Orlando-based tech firm launches crowd-sourcing microloan app

“Most small business owners don’t want handouts. They want to work and pay back their customers, who love them enough to keep them in business. We want to help people create invested advocates for their business.”

– MIVENTURE CO-FOUNDER JASON CRYSTAL

Miventure (Facebook | Website), pronounced “My Venture,” is a new startup that specializes in crowd-sourced microloans that wants to change the way small businesses get financed.

Small businesses essentially now use the Miventure app to quickly raise the money they need to grow or cover short-term project costs in a 90-day window, similar to other crowdsourcing platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe. If the business fails to raise the targeted amount in that window of time, investors get their money back.

If successful, the funds are given to the business in the form of a loan, managed by Miventure. The businesses then repay the funds plus monthly interest to those investors, via an escrow account set up in their name, minus a 7% fee on the total amount raised to the app for hosting the project.

Investing in private businesses and business ventures can be risky, so the app lets users invest in small amounts (as little as $25) to keep that risk minimal.

Prospective investors can log onto the Miventure app and read about the listed businesses and their corresponding campaigns prior to investing. Each business will have a report and risk assessment portfolio along with a different set interest rate, set by the business itself, related to how long the campaign is and how much they’re asking for.

The founders, Jason Crystal and Luiggi Pera, moved to Orlando via New York City to participate in the University of Central Florida’s business incubator, which helped them get some early stage investors.

When asked why people should use their app instead of a regular bank, Jason Crystal told Bungalower that it’s because they focus primarily on people who fall outside of regular bank requirements.

“Our rates and durations are better than you would get if you can’t get a regular loan from a bank – in fact, 80% of small business loans are being rejected by financial institutions right now. We work with people and businesses that would normally have to turn to predatory lenders and end up paying ridiculous interest rates. We’re accessible and our loans are not based on the biases of a single bank manager, they’re based on the community you have around you, regardless of age, sex, race, or whatever it is that makes you special. And we’re sourcing local dollars and keeping them local rather than sending them to a faraway bank.”

– MIVENTURE CO-FOUNDER JASON CRYSTAL

Miventure is looking to work with new Orlando-based cloud kitchen concepts, restaurants, bars and breweries, arcades, sports initiatives, and service-oriented businesses like salons and barbershops in the Orlando area. All applicants must be a registered business to qualify.