JD.com is moving quickly to leverage their new crowdfunding platform initially titled “Coufenzi” by signing an agreement to partner with Grameen China, a non-profit and non-governmental group dedicated to eliminating poverty. JD Crowdfunding will be used to raise money to establish “ground operations” and then going forward the crowdfunding site will provide micro-loans for entrepreneurs in rural areas of China. The initiative is seeking to target areas of the country which are traditionally underserved by banks. The project will be directed by Grameen Trust (GT) founder Mahammad Yunus, a pioneer in microcredit and microfinance plus a Nobel Laureate.
Richard Liu, founder and CEO of JD.com will join Yunnus on December 17th at a fundraising breakfast to formally launch the new partnership. The crowdfunding campaign for the breakfast is already fully funded having raised over 2 times its initial goal with the support of over 900 backers.
Richard Liu was quoted on the new project;
“JD.com is extremely proud to provide a platform for Grameen Trust, the global leader in microfinance, and Mahammad Yunus to expand their groundbreaking work helping to alleviate poverty in China by empowering rural entrepreneurs,” Mr. Liu said. “In line with our vision to give back to the communities that have made us successful, we look forward to drawing on the expertise of Grameen Trust
to strengthen JD.com’s microfinance and crowdfunding efforts to more effectively empower people living in rural areas of China.”
Mr. Zhan Gao, President and CEO of Grameen China, commented, “The partnership between Grameen China and JD.com is a landmark step in the development of China’s nascent microfinance efforts. Grameen’s expertise in empowering people in rural areas to lift themselves out of poverty, combined with JD.com huge user base and reach into targeted areas, provides a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.”
JD Crowdfunding was launched on July 1, 2014 and has collected more than RMB 100 million for projects since launch. The platform states they hosted the largest crowdfunding project to date in China, on October 22, 2014 JD.com raised more than RMB 11.2 million from more than 3,500 people to fund a company developing advanced air purifiers.
In June 2014, JD.com launched its own microfinancing project, JD Hometown Delivery Program, to provide small loans to eligible Company couriers to establish and operate JD.com delivery stations in their hometowns. More than 200 delivery stations in rural areas have been established to date.
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