As the business landscape continues to evolve, it's more important now than ever to support Black women entrepreneurs who are often marginalized and struggle to access the capital they need to grow and scale their businesses. Blaze, as a company dedicated to empowering Black women in business, is leading the charge in this area with our newly launched comprehensive capital strategy in partnership with Kiva.
Since 2021, Blaze has proudly partnered with Kiva US to bridge Black women to interest-free, zero-fee business loans of up to $15,000 and our goal is to continue to grow the number of women that can have access to these loans each year. This is why we have launched a new strategy in partnership with Kiva to better reach this goal.
At the core of our latest capital strategy is the #FundBlackWomen investor pool, which allows lending team members to be notified when Blaze community members create new campaigns to crowdfund capital for their ventures. This way, they can support by making loans available through Kiva's platform.
But we're not stopping there! We're going deeper in helping Black women-owned businesses become investable by offering loan readiness support. Through a nurturing journey, Black women-owned businesses can opt-in for 5 months of loan readiness support - which includes guidance on becoming more financially prepared to receive investment.
Our capital strategy takes a comprehensive approach to empowering Black women in business. By providing community, coaching, and capital, we are addressing the systemic barriers that have historically prevented Black women-owned businesses from accessing the funding they need to succeed.
We are committed to continuing to innovate and push boundaries through the work that we do to secure the future for Black women-owned businesses across the world!