I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve raised a $47 million Series C round of funding, led by Accel-KKR with support from our previous investors.
This round of funding is a strong endorsement of the work we’re doing and the future we’ve laid out for our product, our company, and the sector at large. But most importantly, this support indicates the momentum behind something that extends far beyond us: on an individual, organizational, and societal level, the world is prioritizing social impact like never before.
Supporting social impact to make meaningful change
It’s been three years since our Series B, and we’ve come a long way from our first, small office above a sushi shop. Though we’ve kept our headquarters in Missoula, we’ve added a satellite office in Seattle and nearly doubled our team.
Not only has our company grown at an incredible speed over the last three years, but we’ve done so in the midst of a revolution within the sector. The world of social impact is evolving quickly, with a renewed focus on equity, trust, and transformative change.
We’re excited about being part of this movement to redefine philanthropy and social good. But what inspires us the most is the impact our clients and partners have had on their communities.
Over the past three years, we’ve supported grantmakers of all sizes—from big foundations to community nonprofits—as they launch programs to address equity, social justice, climate change, and more.
We drove responsive corporate community investment and relief programs. Our team has worked with companies of all sizes, including The LEGO Foundation, Dell, AT&T, and WarnerMedia, helping our partners tackle childhood education crises in the COVID era, build bike-friendly communities, and create new career pathways for underrepresented writers.
By adding features like automated review, funds distribution, and identity verification, we’ve helped local and state governments move quickly to deliver billions of dollars in aid to individuals, small businesses, and renters in need of financial assistance.
All of this drives our desire to build out the next stage of our product, which includes enhanced reporting, increased automation, machine learning, and a more secure, simplified experience for all users.
How we’re working to increase that impact
Our whole team is driven by our mission to simplify and accelerate the process of making an impact. This drive is reflected in how we build and evolve our product. And this round of funding enables us to keep pursuing that mission.
Here’s a brief overview of our upcoming roadmap:
This month we release our volunteer product, which centers the employee experience and facilitates deeper engagement. In Fall 2022, we’ll launch our giving and matching feature to help businesses create more efficient and effective employee giving programs.
As we move toward a full suite of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) offerings, we’ll keep adding features that help grantmakers, foundations, and government agencies leverage automations to streamline the review process, collaborate more effectively, and build reporting that captures the full impact of their programs.
We also aim to grow our team so we can continue to innovate on the Submittable platform and provide even more project management and consulting services to help our customers fulfill their missions.
All of our growth is in service of the final result: transforming how the social impact sector makes change and improving outcomes for communities.
A new future for social impact
We’re at an inflection point in how society thinks about social good. There is a greater recognition of the interconnectedness that allows communities to thrive. Everyone plays a part.
Foundations and nonprofits: Across philanthropy, leaders are taking action to advance equity and center the lived experiences of the people they serve. Funders are forging deeper connections with their grantees with partnerships rooted in collaboration and mutual respect. For instance, a recent report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that more than three-quarters of foundations are making new efforts to support and foster relationships with organizations serving communities of color.
Corporations: Businesses are thinking more holistically about how they can be a force for good, investing more in community and employee engagement as well as building their company cultures around empathy and stewardship. The latest Giving in Numbers report from CECP showed that 68% of companies had increased spending on community investment and 93% were allocating more resources for DEI.
Governments: Global crises have forced government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to rethink what it means to deliver aid on a broad scale. The $2 trillion CARES Act, the largest rescue package in U.S. history, prompted many leaders to reimagine how they connect with and deliver funding to constituents with an emphasis on accessibility, accuracy, and speed.
In this new landscape, individuals are asserting their power. This generation of consumers and employees expects the brands they support to stand for something. A study by Cone/Porter Novelli found that 66% of people would switch brands to support a purpose-driven company, including 91% of millennials.
But none of this happens without the right technology.
We’ve seen examples of what happens when technology falls short in the social impact sector, where the stakes are high. Overcomplicated and outdated processes have helped create a funding gap between rural and urban communities, led to billions of dollars in fraud in government relief programs, and kept employee engagement in volunteering and giving programs hovering around 20%.
The world is prioritizing social impact and CSR like never before, and it needs technology that can keep up. The sector is ready for a solution to meet the moment.
Want to join our team?
We’re growing fast and looking for folks ready to make an impact.
Building the right partnerships
We know that the world of social impact is built on partnerships. That’s why we’re so thrilled to team up with Accel-KKR.
Rooted in a culture of integrity and collaboration, Accel-KKR has more than 20 years of experience working with software companies. They bring a deep knowledge base and a strong network of industry peers who will serve as resources for our team. Plus Accel-KKR’s emphasis on sustainable growth aligns with our mission and values.
As they approached this partnership, the Accel-KKR team was particularly impressed with how the Submittable platform accelerates impact and enables users to achieve outcomes that make lasting change. They are excited to play a role in helping us write the next chapter for our team, our product, and our customers.
We’re also thankful to our previous investors—Next Coast Ventures, Next Frontier Capital, StepStone Group, True Ventures, and Flywheel Ventures—for their continued support.
A note of gratitude
We’re in a fortunate position. When we empower our customers’ impact, they make the world a better place for everyone. That’s why it’s particularly exciting to announce this funding. As we build our team and evolve our product, we’re doing so in service of a larger vision of a more just, equitable, and sustainable future.
I also want to send a big thank you to all of our customers and employees. This sector attracts some of the most dedicated, innovative, and passionate individuals. It’s their work that keeps us all moving forward. With this funding we can do more good together.
Interested in how our team can help you do more? Reach out to us.
If you’d liked to be part of this vision, come join our team.
Thor Culverhouse is CEO of Submittable and brings more than two decades’ worth of tech leadership experience to the team. He has led multiple sales teams in both larger public and growth-stage startup environments and is a five-time CEO of venture-backed companies. Outside the office, Thor loves to spend time with his four kids and wife, enjoying the outdoors in his home state of Washington.