When Kusum Nikose's husband died a few years ago, she decided to launch a small business rather than depend on others. Aided by her eldest son, she set up a bicycle repair shop near her slum home in the central Indian city of Nagpur.
She got off to a modest start and was keen to branch into bike rental, which required additional funds. Bank loans were out of reach and moneylenders charged usurious rates, but a 5,000 rupee (HK$808) loan last year from Chennai-based non-profit organisation Rang De enabled her to realise her plan.
Nikose has repaid the money and now hopes to earn enough to ensure her two younger children receive a proper education. 'I don't want them to face the same problems that I faced,' she says.
Microcredit - tiny loans issued without collateral for income-generating ventures by the poor - isn't a new idea. Muhammad Yunus famously pioneered such schemes in the 1970s through the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Other programmes have emerged on the mainland, in the Philippines, Cambodia and parts of Africa and Europe. But Rang De has now taken the concept further.
Launched by former software consultant N.K. Ramakrishna and his wife, Smita, the NGO raises capital online in the form of small investments from individuals.
'The strategy is to make optimal use of technology to ensure low-income groups gain access to affordable credit. By leveraging the internet to connect social investors with borrowers, we are able to cut costs and build a strong link between rural and urban India,' says Smita.