Techwave Digest · May 2026
Recent explainer summarizing Zidisha’s direct P2P microlending model, founder Julia Kurnia, low-fee structure, and no-intermediary approach.
Direct P2P lending across the international wealth divide.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Zidisha is a nonprofit direct peer-to-peer microlending and crowdfunding platform that connects individual backers with entrepreneurs in developing countries, emphasizing zero-interest financing, direct communication, and a pay-it-forward repayment model. Public sources describe it as remote/distributed and volunteer-heavy; no separate public CEO listing was found, with Julia Kurnia serving as the principal founder/director.
Primary product
Direct P2P microlending / crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs in developing countries
Founded
2009
Headquarters
Sterling, Virginia, USA
Team size
1-10
Work style
Remote
Industry
Financial Services
Sub-industry
Nonprofit peer-to-peer lending / microfinance / crowdfunding
Offices
Sterling, Virginia, USA
Distributed worldwide (no dedicated brick-and-mortar office)
Business model
direct peer-to-peer lending
nonprofit crowdfunding/philanthropy
service-fee-funded platform
pay-it-forward repayment recycling
Funding
People & investors
Leadership
Founder and Director
Chief Technical Officer
Volunteer Director
Work & culture
Mission-driven, transparent, open-source, volunteer-heavy, and distributed worldwide; the organization appears to value remote collaboration, low overhead, and direct borrower/backer communication.
Work style
Remote
Compensation
No public compensation range was found in the sourced material. The hiring post emphasizes a remote engineering role, GitHub/code-sample review, and collaboration with a mostly volunteer distributed team.
Product & market
Pricing
Borrowers pay a 5% service fee deducted from disbursements; backers pay no fee, though voluntary tips/donations are encouraged; no interest is charged on new loans.
Differentiators
- —Direct lender-to-borrower connection without local intermediaries
- —Zero-interest loans
- —Low 5% service fee
- —Direct communication through the platform
- —Pay-it-forward recycling of repaid funds
- —Open-source codebase
- —Volunteer/distributed operating model
- —Mobile/low-bandwidth-friendly product design
Technology
PHP
Laravel
Elasticsearch
Ansible
Vagrant
Composer
Git
GitHub
PHPUnit
Twitter Bootstrap
Rackspace Cloud
Nginx
jQuery
Stripe
PayPal
Telerivet
SendWithUs
SiftScience
GeoIP2
Android app
Customers
Entrepreneurs in developing countries
Backers / lenders / donors
Volunteer mentors
Small businesses seeking microloans
Competitors
Kiva
United Prosperity
traditional microfinance institutions
crowdfunding platforms
alternative lending platforms
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
Approximately $1M-$16M (conflicting third-party estimates; public profiles disagree)
Estimated monthly visits
23.7K
Latest news
Giving Assistant Blog · Oct 2025
Nonprofit spotlight describing Zidisha’s current model, 5% service fee, direct communication, and pay-it-forward mechanics.
CGAA · Feb 2025
Article describing Zidisha’s direct lending flow, borrower fee structure, and role in connecting lenders with entrepreneurs in developing countries.
NextBillion · Mar 2016
Reports on donations from Craig Newmark, Paul Buchheit, and other tech donors, totaling about $525K at the time.
TechCrunch · Jan 2014
Launch coverage of Zidisha’s Y Combinator-era public debut and its direct P2P lending proposition.
Jobs and careers at Zidisha
0 jobs at Zidisha
No open positions
Check back later for new openings