OneSeed Expeditions has financed its 500th loan, investing in entrepreneurs around the world as they guide travelers on socially responsible adventures
Based in Denver, Colorado, OneSeed Expeditions is an adventure travel company set out to make an impact. The team leads guided expeditions, trekking through remote Patagonia, soaring through the Annapurna Mountains on bike, and stargazing through the canopy of the Amazon Rainforest. And all the while, each journey directly invests in budding entrepreneurs in the country visited.
OneSeed’s Founder and CEO, Chris Baker, was an anthropology student and avid traveler. As he meandered the globe, he noticed a huge economic disparity. Tourists were spending amounts of money daily that would transform the lives of the locals in that country.
To close this extraordinary gap, Baker established OneSeed Expeditions in 2010 with the mission of investing 10% of the company’s income into the communities in which they work.
Travelers choose their adventure and book a spot on one of OneSeed’s adventure expeditions. On the first day of the month following their travels, this money becomes available to microfinance institutions in the country they visited. These institutions grant microloans to local entrepreneurs, allowing them to launch their businesses with money borrowed at a low interest rate. From this initial loan, entrepreneurs have the foundation to grow their business and benefit their entire community.
In September of 2017, OneSeed financed its 500th microloan investing in innovative entrepreneurs like this Nepalese farmer. With an average loan of $458, that equates to more than $236,000 invested.
Baker is honored that he, as the owner of a small business, is able to support fellow entrepreneurs around the globe.
“It’s not a relationship between a donor and an aid recipient,” says Baker. “It’s businesses working together and strengthening the thing that’s really important to us as a travel company, which is the vibrancy of the communities where we work.”
People who travel the world often want to lend a hand in changing it, but aren’t sure how. OneSeed is their answer.