UK fundraising-technology company givestar has raised $12 million to expand in Britain and the US, as charity software moves beyond basic donation pages towards platforms connecting events, fundraisers, donors, payments, and supporter data.

The growth round is led by Mercia Ventures with participation from Love Ventures. More than $70 million has been donated through givestar, according to the investor, while the platform has supported more than 4,000 charities and accumulated more than 800,000 registered individuals.

givestar began around contactless donation technology before expanding into mobile fundraising, charity tools, event partnerships, supporter engagement, and payments.

The broader proposition is to keep more of the fundraising relationship inside one technology environment after an individual donation or event has finished.

Events become a distribution channel

The company has concentrated heavily on participation events as a way to acquire fundraisers. Its partnerships include major running and challenge-event operators in the UK and a growing US footprint.

Integrating fundraising into event registration can reduce the gap between somebody deciding to participate and setting up a campaign. It also connects the event organiser, fundraiser, donors, and charity within the same digital flow.

That creates a potential advantage over a standalone donation page because each event can supply new fundraisers and donor relationships to the platform.

givestar says a large majority of its users are under 35, giving charity partners access to a user base whose payment and communication habits are heavily mobile. The figure is supplied by the company and investor rather than an independent study.

The supporter relationship is the valuable layer

Digital fundraising has made it easier to start an appeal, but many charities now manage information across separate products for donation pages, payment processing, events, contactless collection, email, and supporter databases.

Fragmentation makes it harder to establish whether the same person has donated, organised a fundraiser, taken part in an event, or engaged through another channel.

A platform capable of connecting those interactions can become more useful than the transaction alone because the charity can continue the relationship after the original campaign has ended.

givestar is developing its charity proposition in that direction, adding supporter data, mobile fundraising, contactless payments, reporting, event APIs, and communication tools.

AI features can assist with campaign material and supporter communication, although the more important technical foundation remains payments, identity, data integration, permissions, and reliable event workflows.

Expansion raises the operational stakes

The financing will support product development, team growth, and expansion across both the UK and US.

International growth increases complexity around payments, charity eligibility, support, regulatory requirements, and local fundraising practices. A platform has to move money reliably to the correct organisation while maintaining accurate records around the campaign and donor.

The commercial test is whether event partnerships create durable engagement rather than one-off bursts of activity. Large events can generate thousands of sign-ups, but the value depends on how many fundraisers and charities continue using the product afterwards.

givestar’s expansion from contactless giving into a broader platform gives the company a more substantial technology proposition than a consumer fundraising app alone. It is attempting to connect the operational systems beneath fundraising rather than simply improve the donation page.

The $12 million round provides capital to develop that infrastructure in two markets. Whether the model compounds will depend on how successfully the company turns individual fundraising moments into reusable relationships without becoming another isolated system charities eventually have to integrate around.