1- Is it really web2.0? -> Yes, ’cause members interact with each other and transact.

2- Is it really non-profit? -> Yes, ’cause you give up the opportunity cost of not depositing your money to saving account; instead, you send your money to the entrepreneurs of under-developed nations loan-free and hope their business flourish.

Elise Olympio, mother of four, sells a transformed type of corn, and is specialized in this area for almost 10 years. She claims that she has a good customer satisfaction rating and her business has potential to grow…if only she could find enough capital to build up corn stock, hire extra people and boost production. Income from her taxi-driving husband can only cover variable costs of life, and this made Elise apply for a 750$ loan from developed world.

A nice story. But the most crucial part is, the way I learnt this. Thanks to Kiva.org and Farron Blanc - the Kiva volunteer who translated Olympio’s speech -, a organized effort to help darker side of the world develop is well on track. The model is quite simple, and surprisingly seems working: The entrepreneur needs money (very very small compared to what San Mateo starters are raising), posts her request, some fellow volunteers translate it, and some colloborative people on the other side of the world invests.

The website is ambitiously developing itself, with even project-specific banners ready to be promoted on your homepages. For the ones among you that seeks self-realization and wanna fulfill it via web 2.0, it looks like the best way to go in these days. My expectation? Zopa and Prosper gets so big to compete with Corporate America, and they voluntarily bring a tiny commission cut from each transaction to fund Kiva’s initiatives.

To learn more about Zopa and Prosper, follow the links.