Premal Shah

Premal Shah
Born	1975 or 1976 (age 48–49) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Education	Stanford University
Occupation	Co-founder Kiva
Board member of	Center for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi.org, VolunteerMatch
Website	Kiva.org

Premal Shah (born 1975 or 1976^[1]) is an Indian-American entrepreneur who co-founded Kiva, a global poverty alleviation non-profit that has raised over $1 billion for low-income entrepreneurs in eighty countries.^[2][3]

Shah was born in Ahmedabad, India, and raised in Minnesota,^[4][5] graduating from Irondale High School. He attended Stanford University, where he pursued his interest in economic development, with a specific focus on microfinance.^[6] At the London School of Economics he received a research grant to study the microfinance work of the Self-Employed Women's Association.^[7]

Shah was an early employee of and principal product manager at PayPal.^[8] Building on his college interest in microfinance, Shah took a sabbatical from PayPal in 2004 to prototype a concept of person-to-person microlending in India.^[9][10]

Upon his return to Silicon Valley in 2005, Shah joined Matt Flannery and Jessica Jackley in launching Kiva and scaling it into a global organization.^[11] Kiva has since raised over one billion dollars in loans from over a million lenders in support of over two million entrepreneurs from eighty countries. Seventy-five percent of loans are disbursed to women, with a repayment rate of ninety-six percent.^[3]

In addition to serving as president of Kiva, Shah sits on the boards of other non-profit of organizations, including Center for Humane Technology, Change.org Foundation, Watsi, and VolunteerMatch.^[12][13] He is considered to be a part of the PayPal Mafia, a group of PayPal alumni who have gone on to found or co-found other successful companies, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Tesla Motors, and Yelp.^[14]

Premal is currently listed as a co-founder at renewables.org - an investment platform for renewable energy in emerging markets.^[15]

• Fortune Magazine's 40 Under 40 List.^[16]
• Obama White House Champion of Change^[17]
• Visionary of the Year Nominee, San Francisco Chronicle^[1]
• World Economic Forum - Young Global Leader selection^[18]
• Olympic Torch carrier for the 2008 Summer Games^[19]
• Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship^[20]
• Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs^[21]
• In 2024 became an honoree of the Great Immigrants Award; the award was given by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.^[22]

Premal lives in San Francisco, California, with his wife and two children. He speaks widely about the potential for markets, technology & altruism to address some of society's toughest challenges.^[23][24]