A Newcastle company that allows people to donate money to charity using text messages has secured £300,000 in investment.
Donr is attempting to shake up the way people give money to charity by offering them an alternative to signing up to a regular direct debit.
The company argues that people are more inclined to give money to charities using a text messaging service rather than fill out lengthy direct debit forms on their mobile phone.
So far Donr has signed up more than 800 charities to its platform, including The Big Issue Foundation and The Trussell Trust, as well as local charities such as Sage Gateshead and Tyneside Cinema.
Donr has gained the £300,000 equity investment from the North East Innovation Fund, which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures. The money will be used to fuel the firm’s growth.
Chris Newell, CEO of Donr, said: “I want to thank Northstar for their backing and support. Donr’s tech for good is having a great impact with charities. We’re helping them to raise more money from the digitally-savvy demographic of donors by using our services and that has been recognised by Northstar.”
Mr Newell believes Donr is perfectly suited to meet the changing technologies that charities are being forced to navigate to receive donations, such as text giving, and Apple and Google Pay.
Richard Charnley, investment manager at Northstar, said: “We can see great potential in Donr and the value they can add to charities. This is why we’re very excited to be involved in their continued growth.”
Donr was advised on the investment by Duncan Reid and Nick Gray of Watson Burton LLP.
Mr Reid said: “We were delighted to provide legal support to Donr in securing this investment. Donr’s innovative product offers something exciting to the charity sector and we look forward to seeing the company grow in the coming months.”
Northstar Ventures was advised by Ward Hadaway.
