FinTech News
Vennfi Raises $2.3 Million Ahead of Charityvest Platform Expansion
Even as 2020 begins to wind down, FinTech deals continue to roll in. Last week, Vennfi announced it had raised $2.3 million in funding. The seed round was led by former DCM Ventures partner Tom Blaisdell with participation from Teamworthy Ventures, Duro.vc, Sovereign’s Capital, and Promus Ventures along with individual investors and other funds. With the latest raise, Vennfi’s has now brought in a total of $3.7 million for 2020.
Vennfi’s fundraising comes just ahead of their Charityvest platform rolling out a key new feature. On December 1st — also known as Giving Tuesday — the service will begin allowing users to donate publically-traded stocks and ETFs to one of the more than 1.4 million charities featured on the site. These transfers will have zero fees and can be done from any brokerage. As Charityvest notes, this strategy may be more advantageous for donors and charities when compared to the alternative of selling a stock and then giving the gains away.
Commenting on the new Charityvest stock donation service, the site’s CEO Stephen Kump stated, “Charityvest’s zero-fee stock giving feature is the first of its kind, enabling both individual donors and employees of companies that use Charityvest to make a tax-deductible gift of securities to their fund, and use the cash proceeds to support one or more charities with just a few clicks. With financial markets at all-time highs, we see stock giving as a highly efficient way to intentionally set aside financial resources for generosity.”
Meanwhile, investor Tom Blaisdell said of the platform, “Being generous makes people happier, and Charityvest makes being generous easier. This is yet another example of taking a financial vehicle – donor-advised funds, in this case – widely used by wealthy families and individuals to simplify and amplify their charitable giving, and applying technology to make it simple and inexpensive enough for everyone to take advantage of it.” Blaisdell added, “I’m excited to be involved in helping Charityvest make the world more generous.”
Outside of this stock-gifting functionality, Charityvest also boasts other features that both encourage and enable giving. For example, by using the platform, donors can consolidate their tax-deduction receipt. Elsewhere, the service also helps companies to create donation matching programs so that they can help support causes their employees believe in.
Overall, Vennfi and their Charityvest platform are good examples of how FinTech innovations are enabling all kinds of clever and useful services. Of course, with everything going on in the world right now, this investment and the ensuing expansion couldn’t come at a much better time. As a result, expect to not only see Vennfi themselves grow in the coming months but also anticipate further emphasis on improving giving and charity procedures with technology.
