Bold.org
Bold.org operates a scholarship marketplace and student rewards platform that connects students with 3,300+ exclusive scholarships funded by 10,000+ donors, monetizing through donor fees, data licensing, and affiliate commerce via its Bold Rewards program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersDenver, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Bold.org does
Bold.org, Inc. is a privately held Delaware-incorporated company headquartered in San Francisco (133 Kearny #400) that operates a scholarship marketplace and student rewards platform. Founded in 2019, the company connects students — from high school through graduate school — with exclusive scholarships funded by a base of more than 10,000 donors, including individuals, celebrities (Dwyane Wade, Imagine Dragons, Terry Crews, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Cat Zingano), brands, and organizations (SupplyHouse, LegalMatch, Sallie, SoFi, Niche, ScholarshipOwl). The platform is delivered through a web application, native iOS and Android apps, and a free browser extension, and the company claims over $43 million in cumulative scholarships awarded across 3,334 listings and 20,502 verified member reviews averaging 4.9/5 stars.
The core product surface has three layers: (1) a Scholarship Marketplace that matches students to exclusive opportunities using profile attributes (education level, demographics, major, GPA, location); (2) Bold Rewards, a loyalty program in which students earn "Bold Points" by completing profiles, applying to scholarships, and shopping through the Bold Plugin at 12,000+ partner retailers (Target, Nike, Sephora), with points redeemable for student loan payments, tuition payments, and cash transfers; and (3) a financial dashboard allowing students to connect bank and loan accounts for point-to-payment conversion, with third-party processors handling transactions.
Revenue is generated through three streams rather than student fees (the platform is free for students): (a) donor fund-management fees for creating and administering scholarship funds on behalf of individuals, brands, and organizations; (b) data monetization, including sharing or selling student personal, demographic, behavioral, and geolocation data with scholarship providers, academic institutions, and advertising partners (with opt-out); and (c) affiliate commerce revenue from the Bold Plugin and the Wildfire Systems debit-card rewards program covering AI platform purchases. Go-to-market is primarily product-led and community-led: students self-register on bold.org or via the mobile apps, while growth is amplified by celebrity endorsements, partnership-driven scholarship programs (e.g., SupplyHouse "Track to the Trades," LegalMatch "Legal Futures Initiative"), and a social following of 300k+ users. The company has disclosed only one equity financing event — a $1M Form D filing in May 2023.
Bold.org firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bold.org
- Legal name
- Bold.org, Inc.
- Website
- https://bold.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Bold.org operates a scholarship marketplace and student rewards platform that connects students with 3,300+ exclusive scholarships funded by 10,000+ donors, monetizing through donor fees, data licensing, and affiliate commerce via its Bold Rewards program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bold.org industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Scholarship and Student Rewards Platform
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM), Corporate & Employer-Sponsored Scholarships (EDAIAOAI), Foundation/NGO & Philanthropic Scholarships (EDAIAOAH)
Keywords
Where Bold.org is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Denver
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Bold.org business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Donor Subscription / Scholarship Fund Management: Bold.org charges nothing to students and is free for them to use. Revenue is generated by facilitating scholarship creation for donors (individuals, brands, and organizations), who pay to create and administer scholarship funds on the platform. Bold handles the application management, winner selection, and disbursement logistics on behalf of donors.
- Data Monetization and Partner Advertising: Bold.org generates revenue by sharing or selling student information (personal identifiers, demographic data, internet activity, geolocation, interests) with scholarship providers, academic institutions, advertising partners, and other third parties. Students can opt out of data sharing. The platform also participates in partner advertising programs.
- Rewards / Cashback Commerce: Through the Bold Rewards program and its Wildfire partnership, Bold.org earns revenue from affiliate commissions when students make purchases at partner stores through the Bold Plugin. The platform also offers a debit card rewards program for AI platform purchases (ChatGPT, Gemini) that generates interchange or affiliate revenue.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free for students — all scholarship access, applications, and Bold Rewards are at no cost |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Bold.org product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bold.org operates a free-to-student scholarship marketplace where users discover and apply to thousands of exclusive, profile-matched scholarships funded by donors (individuals, brands, celebrities, and organizations). The platform layers on the Bold Rewards loyalty program, in which students earn Bold Points through profile completion, scholarship applications, and shopping with the Bold Plugin browser extension, redeemable for student loan payments, tuition, and cash transfers. For donors, Bold.org provides a turnkey service to create, manage, and disburse tax-deductible scholarship funds, while generating additional revenue through affiliate commissions and data partnerships.
Product overview
Bold.org operates as a scholarship and student rewards platform consisting of two primary components: a scholarship marketplace where students discover and apply to exclusive scholarships, and the Bold Rewards loyalty program where students earn points through scholarship applications and partner shopping that can be redeemed for student loan payments, tuition, and cash. The platform is accessible via web and mobile apps (iOS and Android), and includes a browser extension for shopping rewards. Additional features include a partnership with Wildfire for AI platform debit card rewards.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Bold.org Scholarship Marketplace
Quantifiable outcome
- $43,051,294 awarded to Bold.org members
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Bold.org
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Bold.org technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Bold.org partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- LegalMatch.comminorLegalMatch.com opened applications for its 2026 Legal Futures Initiative Scholarship, targeting pre-law students with at least a 3.75 GPA. Applications can be submitted through LegalMatch's website or through Bold.org. The $10,000 scholarship (recipient announced July 31, 2026) is promoted via Bold.org's scholarship platform, extending reach to Bold.org's student audience.
- SupplyHousecoreSupplyHouse, a leading e-commerce retailer of plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies, partnered with Bold.org to develop and launch the 2025 Track to the Trades Scholarship program. This was the program's second year and saw a 70% increase in applications nationwide. Recipients received funding for tuition, tools, and certifications for careers in the skilled trades. The partnership underscores Bold.org's expansion into vocational and trades-based scholarship categories.
- Wildfire Systems Inc.coreBold.org partnered with Wildfire Systems to launch the first debit card rewards program that offers cashback and Bold Points for purchases made on major AI platforms including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. The program aims to help students reduce student loan debt through rewards earned from AI-assisted purchases. This partnership extends Bold.org's rewards ecosystem into the growing AI platform spending category.
- Sallie (Sallie Mae)minorSallie partners with Bold.org to offer a $2,000 monthly No Essay Scholarship accessible through the Bold.org platform. No essay or account profiles are required. This is a recurring monthly scholarship program where Sallie funds the award and Bold.org serves as the application distribution channel.
- NicheminorNiche offers a $10,000 No Essay Scholarship promoted through Bold.org's scholarship listings. Students can apply through Bold.org's affiliate links to Niche's scholarship page.
- ScholarshipOwlminorScholarshipOwl offers a $50,000 No Essay Scholarship promoted through Bold.org's platform. The scholarship is open to everyone with a monthly deadline.
- SoFi (Social Finance)minorSoFi runs a $2,500 monthly Scholarship Giveaway promoted through Bold.org. The scholarship requires no essays or interviews, and winners are selected monthly.
- Christian ConnectorminorChristian Connector offers a $5,000 No-Essay Scholarship accessible through Bold.org. Registration takes seconds and also informs students about Christian colleges.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Bold.org competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Going Merry: Going Merry was a direct scholarship-matching platform serving high school and college students, very similar in product scope to Bold.org before it wound down. Highly comparable on product, audience, and self-serve GTM motion.
- Niche: Niche operates a K-12-to-college platform with a sizable scholarship marketplace and partners directly with Bold.org. Closest direct competitor on the student-facing scholarship discovery experience.
- ScholarshipOwl: ScholarshipOwl is a scholarship matching and application platform that partners with Bold.org. Direct peer on scholarship discovery with overlapping no-essay and monthly-deadline inventory.
- Cappex: Cappex is a college and scholarship matching service for high school students. Comparable on audience and matching-based discovery experience to Bold.org.
- Unigo: Unigo offers scholarships, college reviews, and student resources aimed at the same high-school and college demographic as Bold.org. Closely comparable on scholarship discovery plus broader student-services content.
Broad incumbents
- Fastweb: Fastweb is one of the longest-running scholarship search engines, now owned by a larger education publisher. Broad incumbent in the same student-financial-aid discovery category as Bold.org.
- Scholarships.com: Scholarships.com is an established scholarship aggregator with a large inventory and incumbent SEO presence. Overlaps directly with Bold.org on scholarship search and matching.
- College Board BigFuture: College Board's BigFuture is a free college and scholarship planning tool backed by the College Board, the SAT administrator. Massive incumbent reach into the same high-school-to-college audience Bold.org targets.
- SoFi: SoFi runs a recurring monthly scholarship giveaway promoted through Bold.org and is a broader student-finance and student-loan incumbent. Comparable on the student-finance category, including loan-adjacent rewards and scholarships.
Emerging players
- Raise.me: Raise.me pioneered micro-scholarships earned throughout high school and redistributed into college affordability. Adjacent product category with shared mission of expanding scholarship access.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Bold.org social profiles
Digital presenceBold.org financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bold.org leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Bold.org funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bold.org M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bold.org
What does Bold.org do?
Bold.org operates a free-to-student scholarship marketplace where users discover and apply to thousands of exclusive, profile-matched scholarships funded by donors (individuals, brands, celebrities, and organizations). The platform layers on the Bold Rewards loyalty program, in which students earn Bold Points through profile completion, scholarship applications, and shopping with the Bold Plugin browser extension, redeemable for student loan payments, tuition, and cash transfers. For donors, Bold.org provides a turnkey service to create, manage, and disburse tax-deductible scholarship funds, while generating additional revenue through affiliate commissions and data partnerships.
Is Bold.org a public or private company?
Bold.org is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Bold.org founded?
Bold.org was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Bold.org based?
Bold.org is headquartered in Denver, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bold.org make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Donor Subscription / Scholarship Fund Management is the primary driver. The others are data Monetization and Partner Advertising and rewards / Cashback Commerce.
Who are Bold.org's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Going Merry, Niche, ScholarshipOwl, Cappex and Unigo. Broad incumbents are Fastweb, Scholarships.com, College Board BigFuture and SoFi. Raise.me is listed as an emerging player.
Does Bold.org have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bold.org.
What industry is Bold.org in?
Bold.org's product category is Scholarship and Student Rewards Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDADAHAC, Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts, with a secondary code of BPAGAKAK, Education Grantmaking Foundations. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.