Social entrepreneurship platform ChangeX has raised €350,000 in an extended seed round, bringing the total funding raised to date to €850,000.
The platform aims to bridge the gap between communities across Ireland and ideas that have been proven to help lives. It is also working toward launching in a US city for the first timer this summer to better understand what form international expansion will take.
New investors include MyFitnessPal co-founder and Mike Lee; Spectrum Equity managing director Vic Parker; Enterprise Ireland; CAF America; and Denis Tinsley, a former director at McKinsey.
Mr Lee said ChangeX has the potential to help spread thousands of ideas for improving societies across the world.
“Our investment is highly-leveraged with the opportunity to help millions of people.”
Returning investors include Union Square Ventures managing partner Albert Wenger and Andreessen Horowitz partner John O’Farrell.
ChangeX has signed up a number of popular social entrepreneurship projects including CoderDojo, Men’s Sheds and GIY (Grow It Yourself), with the aim of expanding them to more communities .
Local champions
“ChangeX is a really critical part of our business and has effectively become our tool for finding and keeping local champions. The number of changemakers we’re getting is continuing to increase dramatically. We recently had a starter join from Cape Cod through ChangeX demonstrating what’s possible – this could go anywhere,” GIY founder
Mick Kelly
said.
ChangeX chief executive Paul O’Hara (above, to the right of Paul Watson and with Niamh McKenna, Daniel Paul and Julia Hildebran of the team on his right) said the platform has grown on average 49 per cent per month over the past year with 350 people starting ideas, benefiting 8,000 people.
“Our group of investors continues to go from strength to strength, adding more resources, expertise and network as we grow,” he said.
