This Startup Will Give You a Loan -- But There's a Twist Able, the brainchild of two Harvard MBAs, requires borrowers to raise the first quarter of their loan amount from friends and family.

When the opportunity to buy an established hair salon fell into Hayley Groll's lap in June, she quickly took stock of her financing options.

The veteran hairstylist was not approved by the online lender she initially contacted. Then she found Austin-based Able, which bills itself as a "collaborative lender."

Within three weeks, Groll had a three-year, $105,000 loan, enough to buy Shag Salon and renew its 1,850-square-foot commercial lease for a decade. Even better was her interest rate of 9 percent.