A VC in Vacationland

eBay has moved into the peer-to-peer lending space with the purchase of pre-launch, San Francisco-based MicroPlace. It will face startup competitors Kiva, Zopa, and Prosper.

eBay is spinning this as part of its good corporate citizen programs: "MicroPlace is an eBay-like platform for individuals to find and invest in micro finance organizations around the world and was acquired in May 2006 as part of eBay Inc.’s efforts to build out our Global Citizenship and Development initiative. This ongoing initiative is focused on maximizing our corporate resources to continue to drive social good through a variety of innovative programs. Examples of these programs include the successful Giving Works program available on the eBay Marketplace, which has generated millions of dollars for thousands of charities since 2000 and the eBay Foundation, which has contributed more than $13 million to non-profit organizations."

MicroPlace’s CEO and founder is Tracey Pettengill, who was CFO at ApproTEC/KickStart and Founder and CEO at 4charity.

Will eBay drive more people to consider investing in the micro finance space?  This is the unanswered question.  It all depends on whether eBay chooses to integrate MicroPlace into day to day operations, like having the option of adding a note to the sale of your grandmother’s china that a portion of the proceeds will go to MicroPlace.  Otherwise, this is just another notch in the good corporate citizen belt for eBay.  We’ll see how it goes after launch.