Startups Contriby and Endurance Lending Network have surfaced, and they are both aimed at large swatches of the financial services sector.
Contriby is seeking angel investing for a platform for charitable donors. While the idea is still sketchy — the site just started accepting beta volunteers — charitable giving is anything but. In 2011, for example, about $298 billion of charitable gifts and pledges were made, and that total has been rising since 2009, according to the Giving USA Foundation. Contriby is based in San Diego and was launched by an ex-IBMer.
Endurance Lending Network, meanwhile, is aiming to make loans to small businesses much like On Deck Capital and Capital Access Network. Endurance, started by graduates from Stanford University who worked at Summit Partners and Second Market, has an ex-Zecco employee, Mitchell Fox, running marketing. Endurance is seeking an angel round of investing. Endurance says its target market, small businesses that can’t get loans, is a $200 billion a year “problem.”