project bcause

What project bcause does

bcause GmbH (operating as project bcause) is a Berlin-based private social finance platform founded in 2021 that enables individuals, companies, and nonprofit organizations to manage charitable giving, establish digital foundations, and deploy capital toward impact investments. The platform aggregates approximately 500,000 nonprofit organizations as a discovery and donation destination, with free digital donation accounts (Spendenkonto) that automate administration, generate interest on reserves, and provide tax-deductible receipts under German law. The core commercial product is bcause Professional Foundation, a subscription offering that provides the full legal authority of a traditional foundation without administrative overhead, complemented by add-on modules — bcause grow (interest-bearing balances at 2% p.a.), bcause impact (outcome measurement), and bcause investment (impact allocation).

The go-to-market is product-led and community-led: users onboard self-serve via website or iOS app without a traditional sales force, and the company cultivates a donor community through Club Neues Geben, a podcast, newsletter, Ted Talk, and a recurring Handelsblatt column by co-founder and CEO Felix Oldenburg. The customer base spans individual donors running personal giving initiatives (e.g., birthday campaigns), purpose-led founders and family offices establishing digital foundations (Ten More In, nookees, Climate Impact Strategies, Capacity), corporates using bcause Professional for CSR and employee giving, and 500,000+ listed nonprofits receiving automated fundraising infrastructure.

Revenue mechanics rest on a freemium-to-subscription conversion: free donation accounts and free nonprofit onboarding drive top-of-funnel volume, while Professional Foundation subscriptions and ancillary yield/investment modules represent monetization. The company closed its first institutional funding round in October 2024 (approximately €5.19M from Aurum Impact, BONVENTURE, IBB Ventures, and Jägermeister) and is B Corp certified, operating under the German trustee foundation regulatory framework with Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft transparency membership.

Name

project bcause

Legal name

bcause GmbH

Website

https://start.bcause.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

project bcause is a Berlin-based social finance platform, founded in 2021, that lets individuals, companies, and nonprofits create digital donation accounts and foundations across approximately 500,000 listed nonprofits, monetizing via subscription-based Professional Foundation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Giving Platform

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Finance Services (6199), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Foundations & CSR Grantmaking (BPAGAKAC), Capacity Building & Nonprofit Infrastructure Funders (BPAGAKAO), Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)

Keywords

• Charitable giving platform
• Digital foundation management
• Social finance software
• Donation management tools
• Impact investment platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Foundation Services: Premium digital foundation services for individuals and companies with full administrative handling and strategic control.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

project bcause operates a digital social finance platform that enables individuals, companies, and nonprofits to manage charitable giving through free automated donation accounts (Spendenkonto), permanent digital foundations (Professional Foundation), and impact-investment options. Users can access roughly 500,000 aggregated nonprofit organizations, earn 2% p.a. interest on donation balances via bcause grow, and have legally compliant administration and tax-deductible receipt processing handled by the platform.

Product overview

bcause operates as a unified social finance platform that combines donation management, foundation creation, and impact investment capabilities into an integrated ecosystem. The core bcause Platform serves as the central hub, connecting approximately 500,000 nonprofit organizations. Users can access free donation accounts (bcause Spendenkonto) for basic giving, or upgrade to bcause Professional Foundation for full foundation capabilities without administrative burden. The platform extends functionality through three growth modules: bcause grow (interest-bearing savings at 2% p.a.), bcause impact (outcome measurement), and bcause investment (allocating funds to impact investments). The Club Neues Geben provides community engagement, while a native iOS app enables mobile access to all features.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Professional Foundation: Digital foundation service offering the full power of a foundation without administrative burden
• bcause grow
• Club Neues Geben
• bcause investment
• bcause impact

Products and services

• bcause Professional Foundation

Quantifiable outcome

• 500,000+ nonprofit organizations available on platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• betterplace.org: Germany's largest online donation platform, connecting donors to nonprofits. Operates in the same addressable market as bcause with a similar mission of digitalizing charitable giving for the German-speaking market.
• Donorbox: SaaS donation and fundraising platform purpose-built for nonprofits. Comparable in providing digital fundraising tooling, recurring donation accounts, and integrations for 501(c)(3)-style organizations, mirroring bcause's Spendenkonto and nonprofit-side tooling.
• Funraise: Nonprofit fundraising platform offering donation forms, CRM, and donor management. Overlaps with bcause's nonprofit-side product surface around digital fundraising tools and donation infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• GoFundMe: Global crowdfunding and charitable giving platform with massive brand recognition. Comparable in facilitating online donations to nonprofits and personal causes, though with a much broader personal-crowdfunding focus than bcause's foundation-centric model.
• Bertelsmann Stiftung: One of Germany's largest private operating foundations. Comparable as a major institutional grantmaker in the German foundation ecosystem, representing both a customer archetype for bcause Professional and a structural competitor in shaping foundation norms.
• PayPal Giving Fund: Global donation platform operated by PayPal that routes donations to verified charities. Overlaps with bcause's donation-account and nonprofit-discovery functionality and brings significant distribution via PayPal's consumer base.

Regional players

• Stifter-helfen.de: German nonprofit IT initiative providing software donations and digital tools to nonprofits. Comparable to bcause in serving German nonprofits with digital infrastructure, though it focuses on software/product donations rather than donation accounts and foundations.
• StiftungsSchweiz: Swiss foundation directory and information platform serving donors and foundations in Switzerland. Comparable as a regional foundation discovery and information resource, highlighting a likely European adjacency for bcause's expansion playbook.

Emerging players

• Givebutter: Fast-growing US-based fundraising platform for nonprofits with modern UX. Comparable in providing a freemium donation and fundraising experience and competing for the same next-generation of digital-native donors and nonprofits.
• Raisely: Online fundraising platform focused on nonprofits and social enterprises with branded campaign pages. Comparable in offering modern digital fundraising infrastructure to nonprofits, similar in positioning to bcause's nonprofit tooling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/projectbcause
• Instagraminstagram.com/bcause.official

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

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 project bcause