What Roar Social does

Roar Social is a U.S.-based mobile social media platform founded in 2020 by Robert Weiss and headquartered in West Hollywood, California. The company combines short-form, TikTok-style video with charitable micro-donations through a proprietary feature called Gamified Giving, which replaces the conventional 'like' button with a 'give' button enabling contributions as small as one penny via the Roar Giving Wallet (reloadable from $5 up to a $999,999 balance, with Stripe as the disclosed payment processor). The platform organizes users around 'Hero Cause' communities spanning climate change, animal welfare, hunger and homelessness, with the underlying feed algorithm guided by user-selected cause attributes.

The company's product surface spans the Roar Social Platform (iOS beta only at launch), the Roar Giving Wallet (proprietary micro-donation infrastructure), Hero Cause Communities, and the Roar Social Foundation, a wholly-owned 501(c)(3) nonprofit that collects and distributes donations to designated charities. Roar takes no cut of donations facilitated on the platform. Distribution is concentrated in Apple's App Store via a VIP Early Access beta program, with parallel go-to-market motions including a Campus Cause Ambassador program targeting U.S. universities and aggressive earned-media coverage in outlets such as Variety, Fast Company, Business Insider, Adweek and Deadline. Leadership is drawn from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and LinkedIn engineering talent and is supported by a high-profile advisory board including former Gates Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes and MTV co-founder John A. Lack.

Roar Social's business model is pre-revenue at the time of disclosure, with stated forward monetization built on advertising (including access to Corporate Social Responsibility budgets) and direct brand partnerships, exemplified by early-stage conversations with Target and Starbucks. Primary customer segments are horizontal: content creators and influencers aged 16-36, Gen Z and Millennial donor-users, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and (secondary) brands and advertisers seeking Gen Z reach through cause-driven ad formats. A $10 million seed round closed in June 2023 from wealthy individuals, family offices, serial investors and private equity investors who personally invested outside their firms' typical early-stage mandates; the company has ~50 employees and no disclosed parent, acquirer, or follow-on round at the data cutoff.

Name

Roar Social

Legal name

Roar Social, Inc.

Website

https://roarsocial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Roar Social is a mobile social media platform that combines short-form video with charitable micro-donations through its proprietary Gamified Giving wallet, serving Gen Z and Millennial creators, donors, nonprofits and brand partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Media Platform

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Tipping, Donations & Micro-Payments (MPACAFAB)

Keywords

• Social media platform
• Gamified giving
• Micro-donation app
• Charitable giving technology
• Short-form video platform

Headquarters

HQ city

West Hollywood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising: Roar Social plans to monetize its user base through advertising. The company is in early conversations with brands like Target and Starbucks for partnerships and aims to tap into Corporate Social Responsibility marketing budgets.
2. Brand Partnerships: The platform enables brands to support social media creators who post content via the app. Brands can align with causes and reach Gen Z audiences through the platform's unique giving ecosystem.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Roar Social operates a TikTok-style iOS social media application that overlays a proprietary Gamified Giving mechanic on short-form video content: users load funds into the Roar Giving Wallet and trigger micro-donations (as small as one penny) to vetted charitable causes directly from within creator videos. Content is organized into cause-based Hero Cause communities rather than follower-based feeds, and the platform charges zero commission on donations while routing 100% of funds to nonprofits.

Product overview

Roar Social is a social media platform that reimagines social media as a powerful engine for social impact. The core platform combines creators, nonprofits and brands in a Gamified Giving ecosystem where the traditional 'Like' button is replaced with a 'Give' button, enabling micro-donations as small as one penny. The Roar Social Giving Wallet is the proprietary wallet technology that powers these micro-transactions, while Hero Cause Communities allow users to organize around specific causes such as climate change, animal welfare, and hunger. The Roar Social Foundation serves as the associated nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity that collects and distributes donations to designated charities. The platform targets Gen Z and Millennial users and monetizes through advertising and brand partnerships rather than taking a cut of donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Roar Social iOS App A TikTok-style short-form video social media application for iOS that allows users to post and consume short-form videos while triggering micro-donations to vetted charitable causes through the proprietary Gamified Giving mechanic and Roar Giving Wallet. It is targeted at Gen Z and Millennial users who want their engagement on social media to translate into tangible charitable impact rather than passive likes.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• TargetminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 June 2023Roar Social is in early conversations with Target to become a brand partner with the platform. Target would integrate its corporate social responsibility efforts with the platform's Gamified Giving ecosystem to reach Gen Z and Millennial consumers.
• StarbucksminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 28 June 2023Roar Social is in early conversations with Starbucks for brand partnership integration. The collaboration would allow Starbucks to showcase CSR initiatives on the platform and engage with cause-driven consumers through the Gamified Giving format.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• TikTok: TikTok is the dominant short-form video platform whose format Roar Social directly emulates and explicitly targets for cross-posting. It is a broad incumbent with vastly greater scale, brand partnerships, and creator ecosystem, but lacks Roar Social's charitable giving mechanic.
• Lemon8: Lemon8 is ByteDance's lifestyle-focused social platform competing for creator mindshare alongside TikTok. It is comparable to Roar Social as a newer entrant in the creator-content platform space, though it is backed by significantly larger resources and broader content categories.
• Instagram: Instagram (Meta) operates Instagram Reels, a short-form video product that is one of Roar Social's named competitive references. As a broad incumbent it dwarfs Roar Social in scale, advertising inventory, and brand integration capabilities but does not incorporate charitable giving as a core mechanic.

Direct peers

• Patreon: Patreon is the dominant creator membership and monetization platform, enabling fans to financially support creators via recurring subscriptions and one-time payments. Like Roar Social, it sits at the intersection of creator economy and fan funding, but uses paid memberships rather than charitable micro-donations.
• Cameo: Cameo is a creator monetization platform enabling fans to pay creators for personalized video messages. It is comparable to Roar Social as a creator-economy monetization platform with social video at its core, though Cameo focuses on paid personalized content rather than charitable tipping.
• Ko-fi: Ko-fi is a creator monetization platform offering tips, memberships, commissions, and shop features with zero platform fees. It is functionally similar to Roar Social's Roar Giving Wallet for creator-driven micro-payments.
• Tiltify: Tiltify is a charitable livestreaming fundraising platform that enables creators to raise money for nonprofits during live broadcasts. It is the closest functional peer to Roar Social's gamified charitable giving model, differentiated mainly by Roar Social's short-form video focus and integrated donation wallet.
• Buy Me a Coffee: Buy Me a Coffee is a creator tipping and micro-payment platform that lets fans send small monetary gifts to creators. It directly parallels Roar Social's micro-donation mechanic, though it serves individual creators rather than routing donations to charities.
• Twitch: Twitch combines live video streaming with creator monetization through subscriptions, Bits (virtual tipping), and brand partnerships. It is comparable to Roar Social as a video-first platform with integrated creator tipping mechanics and brand sponsorship revenue.
• BeReal: BeReal is a social media app that positioned itself as an authentic alternative to curated legacy platforms, similar to Roar Social's anti-toxic-content stance. Both target Gen Z with differentiated social mechanics, though BeReal lacks the charitable giving layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights1 record

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uproartech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Roar Social