Premal Shah | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India |
| Education | Stanford University |
| Occupation | Co-founder Kiva |
| Board member of | Center for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi.org, VolunteerMatch |
| Website | Kiva.org |
Premal Shah (born 1975 [1] ) is an Indian-American entrepreneur who co-founded Kiva, a global poverty alleviation non-profit that has raised over $2 billion for low-income entrepreneurs in eighty countries. [2] [3] [4]
Shah was born in Ahmedabad, India, and raised in Minnesota, [5] [6] graduating from Irondale High School. He attended Stanford University, where he pursued his interest in economic development, with a specific focus on microfinance. [7] At the London School of Economics he received a research grant to study the microfinance work of the Self-Employed Women's Association. [8]
Shah was an early employee of and principal product manager at PayPal. [9] Building on his college interest in microfinance, Shah took a sabbatical from PayPal in 2004 to prototype a concept of person-to-person microlending in India. [10] [11]
Upon his return to Silicon Valley in 2005, Shah joined Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley in launching Kiva and scaling it into a global organization. [12] Kiva has since raised over two billion dollars in loans from over two million lenders in support of over five million entrepreneurs from 62 countries, with a 96% repayment rate. 81% of loans are disbursed to women, and 67% of loan recipients live in rural communities. [3] [4]
In addition to serving as president of Kiva, Shah sits on the boards of other non-profit of organizations, including Center for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi, and VolunteerMatch. [13] [14] He is considered to be a part of the PayPal Mafia, a group of PayPal alumni who have gone on to found or co-found other successful companies, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, and Yelp. [15]
Premal is currently listed as a co-founder at renewables.org - an investment platform for renewable energy in emerging markets. [16]
Premal lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and two children. He speaks widely about the potential for markets, technology & altruism to address some of society's toughest challenges. [24] [25]
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