Manchester startup Raiser wins funding for AI grant matching

Raiser has secured innovation funding to develop an AI-enabled grant-matching engine, as the Manchester startup also brings in backing from Daryl Upsall and other charity sector figures.

The funding, awarded by the Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub, will support development of technology designed to match charities with funders using structured impact data rather than keyword-based searches.

Raiser is trying to address a longstanding problem in grant fundraising: smaller charities can struggle to surface in searches or present their work in terms that fit funders' criteria. Its approach centres on building shared data infrastructure that records charitable activities, outputs and outcomes in a common format.

That framework, called the Open Impact Standard, is intended to give charities and funders a shared language for describing work and results. It will underpin a meaning-based matching engine designed to identify organisations whose activities and outcomes align with a funder's priorities.

Raiser is positioning the system as an alternative to a growing market for AI tools focused on drafting more applications or helping funders process larger volumes of submissions. Instead, it is building software for both sides of the funding process, including tools for charities to capture evidence of impact and for funders to discover organisations, assess their work and manage funding relationships.

Its existing Charity Agent product is already live in beta, with more than 130 charities using the platform to manage funding opportunities, assemble evidence and support applications, according to the company.

Different approach

Luke Wilkinson, Co-Founder, Raiser, said: "Right now, small charities lose out for not using the 'right' jargon and funders are buried in applications, unclear which charities to back. Meanwhile the quiet grassroots groups doing vital work go unseen. Keyword searches and black-box algorithms don't fix that.

"We're building a meaning-based alternative. Think of it as a key, a map and a sat nav for grant-making: a shared language for impact, a picture of who funded what and what changed, and a way to find the right partner fast. Every recommendation is explainable, and humans still make the decisions."

Recommendations generated by the system are intended to be explainable, while funding decisions will remain with people rather than automated tools.

The support also coincides with an expansion of Raiser's network of advisers and backers. Upsall, who advised the founders of JustGiving during its early development, has joined as an investor and ambassador.

Two other figures with charity and philanthropy experience are also involved. Former Winning Scotland Chief Executive Officer Zahra Hedges has become an adviser, while Mark Carrigan, who works in philanthropy and capital mobilisation, joined the board earlier this year as a non-executive director.

Open systems

Raiser is building its software on Ruby on Rails, the open-source web framework, and plans to make its impact-data framework interoperable with other charity and grant-management systems. It is already working with charity software provider Lamplight on a two-way integration intended to allow impact data to move between platforms.

Its commercial model keeps the charity-facing platform free to use, while revenue is expected to come from funders using its technology and services. That structure is intended to reduce barriers for charities while generating income from institutions with grant budgets.

Raiser was founded by Wilkinson, a former charity chief executive, and Beckie Denny. The business describes itself as a financial technology company focused on shared data and intelligence infrastructure for the grants market.

Denny said the wider problem in the sector is fragmented information spread across incompatible systems.

"Charities and funders are currently operating with fragmented information, different systems and no shared way to understand and communicate impact.

"We're building infrastructure that connects both sides and makes that information more useful to everyone involved. Securing this innovation funding, alongside the expertise and support of our new advisers and backers, is an important step in bringing that vision to life and taking Raiser into its next phase of growth."

The funding will also support work on intellectual property as Raiser develops the next stage of the service.