From Richmond BizSense By Jack Jacobs

Humanitru co-founders Alan Wei and Megan Newman. (Courtesy of Humanitru)

A 5-year-old local startup that caters its services to nonprofits has scored a new cash injection that will help fuel continued hiring.

Humanitru, which offers cloud-based management software for nonprofits such as The Poe Museum and the American Civil War Museum, recently closed on a $825,000 capital raise.

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. (formerly known as The Center for Innovative Technology), the Geekdom Fund and CFV Ventures were among the investors in the round.

The company has earmarked the funds to expand its team as it seeks to make further inroads with museums, humane societies and community colleges.

“We have always played a little in that space. What we’re doing differently is taking an intentional approach,” co-founder and CEO Alan Wei said.

The company has already put the money to work in hiring four salespeople and a software engineer, bringing its headcount up to 10 people in mid-January. The company is still looking to hire two or three more software developers.

Humanitru’s software allows users to manage programming, membership, donations and volunteer activities among other facets of nonprofit operation in a single program. The company charges a subscription fee for access, ranging from $100 a month to upwards of $500 a month based on the number of people served by the organization.

It has an annual revenue of more than $200,000, Wei said.

The company was originally called Totem before a rebranding in 2020.

Including the Poe Museum and American Civil War Museum, Humanitru has more than 80 clients.

Wei co-founded the company with COO Megan Newman, PJ Harris and Daniel O’Donnell in 2016. Harris and O’Donnell are no longer part of the company.

Wei said that Humanitru began as a way to bring together businesses and college students to fundraise for nonprofits. In the course of that work, the team saw a need for a nonprofit-oriented management system and shifted its operation accordingly.

“We discovered a deeper need for modern technology to help (nonprofits) keep up with the demands of the modern supporter: not just donors, but volunteers, advocates, members, etc.,” Wei said.

Prior to the most recent round, Humanitru had raised $650,000 to date.