Kickstarter, Indiegogo and other crowdfunding platforms have been a big hit with product makers and creative types, but a new company called Local Lift wants to now bring the power of crowdfunding to those in the local, small business community, too.

With the Local Lift platform, business owners are able to raise funds directly from their customer base and the community at large by running 30-day campaigns for small amounts of funding, usually averaging around $7,000-$8,000, based on early trials.

The idea for the startup comes from a team with financial and business backgrounds, including former Harvard Business School grads, Broderick McClinton, who previously worked at BlackRock and spent time in New Orleans working on economic development issues; and Eric Sonnier, previously of Deloitte and mobile ad startup MdotM. Meanwhile, CTO Matt Christen’s background involves development work on high-frequency trading platforms.