November 4, 2014

Good Done Great raises $500,000 from Seattle-based Lighter Capital

Liz Segrist  /  Good Done Great

Good Done Great has raised $500,000 through a business loan from Seattle-based Lighter Capital.

The Charleston technology company provides Fortune 500 companies, including GulfStream, Marriott and Staples, with a cloud-based platform to augment their philanthropy programs. Its products help corporations manage grants and match employee donations or volunteer hours logged with nonprofits.

"We decided to work on improving the world of giving and move it all online to make it easier. ... It's all about companies participating more in their communities and supporting their employees and what they care about," Good Done Great CEO David Barach said.

Barach and company President Earl Bridges knew each other from a previous startup and decided to start Good Done Great from South Carolina and Washington in 2009.

Barach oversees 10 employees in Tacoma, Wash., and Bridges is based in Charleston with 18 employees. Thecompany moved into the Charleston Digital Corridor's Flagship building in 2012 until it outgrew its space there and relocated to Daniel Island. Barach said the company looks to relocate back to the peninsula as it grows.

The funds from Lighter Capital are Good Done Great's first outside financing. The co-founders are also in the midst of raising funds through the company's first angel round, with a goal of securing more than $3 million. Meetings with angel groups in South Carolina are ongoing, the company said.

The funding will allow the company to scale its operations. It has already purchased intellectual property fromGive.com, a site that helps people donate to charities, and hired two new vice presidents as part of its growth plans.

"Prior to working with Lighter Capital, we grew our business conservatively, using only our own revenue, which may seem a quaint concept in today's startup environment," Barach said. "Now as client demand puts us in a position to ramp up, outside capital will help us manage growth rapidly and efficiently." Lighter Capital operates with a revenue-based financing model, meaning the monthly loan payments adjust in proportion to revenue. If a company does not make revenue during a month, it does not make a loan payment.

Lighter Capital provides $50,000 to $1 million in funding for growing technology businesses looking to accelerate their sales, marketing or product development efforts.

Bridges said in a statement, "As our client base and the universe of CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs continues to expand, we are eager to scale our operation quite significantly. ... It eventually became clear that revenue-based financing was the best path for quickly addressing our needs and growing our company."

Good Done Great's software is used by more than 800,000 employees for corporate philanthropy efforts.