Fast Forward

Name

Fast Forward

Legal name

Fast Forward

Website

https://ffwd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Accelerator / Social Impact Programs

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

STEM, Digital Literacy & Maker Education Nonprofits (BPAGADAG)

Keywords

• Nonprofit accelerator
• Tech nonprofit support
• Social impact programs
• AI philanthropy resources
• Tech nonprofit community

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Fast Forward operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded by donations and grants from tech companies, philanthropic foundations, and individual donors. The organization passes through 100% of donations designated for specific portfolio organizations.
2. Corporate and Foundation Partnerships: Partnerships with tech companies and foundations who provide financial and human capital support. Some funders support programming and content creation, while others provide funding directly to tech nonprofits through Fast Forward's pass-through model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Fast Forward operates an annual 12-week accelerator program for early-stage tech nonprofits, providing each selected cohort team with a $25K philanthropic grant, mentorship, peer community, and structured training that covers both technology product/GTM topics and nonprofit operational topics (board development, impact measurement, fundraising). The organization also offers Pitch Camp (free virtual pitch workshops), AI Philanthropy Workshops for grantmakers, a Tech Nonprofit Directory of 1,449+ organizations, a Tech Nonprofit Job Board, three newsletters, an AI Proposal Assessment Tool, and a Nonprofit AI Policy Builder — all delivered free to the tech nonprofit and philanthropic ecosystem.

Product overview

Fast Forward is a nonprofit accelerator for tech nonprofits offering a portfolio of programs, tools, and resources. The core offering is the Accelerator program providing $25K grants, mentorship, and community to early-stage tech nonprofits. Supporting products include the Tech Nonprofit Directory (a searchable database of 1,449+ organizations), the Tech Nonprofit Job Board (powered by Getro), and three newsletters: AI for Humanity (monthly AI nonprofit coverage), What's Good in Tech (monthly sector news), and Funding Forward (weekly funding opportunities). Additional offerings include Pitch Camp (virtual pitch training), Tools for Grantmakers (AI philanthropy resources), AI Proposal Assessment Tool, Nonprofit AI Policy Builder, Impact Report, and the annual AI for Humanity Report co-produced with Google.org. These products form an integrated ecosystem supporting the full lifecycle of tech nonprofit development from startup through scale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AI for Humanity: A movement and initiative serving the needs of the global majority with AI-powered solutions
• Tech Nonprofit Directory
• Tech Nonprofit Job Board
• Funding Forward
• What's Good in Tech
• Pitch Camp
• AI Proposal Assessment Tool

Products and services

• Accelerator Fast Forward's flagship 12-week hybrid cohort program providing early-stage tech nonprofits with a $25K philanthropic grant, mentorship, peer community, and training tailored to the unique challenges of tech nonprofit entrepreneurs. Runs February through June with Demo Days in May/June, with sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 AM-12 PM PT; at least one co-founder must attend all sessions.
• Tech Nonprofit Directory A searchable, Crunchbase-style database cataloging 1,449+ tech nonprofits worldwide, filterable by issue areas, geographies, and technologies. Enables funders, employees, and advisors to discover tech nonprofits and serves as the central catalog of Fast Forward's ecosystem.
• Tech Nonprofit Job Board A global job board featuring open roles from tech nonprofit organizations (1,473 jobs listed as of the data), powered by Getro. Connects job seekers with mission-driven opportunities at tech nonprofits worldwide.
• Pitch Camp A free two-hour virtual Zoom workshop teaching tech nonprofit teams to craft and deliver effective pitches, with hands-on practice sessions and feedback from trained tech volunteers. Over 1,000 partner employees have volunteered across 40 Pitch Camp events.
• Tools for Grantmakers A curated collection of resources, toolkits, workshops, checklists, and guides to help grantmakers and foundations evaluate and fund AI-powered nonprofits, including the AI Proposal Assessment Tool and AI philanthropy training materials.
• AI Proposal Assessment Tool A free online tool for evaluating AI proposals, helping grantmakers assess AI-powered nonprofit initiatives with clarity and confidence. Uses natural language processing to process text inputs and generate assessments and recommendations.
• Nonprofit AI Policy Builder A free, easy-to-use online tool that helps nonprofits create custom AI usage policies for their organizations, processing text inputs to generate tailored policy drafts.
• AI Philanthropy Workshops Free workshops for grantmakers and foundations exploring AI funding in the social sector. Custom sessions brought to grantmaker teams by invitation, covering how to evaluate AI-powered nonprofits and build AI philanthropy strategies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 415 million lives impacted by portfolio since 2014
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Patrick J. McGovern FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Co-hosts Fund.AI convening with Fast Forward. Provides AI philanthropy tools including Grant Guardian. Partnered on AI for Humanity research and resources.
• MicrosoftmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Innovation programs accept nonprofits. Azure and technology access for nonprofits.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Cloud credits and programs for nonprofits including tech nonprofits.
• ComcastmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Innovation programs accepting nonprofits.
• AT&TminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Corporate innovation programs accepting nonprofits.
• VerizonminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Corporate innovation programs accepting nonprofits.
• ToyotaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2014Innovation programs accepting nonprofits.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• NetHope: NetHope is a consortium of global nonprofits using technology for international development, with overlapping members and a shared focus on tech capacity-building for the nonprofit sector; an adjacent rather than directly competing player.
• NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network): NTEN supports nonprofits in leveraging technology through community, training, and resources; it overlaps with Fast Forward's Tools-for-Tech-Nonprofits offering but focuses on capacity rather than capital.

Direct peers

• Village Capital: Village Capital runs impact-focused cohort accelerators for early-stage ventures solving social and environmental problems, mirroring Fast Forward's peer-cohort format and the nonprofit/impact orientation.
• Acumen: Acumen is a global impact accelerator that supports social enterprises tackling poverty; its cohort-based programs, mentorship model, and impact measurement approach are directly analogous to Fast Forward's accelerator structure.
• Echoing Green: Echoing Green runs a fellowship and accelerator for social entrepreneurs, the closest direct comp to Fast Forward's mission of seeding and supporting mission-driven founders, though it is not tech-nonprofit specific.
• New Profit: New Profit is a venture philanthropy fund and capacity-building partner to social entrepreneurs, comparable in its mix of unrestricted capital, coaching, and ecosystem support for impact-led organizations.
• Unreasonable Group: Unreasonable runs cohort-based impact accelerators pairing social entrepreneurs with capital and mentorship, comparable in structure and target founder profile to Fast Forward's accelerator.

Broad incumbents

• Ashoka: Ashoka is the largest global network of leading social entrepreneurs; it offers a fellowship and ongoing support rather than a time-bound cohort, making it a broader incumbent in the social-entrepreneur acceleration space.
• Skoll Foundation: The Skoll Foundation funds and convenes a global community of social entrepreneurs, overlapping with Fast Forward in the social-impact acceleration thesis but operating at a much larger scale and via longer-horizon grants.
• Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the dominant tech startup accelerator, a much larger incumbent in the accelerator category; its cohort model and Demo Day format are the structural template that Fast Forward's accelerator emulates for the tech-nonprofit segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@FfwdOrg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fast_forward
• Instagraminstagram.com/ffwd_org
• Facebookfacebook.com/ffwd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors15 records

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

M&A

Investments26 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Fast Forward