Tech startups FundMiner, Trellis, and Hatch were the winners of tech platform Blackbaud’s annual Social Good Startup Showcase. FundMiner was also picked as peoples’ choice winner by attendees at Blackbaud’s annual conference, bbcon, in Denver.
The showcase is an opportunity for founders in the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program to pitch impactful and innovative solutions to a panel of judges.
“The idea for the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program was born at bbcon four years ago with the launch of our first challenge, which grew into a full program supporting two cohorts each year,” said Jerry Needel, vice president, fintech and innovation, at Blackbaud.
Representatives from 12 companies had three minutes to pitch their solution, followed by five minutes of Q&A from the judges’ panel, which included Needel, Catherine LaCour, Blackbaud’s chief marketing officer, and Todd Lant, chief customer officer. Voting was then opened to all bbcon attendees, who had the option to interact directly with startup founders in the expo hall.
Participants included:
- FundMiner, Chelsea Lamego, Co-Founder and CEO, and Alejandro Stevenson-Duran, Co-Founder and CTO
- Trellis, Justin Goodhew, Co-Founder and CEO
- Hatch, Moshe Hecht, Founder and CEO
- Changefinder, Ian Winbrock, Co-Founder and CEO, and Harry Herzberg, CTO
- Donate Stock, Steve Latham, Co-Founder and CEO
- Donor 360, Vijay Prathap, CEO
- eSimpleIT, William da Silva, Founder and CEO
- ai, Garrett Hall, Co-Founder
- Life Legacy, Spencer Cassidy, Co-Founder and CEO, and Jordan Cassidy, Co-Founder and Head of Business Development
- NonprofitOS, Cherian Koshy, Founder and CEO
- On the Dot, Melinda Garvey, Founder and CEO
- worldby threshold.world, Dan Lammot, Co-Founder and CEO
“Being part of the Social Good Startup Program has given us incredible value in reaching potential customers, crafting innovative visions with our partners, and understanding how we can be best positioned in the product ecosystem to solve challenges for our customers,” said Chelsea Lamego, co-founder and CEO of FundMiner via a statement.
Trellis is a SaaS platform that allows charities to create fundraising events, handling ticketing, auctions and government approved lotteries all in one place. Hatch is a giving intelligence platform powered by Altruistic Intelligence™. Hatch provides organizations with new information on each donor, allowing fundraisers, marketers and volunteers to streamline and maximize their impact.
The Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program is a year-long tech accelerator that supports early-stage software companies that are dedicated to solving problems that matter to the social impact community. Participants receive curated access to Blackbaud resources, marketing opportunities and nondilutive grant funding. Blackbaud works with startup founders to design a unique plan for each company that addresses their goals for growth.
All companies chosen for the program are fast-tracked into Blackbaud’s ISV partner program, which provides the opportunity to publish product integrations in the Blackbaud Marketplace, where Blackbaud customers can find and implement their unique solutions.
Since the launch of the program Social Good Startup Program, Blackbaud has supported 55 startups through seven cohorts, with these organizations collectively raising upwards of $150 million in funding. In addition, 55% of the startup founders who have participated in the program are from backgrounds typically underrepresented in tech. More information on the companies in the 2023 program can be found here and here.
Blackbaud runs two cohorts of the Social Good Startup program each year beginning in January and July. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For consideration in future cohorts, including the January 2024 cohort, learn more and apply here. Priority attention will be given to companies developing AI solutions, as well as companies with founders from backgrounds typically underrepresented in the technology.
