delinquency rate and default rate are extremely low. Overall, we try to diversify our entrepreneur portfolio by spreading out our loans among different trades (food, education, health, etc) and geographical areas. To get a sense of who we fund, you can stay updated on the Gumball Fund loan portfolio by visiting our Kiva profile page.
Gumball and Microfinance?
Gumball Capital supports microfinance as a launching pad for social impact. Through the model of microfinance, we believe we can inspire college students in the Gumball Challenge to engage in amazing entrepreneurial endeavors in service of the common good. Moreover, through the Fund, we hope to use microfinance to bridge the impact of micro-entrepreneurship between student and developing-world entrepreneurs.
Though whether it's through the Gumball Challenge or the Gumball Fund, we believe that each individual has the potential for great success. As Muhammd Yunus once said, "Unleashing of energy and creativity in each human being is the answer to poverty."