Ask HN: Non-tech, micro-investing for charity/profit?
The basic concept is that "entrepreneurs in the developing world" apply for a loan, which you or I could fund, and then pay it back usually over a period of roughly 12 months. It's charitable, and therefore there is no cut taken by the middle man (the charity), and the loan is paid back without any increase.
Based on my rough glance, it's not exactly an area with much in common with HN - most people seem to want the loan for a market stall, or a shop, etc.
But I ponder - they say that around 98% of loans get paid back in full, and the loans requested seem to average at under $1,000. Might it be a sane investment plan to, rather than loaning it charitably, set up a similar scheme whereby they repay giving the investors a slight profit?
If 98% can repay 100% of the loan in 12 months, what if that changed to 95% repaying 120% in 18 months? Could potentially receive an average of ~15% profit on each loan, with the benefit that you could invest anything from $500 to $100,000s, and it could be set up in a similar way to allow low-budget investors to get in?
To run it as a charity seems like a lovely idea, and I'm not someone to look at every charity and think "what if that was turned into a profit-making excersie..." But if a small amount of profit might bring in a far greater number of investors, and therefore a greater number of people getting their lives changed for the better...
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? And/or are there already people investing like this?