NeedsList, a Durham tech firm that aims to match crisis-response organizations with critical resources, has been acquired by technology firm Armillaria.
Armillaria is an Oregon-based company on a mission to create digital infrastructure that more effectively mobilizes people and capital toward addressing “the most urgent challenges of our time.”
In an interview, NeedsList co-founder Amanda Levinson said there was “mutual interest” from the get-go.
“We’ve known them for a while,” she said of Armillaria. “So the subject came up on a call and they said they would be interested in acquiring us and pursuing that conversation.”
Levinson declined to give deal terms.
NeedsList’s two employees are both going over with the new firm. As for Levinson, she plans to continue working in the “tech for good space,” as well as to write about her experiences, including “the valuable lessons we’ve learned along the way about creating this company from scratch … trying to use tech to change things at a system level.”
Levinson said she has advice for other entrepreneurs negotiating deals in 2024.
“Know your worth and be patient, and the right buyer and the right people will come along,” she said. “Don’t compromise your vision for an exit that is not aligned with your values and what you truly believe in as a founder.”
NeedsList started as an Amazon Wish List of sorts, but took a major pivot in 2018, completely rebuilding its software from scratch to solve a big problem.
The company, which Levinson said last year was revenue-generating, now matches organizations that have a need with those offering a service or resources. The product is a white label software platform, where organizations like Welcome.US, which connects potential American sponsors with refugees, license the software.
NeedsList, which targets the nonprofit sector, has raised $1 million from impact investors.
As for Armillaria, Cameron Burgess, CEO, said the acquisition “is a testament to what we believe is the future of tech-for-good.”
“Rather than prioritizing incentives for new ventures and novel technologies, we must adopt and adapt what’s already working in order to significantly increase the speed and scale at which we can collectively create change,” she said in a press release.
