Micro-finance – small loans without any banks involved, are steadily appearing at a more rapid pace than even I appreciated.

Social lenders go where banks fear to tread | ft.com

Belu is unusual not only because raising environmental awareness is just as important to its founders as producing bottled water, but because of its sources of funding. About £100,000 ($148,620) of the money behind Belu was lent not by a bank or venture capital firm, but by London Rebuilding Society, one of about 100 UK non-profit lenders known as community development finance institutions