Watsi
Watsi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit crowdfunding platform that channels individual donations starting at $5 directly to surgical care for patients in low-income countries, serving 34,000+ patients across 36 countries via vetted medical partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Watsi does
Watsi is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit crowdfunding platform founded in 2010 (with US incorporation referenced in 2012) that connects individual donors directly to patients in low-income countries who need surgical care. Donors can give as little as $5 to fund specific patient profiles vetted through Watsi's network of medical partners in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with 100% of public donations directed to healthcare because Watsi absorbs all credit card processing fees itself. The core platform supports a direct-to-patient crowdfunding flow, a Universal Fund monthly recurring donation program, gift cards, donor-led campaigns tied to personal events, and cryptocurrency donations across BTC, ETH, XLM, USDC, SOL, and DOGE.
The organization's technology stack is web-based and includes patient profile management, donation processing via Stripe and PayPal, automated email updates after treatment, and integration with medical partners. Watsi also built Meso, a health insurance administration platform that was spun out as an independent open-source project at meso.health. Operating expenses are covered separately by foundations, philanthropists, and The Collective, a community of donors committing 3-year unrestricted funding to support the team and operations. Watsi maintains a fully remote team of roughly 8 core staff spanning 6 time zones, supplemented by board members and advisors.
Watsi's commercial model is donation-driven rather than revenue-driven. Primary customer segments are individual donors (direct crowdfunding, monthly recurring, and campaign-based giving), corporate partners seeking employee engagement and CSR programs, philanthropic investors in The Collective providing multi-year unrestricted commitments, and medical partners who receive guaranteed funding for patient care. Pricing tiers for donors start at $5 with preset amounts of $20, $60, $120, and $250, and monthly giving preset at $25 or $29. A separate General Fund tier starts at $5,000 for unrestricted allocation to highest-need patients. Since inception, Watsi has funded more than 34,000 surgeries across 34-36 countries, raising approximately $21.4M cumulatively, with a Charity Navigator 4-star rating and 84% of 2025 expenses directed to programs.
Watsi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Watsi
- Legal name
- Watsi, Inc.
- Website
- https://watsi.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Watsi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit crowdfunding platform that channels individual donations starting at $5 directly to surgical care for patients in low-income countries, serving 34,000+ patients across 36 countries via vetted medical partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Watsi industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Medical Crowdfunding
- NAICS
- Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Health Financing, Budgeting & Grants Management (HLAJAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Global Health Financing Mechanisms (HLAJAKAC)
Keywords
Where Watsi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Watsi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Programs (patient healthcare payouts), Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: Public donations fund 100% of patient healthcare costs. Operating expenses are covered separately by foundations, philanthropists, and supporters who contribute extra.
- The Collective (Multi-year Unrestricted Funding): 3-year minimum commitment of unrestricted giving from individuals, families, and foundations to support team, strategy, and operations.
- Corporate Partnerships: Companies partner with Watsi for employee engagement, customer recognition, and corporate giving campaigns with personalized giving pages.
- Cryptocurrency Donations: Accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Stellar Lumens (XLM), USD Coin (USDC), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE). All crypto donations are unrestricted.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Direct patient donation |
| Subscription | Monthly | Universal Fund monthly donation |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Gift cards |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | General Fund donation |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
Watsi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Watsi operates a direct-to-consumer medical crowdfunding platform that enables individual donors to fund specific surgical treatments for patients in low-income countries, with donations starting at $5. The platform connects donors to vetted medical partners that deliver the care, and 100% of public donations are directed to patient healthcare while Watsi absorbs all payment processing fees. Supplementary products include monthly recurring donations (Universal Fund), gift cards, donor-led campaigns, and cryptocurrency giving.
Product overview
Watsi is a nonprofit crowdfunding platform for healthcare that operates as a unified ecosystem connecting donors directly with patients needing surgical care. The core Watsi Crowdfunding Platform enables donors to fund individual patient treatments, supported by the Universal Fund for recurring monthly giving. Supplementary offerings include Gift Cards for gifting healthcare, Donor Campaigns for event-based fundraising, Crypto Donations for cryptocurrency contributions, and an Emergency Surgery Fund for urgent care needs. Watsi also developed Meso, a health insurance administration technology platform that is now an independent open source project.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Meso: Watsi built a technology platform for health insurance administration called Meso that aims to reduce costs and streamline processes. This is now an independent open source project.
Quantifiable outcome
- 34,379 patients received life-changing surgery
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Watsi
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Watsi technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature3 records
Watsi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Hope Health ActioncoreNew partnership launched in 2025 in Northern Uganda's West Nile region, expanding access to care for families facing conflict and barriers to treatment.
- MusocoreRe-launched partnership in 2025 in Mali, expanding access to care in regions facing conflict and barriers to timely treatment.
- African Mission HealthcarecorePrimary medical partner network providing surgical care to underserved populations in low-income countries. African Mission Healthcare submits patient profiles and provides treatment, with Watsi donors funding care.
- Children's Surgical Centre (CSC)coreMedical partner in Cambodia providing surgical care including burn treatments, cataract surgery, and orthopedic procedures. CSC submits patient profiles and delivers care funded by Watsi donors.
- Burma Children Medical FundcoreMedical partner serving patients along the Thailand-Burma border and in Burma, providing care for refugees and displaced populations.
- Partners in Hope Medical CentercoreMedical partner in Malawi providing surgical care including hernia repairs and other procedures. Part of African Mission Healthcare network.
- AIC CURE HospitalcorePediatric orthopedic hospital in Kenya specializing in clubfoot, equinus deformity, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Part of African Mission Healthcare network.
- Nkhoma HospitalcoreHospital in Malawi providing surgical care including prostatectomies. Part of African Mission Healthcare network.
- BethanyKids Kijabe HospitalcoreSpecialized pediatric care hospital in Kenya providing surgeries including hydrocephalus treatment. Part of African Mission Healthcare network.
- Clinica NoelcoreMedical partner in Colombia providing care for pediatric dental conditions and other treatments.
- International Cardiac AlliancecoreMedical partner providing cardiac surgeries for patients including pediatric heart procedures.
- World Surgical Foundation PhilippinescoreMedical partner in the Philippines providing surgical care including cholecystectomy and other procedures.
- Stellar Development FoundationminorPartnership aligned around inclusive access to basic human needs. Watsi participated in Stellar's launch and has held lumens since 2014.
- LumenthropyminorCryptocurrency philanthropy initiative aligned with Watsi's mission to provide healthcare access.
- zoomrxminorHealthcare technology company partnering with Watsi for corporate engagement.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Watsi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- GiveDirectly: Nonprofit that sends cash transfers directly to people in extreme poverty in low-income countries. Comparable to Watsi in its direct-donor-to-recipient value proposition, radical transparency, and tech-forward operational model (including heavy YC/investor ecosystem overlap).
- Kiva: Crowdfunding platform enabling individuals to make small loans to borrowers in developing countries. Operates the same micro-donation, direct-impact, transparent donor matching model as Watsi, scaled across geographies with significant brand recognition.
- GlobalGiving: Crowdfunding marketplace for nonprofits worldwide, connecting donors to vetted grassroots charitable projects. Directly comparable to Watsi as a digital donation platform aggregating many local projects under a transparency-focused umbrella.
- charity: water: Nonprofit crowdfunding platform funding clean water infrastructure in developing countries, with radical transparency and 100% donation-to-program models — the closest analog to Watsi's direct-donor-to-recipient impact narrative and transparency-first positioning.
- DonorsChoose: Nonprofit crowdfunding platform connecting individual donors directly to classroom project requests. Shares Watsi's core operating model — donor picks specific recipient, receives updates after fulfillment, with full transparency on fund use.
Broad incumbents
- GoFundMe: The dominant general-purpose crowdfunding platform with a charity vertical. Competes for the same donor attention and recurring-giving dollar, though without Watsi's curated, vertically specialized medical mission or 100%-model guarantee.
- Direct Relief: Large humanitarian medical aid organization providing medical supplies and funding globally. Overlaps with Watsi on global health access mission and medical partner network ecosystem, though at much larger scale and with institutional rather than crowdfunding funding model.
- Partners In Health: Major global health nonprofit delivering direct healthcare services in low-income countries, often via partner hospital networks in the same geographies Watsi serves. Comparable medical-partner ecosystem and global-health access mission, with deeper clinical delivery capability.
Others
- Mercy Ships: Operates hospital ships delivering free surgical care in low-income countries. Operates in the same vertical of cross-border surgical care delivery for the poor, with comparable donor base and impact storytelling, but a different delivery model (ship-based rather than partner-clinic funded).
Emerging players
- Smile Train: Global nonprofit funding cleft palate surgeries in developing countries via a partner-clinic model. Operates in the same vertical of low-cost, high-impact surgical care funding in low-income countries as Watsi, with comparable partner-network and per-surgery economics.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Watsi social profiles
Digital presenceWatsi compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Watsi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Watsi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Watsi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Watsi 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 Watsi
What does Watsi do?
Watsi operates a direct-to-consumer medical crowdfunding platform that enables individual donors to fund specific surgical treatments for patients in low-income countries, with donations starting at $5. The platform connects donors to vetted medical partners that deliver the care, and 100% of public donations are directed to patient healthcare while Watsi absorbs all payment processing fees. Supplementary products include monthly recurring donations (Universal Fund), gift cards, donor-led campaigns, and cryptocurrency giving.
Is Watsi a public or private company?
Watsi is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Watsi founded?
Watsi was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Watsi based?
Watsi is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Watsi make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are the Collective (Multi-year Unrestricted Funding), corporate Partnerships and cryptocurrency Donations.
Who are Watsi's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are GiveDirectly, Kiva, GlobalGiving, charity: water and DonorsChoose. Broad incumbents are GoFundMe, Direct Relief and Partners In Health. Mercy Ships is listed as an others. Smile Train is listed as an emerging player.
Does Watsi have an API?
No public API is recorded for Watsi.
What industry is Watsi in?
Watsi's product category is Medical Crowdfunding. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAJAMAC, Public Health Financing, Budgeting & Grants Management, with a secondary code of HLAJAKAC, Global Health Financing Mechanisms. Its NAICS code is 813212 and its SIC code is 8300.