Crowdfunding Platform ProFounder Closes Shop

Today, ProFounder announced it is shutting down. ProFounder was launched in 2009 by Dana Mauriello and Jessica Jackley as a social fundraising platform allowing entrepreneurs to tap into their networks to crowdfund investment capital for their enterprises as an alternative to traditional financing structures.

ProFounder's launch enjoyed extensive coverage from a variety of publications. The excitement around the venture was about two fundamental things: The seemingly obvious notion that entrepreneurs should be able to tap their networks to find the capital needed to pursue growth and opportunity, and the tremendous experience and leadership ProFounder brought. ProFounder CEO and cofounder Jessica Jackley cofounded Kiva, one of the most innovative and important crowdfunding efforts on the planet.

Despite ProFounder’s great progress, the current regulatory environment prevented the company from pursuing further innovations to meet their customers' greatest needs. Fortunately, there is discussion afoot in Washington to amend current regulations and allow entrepreneurs to crowdfund more freely. ProFounder has played, and will continue to play, a very active role into these conversations, with its leaders testifying before Congressional committees and helping to develop new regulatory frameworks. Crowdfunding is an exciting and relevant opportunity and an obvious solution to support entrepreneurs, their productivity, and job creation.

I’m not just writing this note today to tell you about what the ProFounder team has done so far, though—I’m happy to announce some very positive news: Jessica and Dana, having shut ProFounder, will be joining the GOOD team as advisers. We'll be working together to think through our efforts in the crowdfunding space to further empower individuals who are trying to get the resources and support that they need to bring their ideas to life.

We’re hard at work here to evolve our efforts, and Jessica and Dana's wisdom, experience, and advice represent an extremely exciting addition for us. We look forward to sharing the products of this collaboration as it evolves. Stay tuned!