University Incubator is a non-profit organization designed to provide no-cost financing and grants to student entrepreneurs so you can "create your own job by the time you graduate!"
Whether we meet you at an entrepreneurship event on campus or you were referred to us by a trusted partner, the first step is to sit down with you (and your team) to understand your vision. This is an informal meeting where we get to know each other and discuss your idea in it's current form.
Once we understand where you're coming from and where you want to go, we make a decision to proceed towards getting funded or offer advice and suggestions to consider before proceeding further.
The Process:
1) To begin the funding process through our partnership with Kiva Zip, we begin by writing a "trustee endorsement", where University Incubator writes an endorsement of your idea and creditworthiness. Getting funded through Kiva's vast lender base provides you with a 0%-interest loan of up to $5,000 and up to a 24 month term. These loans are not collateralized and are non-recourse loans, so it is important that recipients are individuals of the utmost integrity who are responsible with finances.
2) Next University Incubator submits an endorsement and the the borrower (you) completes a loan application. This process takes a couple hours and provides information on yourself, your idea, your background and team (if applicable). Some of this information, such as the "use of proceeds" will be visible to the Kiva lender base once your loan goes live on the Kiva Zip website.
3) Once the loan application is complete, University Incubator will review and either approve it "as-is" or suggest changes to give you the best shot at getting funded fast.
4) Finally, the loan application is uploaded to the Kiva Zip team who reviews the loan before posting it live on their platform. From there, most loans take 3-4 weeks to fully fund.
5)When the loan is fully funded, the proceeds are disbursed via PayPal - CONGRATULATIONS!
During the assessment phase, these are some of the questions University Incubator will be seeking to answer:
- Do we deeply trust that you are the kind of person who will commit to repaying your loan?
- Do you have a viable business, or business plan?
- Do you know what you will use the loan for and how it will impact your business?
- Will this loan have a positive social impact?
- Do you meet the minimum criteria for a Kiva Zip loan?
The minimum criteria for receiving a Kiva Zip loan are the following:
- The borrower's debt-to-income ratio must be less than 35%.
- The borrower cannot have over $3,000 in past-due debt.
- The loan must be less than 75% of the borrower's income.
- The borrower cannot currently be in foreclosure or bankruptcy.
- The borrower's annual income must be less than $100,000.
- The borrower must be over 16 years of age.
- The borrower must have a PayPal account.
To empower the Next Generation of Student Entrepreneurs.
