Classy Raises $30 Million Series C Led by JMI Equity With Mithril and Salesforce Ventures

Classy started with a group of friends coming together to raise money for cancer research. We really didn’t know much about nonprofit organizations in those early days, but we did learn a few things pretty quickly. We learned that it was hard to raise money to support the nonprofits we cared about. We learned that there really weren’t any modern tools to help engage people online to benefit those organizations. And, as we got more involved in the space, we learned that our challenge wasn’t unique. The majority of nonprofit organizations around the world were starving for better technology that could help them mobilize and empower their passionate bases of supporters. And so we set out to create Classy, a modern and mobile-friendly fundraising platform designed specifically for nonprofits and social enterprises—built by fundraisers, for fundraisers.

Almost six years later, our passion and focus have only intensified. When we announced our last funding round 18 months ago, we committed to working together to launch the next generation of the Classy platform and bring much-needed innovation to the sector. The result has been nothing short of amazing.

With the launch of the new Classy Fundraising Suite, organizations are already seeing more success and we’re now on pace to power over $500 million in donations over the next year. Our customer base has also grown over 230 percent across that same timeframe and now includes leading organizations like Acumen Fund, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Room to Read, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Our roots remain strong with fast-growth nonprofit startups though, with thousands of campaigns on Classy at any given moment by organizations like Girls Who Code and Team Rubicon.

Our team has also grown from a handful of early founders to over 200 people. Yet, we still wake up every day just as excited to serve you—our customers, and our partners. We’re inspired by the work that you do and motivated by the possibility that we can play even a small role in helping you solve some of the world’s toughest challenges, such as disease, poverty, human rights, and climate change. And it’s for that reason that today’s financing announcement is an extremely exciting moment for all of us here at Classy.

Yes, we’ve accomplished a lot together over the last 18 months, but we know there is still so much left to do. Our new partnership with JMI Equity will help us further accelerate our product roadmap and deliver on a mission to which we’ve been committed since the beginning: To mobilize and empower the world for good. Like Classy, JMI’s team has a deep appreciation and passion for delivering better technology to the social sector and we couldn’t be more excited to work with them to do just that.

We speak for every person at Classy in saying that we are fortunate and proud to be working with you to shape the future together. As we’ve said before, anything truly awesome starts with at least one believer, and we will forever be grateful for your belief in us as we continue to turn our shared vision into a reality.

Cheers to our future!

Scot, Pat, Marshall & Joe

Other recent company announcements:

• Classy named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Brilliant 100 companies list
• Classy named in Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies for Social Good

Editor’s Note: This post was published on November 1, 2016.