Big night for small business in Tulsa

TULSA — Wednesday evening, a new business in Tulsa will get a healthy infusion of cash, knowledge, and other resources that should provide it a great head start.

And a new initiative to help businesses obtain zero-interest loans from a crowdfunding platform will be rolled out in Tulsa as well.

Five finalists in the Tulsa StartUp Series will make their pitch to a panel of judges, and the winner will receive several prizes which will help them get up and running.

“The first-place winner receives $15,000 as their grand prize,” Meredith Peebles, COO of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation (LTFF) tells KRMG, “as well as a year-long membership to 36 Degrees North, a year-long dedicated mentor, as well as this year they’re getting a great advertising package from Cox Media Group.”

Second place gets $4,000, third place gets $2,500.

But the real prize, many say, is the invaluable lessons new entrepreneurs get in building a business plan, and pitching it to potential investors.

“There’s so much opportunity for mentorship and coaching along the way,” Peebles said. “It’s helping them refine that very important sales pitch and investors pitch. They’re getting feedback at all these different points in the competition.”

The competition begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Cox Business Center downtown; the winner will be announced at 8:00 p.m.

But before the StartUp Series starts up, LTFF will announce a new initiative also designed to help small businesses.

It's called "Kiva," and it's actually been around for about 12 years.

The non-profit was founded in San Francisco, and originally focused on growing businesses owned by women in developing nations.

But now, Kiva is coming to Tulsa, with a full-time coordinator on the ground here in Green Country.

Kiva helps connect small business owners to zero-interest, crowdfunded microloans.

Lenders can invest as little as $25 in a business, and businesses can request loans up to $10,000.

The lenders don’t make money, but when the loans are repaid they can re-invest elsewhere or cash out.

The latest figures show that 97% of Kiva loans do get repaid.

LTFF has announced it will match up to $250,000 in Kiva loans in the Tulsa metro area.

Businesses seeking Kiva loans will also be at the Cox Business Center Wednesday evening, beginning at 4:30 p.m.