Kobi Sarmili uses a water hose to cool his chickens during a heavy heat wave at a farm in Moshav Margaliot, northern Israel, August 14, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)
The platform also enables individuals to support the small business of their choice in Israel.
By JNS
With Hezbollah’s attacks in Lebanon escalating and Israel now facing the prospect of a multi-front war, the peer-to-peer lending platform SparkIL has expanded its support for Israel’s small-business owners by launching a NIS 10 million ($2.7 million) emergency loan fund for businesses based in the north.
Home to approximately 90,000 of the 660,000 small- and medium-sized businesses across the country, the north has long been overlooked as a crucial contributor to Israel’s economy.
Small businesses there employ 500,000 people, some of whom have been evacuated since the terrorist attacks in October and the widening of the war front.
Thousands of businesses on the northern border have been abandoned for months.
Two months after the Oct. 7 attacks, SparkIL launched an emergency fund of NIS 10 million (about $2.7 million) for small businesses in southern Israel that were affected by the war with Hamas in Gaza.
That effort has rallied more than 2,000 microlenders worldwide to contribute about $5.5 million to more than 300 businesses.
Now, it has doubled down on that initiative with a newly announced fund dedicated to assisting businesses in the increasingly beleaguered north.
Owners or other self-employed individuals there are eligible for an immediate, interest-free loan of up to NIS 100,000 ($27,000) per business.
The platform also enables individuals to support the small business of their choice in Israel.
For a loan as nominal as $25, lenders worldwide have a tangible way to help the Israeli people at their darkest hour.
The minimum investment for Israeli lenders is a loan of NIS 50 ($13.50).
The loan fund is supported by partners in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors, including the Jewish Federations of North America, the U.K.-based UJIA, Payoneer, KLA and others.
It was established in 2022 in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ogen Group to enable users to participate in crowdfunding interest-free loans that aim to assist underserved populations across Israel.
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The sides discussed joint strategic and security issues and ways to expand cooperation.