Atlanta donation platform Charityvest has garnered more investor support to reach its goal — enable $100 million in donations to charities.
Charityvest, a donation platform managed by financial technology startup Vennfi Inc., raised a $2.2 million seed round from mission-driven firm DURO VC, Jackson Healthcare CEO Rick Jackson and UMANA Family Office CEO Ba Minuzzi.
The funding will be used to develop a mobile app and add more community-giving features, said Charityvest CEO Stephen Kump. It will also help the company work with charities on fundraising initiatives and market the platform through personal finance influencers.
“We’re not thinking in terms of user goals, we’re focused more on creating value," Kump said.
Charityvest, a 2021 Atlanta Inno Startups to Watch honoree, has $5.9. million in investments.
The purpose of the company is to create tools to help people give to charity through a simple platform with low fees, Kump said.
The platform allows people to create tax-deductible accounts to donate to charities and keep track of the amount in consolidated tax receipts. The minimum donation amount is $20. It includes donation options for more than 1.4 million U.S.-based nonprofits with cash or cryptocurrency.
The investment comes as the company has experienced growth over the last year and a half and is now introducing new features to its platform.
In November 2020, Charityvest had six-full time employees and facilitated $3 million in contributions to charities.
Today, the company has grown to a staff of nine full-time employees along with five contractors working on the platform. It now has 10,000 people using the platform, who have donated $50 million to charities.
The company plans to introduce “low-fee investment capabilities” to its platform. The feature will allow users to make a contribution and let the money grow in the platform’s portfolio, tax free, as they decide which charity they want to support. The feature helps people donate larger sums and plan their donations, Kump said.
