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Meet Capital Finder, a Free Tool for Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries

Image on Flickr by user Moyan Brenn (CC BY 2.0).

AlliedCrowds, an aggregator and directory of alternative finance providers in the developing world, has recently launched Capital Finder, a free platform that helps donors, investors and entrepreneurs navigate the alternative finance space to increase cash flow for relevant projects.

This is how they introduced their latest product:

The Capital Finder is an innovative tool that’s targeted specifically at entrepreneurs and MSMEs who need capital to take their businesses to the next level.

As AlliedCrowds CTO Malcolm Kapuza told Global Voices, “It allows entrepreneurs in the developing world to view different ways to raise money for the projects that they are working on”:

By filling the information gap and removing barriers to funding, we hope to unlock capital for projects that alleviate poverty and further economic development where it is needed most.

By alternative finance providers we mean crowdfunding platforms, venture capital firms, impact investors, angel investors and public/semi-public funders, such as development finance institutions. We have curated all of the ways that entrepreneurs can source funding outside of the traditional banking system.

The website wwwhat's new explained how to make the most out of AlliedCrowds information:

Su uso es muy sencillo: solo tenéis que elegir el país en el que residís y os mostrará las principales fuentes alternativas de capital disponibles […].
Las fuentes de financiación están clasificadas por sector (agricultura, informática, sanidad, etc.) y tipo de capital (préstamos, subvenciones, donaciones, etc.), y da información adicional acerca de las empresas que ofrecen el dinero.

It's very user friendly: you just select the country where you live, and it will show you the main capital alternative sources that are available […].
The sources of funding are classified by sector (agriculture, computing, health services, etc.) and kind of capital (loans, grants, donations, etc.), and [it] provides additional information about the firms that offer the funds.

On Twitter there is also more information about related projects and tips for followers:

By late 2015, AlliedCrowds,in collaboration with the Small Grants Program of United Nations Program for Development, launched its first sustainable crowdfunding platform in Ecuador “that provides grants of up to $50,000 directly to local communities including indigenous people, community-based organizations and other non-governmental groups for projects in Biodiversity, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Land Degradation and Sustainable Forest Management, International Waters and Chemicals”.

If you are interested in this tool, feel free to contact AlliedCrowds at capital.finder@alliedcrowds.com to license the use of the capital finder on your site.1

Global Voices and the author, Gabriela García Calderón, have no ties with AlliedCrowds or its project Capital Finder.

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