Despite war, inflation, and economic uncertainty, donations are reaching record highs – and Copenhagen-based startup Contribe is on a mission to take this positive trend global.
The startup, which enables consumers to support charitable causes while shopping online, has raised € 435,000 in new capital as an extension of its pre-seed round. This brings Contribe’s total pre-seed funding to € 1.3 million, which will be used to take the company’s concept global.
According to a new study, Danes donated over € 1 billion to charitable causes in 2024 – an 8.4% increase compared to the previous year. This growing desire to make a difference is clearly reflected in Contribe’s growth: over the past year, the company has quadrupled its customer base and expanded from 6 to 15 markets.
“We’re seeing significant demand in the market – especially from end users who, perhaps surprisingly, are increasingly motivated by the opportunity to make a difference,”
says Christoffer Bouet, CEO and Co-founder of Contribe.
Contribe’s software enables webshops to let customers donate a percentage of each purchase to a charitable cause – at no extra cost to the customer. The result is higher conversion rates, better customer loyalty, and increased revenue for webshops, while NGOs receive more funding for their work. With the new investment, Contribe is ready for its next phase: scaling globally and building a category-defining product. The funding will go towards international expansion, product development, and growing the team.
“We’ve proven that the model works for everyone. End users are happy, our clients grow their revenue, and NGOs gain more resources,”
says Christoffer Bouet, adding:
“There’s nothing holding us back anymore. The next step is to take Contribe global and build a product that can define a whole new category within loyalty and e-commerce — with the vision that every purchase in the future contributes to a good cause.”
