July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Germany said “wilkommen” to Rally.org today, as the crowdfunding-for-causes startup expanded into Europe and opened a startup incubator in Berlin.

Rally’s approach emphasizes storytelling to help people fundraise for causes they believe in. The platform took off quickly in the U.S. and has more than 4.5 million global users.  With the launch of the European program, Rally’s payment network will accept Euros and there are plans to expand to the British pound.

“This is all part of our larger vision of empowering what we call the global Cause Economy,” said spokesman Nick Warshaw. “Europeans are focused on their localities, and causes, clubs, individuals, and political parties across Europe are clamoring for a robust, easy-to-use online fundraising solution.

The demand for fundraising channels encouraged Rally to also host Give Camp, which will teach people how to make the most of crowdfunding, and the incubator program, which helps organizations leverage Rally’s platform. For the first initiative, entrepreneurial network Startup Weekend, music resource-sharing company Muzup, and social relocation community G10BALS will join forces to preserve Berlin’s princesses garden Prinzessinnengarten.

This announcement follows Rally’s hefty $7.9 million first venture capital round in June, which it completed online. Investors include Relay Ventures, Mike Maples of Floodgate, Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners, Kevin Rose of Google Ventures, Tim Ferriss, and Eric Ries. At the time, CEO Tom Serres said the money would support international growth.

Serres initially founded Rally based on the idea that fundraising for a cause is more effective when there is a personal story behind it. After traveling around France, Spain, Germany, and England in 2009, he discovered that people across the pond were interested in how Obama used the internet to raise money, and saw potential for Rally in that market.

On Rally, cause owners create a profile page and can spread awareness, post blog entires, and safe visual content. It also provides analytics to maximize fundraising power. Use cases range from college students raising money for college tuition to massive organizations like the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Rally is headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Berlin.

Read more about Rally on VentureBeat.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Amicus has raised $3.2 million to help nonprofits turn their social networks into support networks.

The startup mines social data from Facebook and leverages it into fundraising and outreach. In a nutshell, this platform modernizes traditional mobilization campaigns by providing an online replacement for phone calls, emails, and snail mail.

Amicus gamifies social fundraising by letting users earn points and move up a leader board as a result of how many friends they talk to. There is also the opportunity for people to win real world prizes. On the organizational side, Amicus helps them conserve time and money by creating a more effective outreach channel. Administrators can use the management platform to stay on top of the campaigns.

Customers include juggernauts like the Human Rights Campaign, National Education Association, and the AFL-CIO. During the lead up to the recent election, Amicus powered outreach efforts in the four states that had marriage equality on the ballot.

The company participated in Y Combinator’s 2012 summer class and investors include YC partners Alexis Ohanian, Garry Tan, and Harj Taggar. Other investors include Omidyar, Y Combinator, Peter Thiel’s FF Angel, Andreessen Horowitz, Start Fund, SV Angel, and General Catalyst, IA Ventures, High Peaks Venture Partners, and 500 Startups, as well as existing investors RRE, Quotidian Ventures, Esther Dyson, and other angels. The team is based in New York.