Bad Girl Ventures founder Candace Klein, a Cincinnati attorney, is making good on her promise to help small business owners fund their dreams through
SoMoLend, a new lending platform.
The web-based, peer-to-peer lending site is designed to offer entrepreneurs a way to raise money for their business ventures from the people they know best: friends and family.
Through SoMoLend, entrepreneurs can borrow up to $35,000 dollars through the secure, patent-pending platform. Borrowers create a profile and loan application through the SoMoLend site. SoMoLend is geared toward small businesses, but will not lend to sole proprietors, Klein said.
Potential lenders, the borrower's friends and family, can review the business loan application, and if they decide to lend money SoMOLend will facilitate it. SoMoLend allows credit worthy borrowers to bypass the bank and borrow money at as low as 3 percent interest.
"This is all about getting money in small business owner's hands," said Klein, who founded Bad Girl Ventures, a Cincinnati-based micro lending organization for women-owned startups, in 2010.
Klein created SoMoLend following her experiences with BGV, which offers funding through a competitive process that includes an eight-week business course. BGV recently expanded to Cleveland, and is planning to soon be in Columbus.
Since its inception BGV has had 300 applicants, 225 in its classes and 24 businesses funded. But that didn't leave Klein satisfied.
"What are the other 376 doing to get funded? They're probably not getting money from a bank," Klein said.
Through SoMoLend, Klein hopes to help further fill the funding void. The site is up and running, with plans for a mobile version this year. In addition to the peer-to-peer aspect, Klein is working to get banks on board. So far,
KeyBank has partnered with the site to lend at least $1 million to small businesses.
Klein is traveling around the state to spread the word about SoMoLend and plans to eventually have the platform available in all 50 states.
By Feoshia Henderson
Source: SoMoLend founder Candace Klein