Omaze
Online fundraising platform offering prizes and experiences to support nonprofits.
Website: https://www.omaze.com/
Cover Block
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Omaze |
| Tagline | Online fundraising platform offering prizes and experiences to support nonprofits |
| Headquarters | Culver City, CA, USA |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Stage | Series C |
| Business Model | B2C |
| Industry | Consumer / Charitable Fundraising |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | North America, with operations in UK and Germany |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founders | Matt Pohlson, Ryan Cummins |
| Funding Label | $50M+ |
| Total Disclosed | Approximately $124M across Series A, B, and C [Business Wire, July 2015] [TechCrunch, August 2020] [PRNewswire, October 2021] |
Links
- Website: https://www.omaze.com/
- LinkedIn (US): https://www.linkedin.com/company/omaze
- LinkedIn (UK): https://uk.linkedin.com/company/omaze-uk
- Careers: https://www.omaze.com/careers.html
- Leadership: https://www.omaze.com/team.html
The Short Version
Omaze runs a consumer-facing prize draw platform that bundles charitable giving with the chance to win luxury homes, travel, and experiences. This model has produced one of the larger venture-backed footprints in digital philanthropy [LinkedIn] [Crunchbase]. Founded in 2012 in Culver City by Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins, the company began with celebrity-fronted experience campaigns before expanding into mass-market sweepstakes for homes and lifestyle prizes [TechCrunch, July 2015] [TechCrunch, August 2020]. Its differentiation rests less on technology than on the curation of headline-grade prizes, the legal scaffolding required to run cross-border sweepstakes, and the partnership pipeline with more than 350 charities cited across third-party sources [LeadIQ]. Matt Pohlson remains co-founder and CEO [Growjo] [Comparably]. Capital has come from a recognizable roster including FirstMark Capital, Tornante Company, Vayner/RSE, Telstra Ventures, and Moore Strategic Ventures, which led the $85M Series C [PRNewswire, October 2021]. Over the next 12 to 18 months, investors should track the durability of the UK and Germany expansion, the cadence of high-ticket home draws, and whether 2025 leadership additions translate into a renewed growth phase [Omaze]. A current slate of six open roles spanning engineering, data, marketing, and business development suggests continued operating investment [Greenhouse, 2026].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Crunchbase, TechCrunch, PRNewswire, and the company's own properties.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Series C |
| Business Model | B2C consumer sweepstakes with charitable beneficiary structure |
| Industry / Vertical | Online fundraising / consumer philanthropy |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | US, UK, Germany |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Matt Pohlson (CEO), Ryan Cummins |
| Funding | $50M+ disclosed; approximately $124M cumulative across rounds |
The Company in Brief
Omaze was founded in 2012 by Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins. By Pohlson's own retelling in subsequent press, the founders observed how a single high-profile charity auction experience could move dramatically more dollars than a traditional appeal [Forbes, November 2020]. The company is headquartered in Culver City, California, and describes itself across its US, UK, and German properties as an online fundraising platform that lets anyone enter for a chance to win prizes while supporting a designated nonprofit beneficiary [Omaze] [LinkedIn].
In July 2015, Omaze closed a $9M Series A led by FirstMark Capital [Business Wire, July 2015] [TechCrunch, July 2015]. By August 2020, the company had broadened beyond celebrity experience campaigns into a wider catalog of prizes and raised a $30M Series B [TechCrunch, August 2020]. In October 2021, an $85M Series C led by Moore Strategic Ventures marked the company's largest disclosed round [PRNewswire, October 2021] [Forbes, November 2020]. International expansion into the UK and Germany is described directly on the company's regional sites, and a 2025 leadership addition is referenced on the leadership page [Omaze].
Greenhouse postings dated 2026 reference "over $150M" driven to 350 charity partners, while earlier podcast and press references cited a $130M figure [Greenhouse, 2026].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Business Wire, TechCrunch, PRNewswire, and the company website.
What They Have Built
The consumer-facing product is a structured sweepstakes catalog. Each campaign pages a hero prize against a named charitable beneficiary, with entry tiers, official rules, and, in the case of physical-asset prizes, an explicit cash alternative [Omaze]. The Miami Dream House product page, for example, discloses an $1,800,000 cash alternative paid in twelve monthly $150,000 installments if the winner declines or if the sponsor cannot deliver the home [Omaze].
Underneath the catalog sits a conventional consumer e-commerce and CRM stack. Open job postings reference a Mobile Engineering Lead, a Data Engineer, and a CRM Manager role [Greenhouse, 2026]. The company does not publicly hold itself out as an AI company.
Differentiation is less about software primitives and more about three operational assets: prize sourcing, the regulatory and compliance work to run lawful sweepstakes in the US, UK, and Germany, and the influencer and charity partnership pipeline [LinkedIn] [LeadIQ].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Omaze product pages, Greenhouse postings, and LinkedIn descriptions.
Market Research and Opportunity
The demand side is anchored by a long-running structural fact: traditional charitable giving in developed markets has been roughly flat as a share of disposable income for decades, while consumer willingness to pay for entertainment, lottery products, and experience-based purchases has grown. Omaze's pitch is that pairing a lottery-style prize with a charitable beneficiary converts entertainment spend into philanthropic capital [Forbes, September 2020] [Forbes, November 2020]. The cited cumulative figure of more than $150M raised for 350+ charities is consistent with that thesis [Greenhouse, 2026] [LeadIQ].
| Cited claim | Figure |
|---|---|
| Cumulative raised for charity | over $150M |
| Charity partners served | 350+ |
| Series C size | $85M |
| Operating geographies | US, UK, Germany |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Demand drivers corroborated across Forbes and company materials; no independent TAM figure was located in the cited research.
Who Else Is Fighting for This
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omaze | Prize-led online fundraising with hero prizes tied to charity beneficiaries | Series C, ~$124M disclosed | Home and experience prize catalog plus US/UK/DE compliance footprint |
| Charitybuzz | Online charity auction marketplace, celebrity experiences | Acquired | Auction format, deep celebrity inventory |
| Prizeo | Sweepstakes-style fundraising, often celebrity-fronted | Acquired | Earlier mover in celebrity sweepstakes |
| BiddingForGood | Online auction platform for nonprofit fundraisers | Private | Long-tail nonprofit auctions, lower price points |
| One Country | Country-music-themed prize draws benefiting causes | Private | Audience-segment focus |
| CharityStar | Prize draw platform for nonprofits | Private | Smaller-scale prize draws, nonprofit-led |
Opportunity
If Omaze executes against the international prize-draw opportunity, the prize is becoming the default consumer brand for prize-led charitable giving in English- and German-speaking markets. The cited evidence makes that outcome reachable: an $85M Series C balance sheet from October 2021, more than 350 charity partners, active operations in three countries, and a stated cumulative fundraising figure that has continued to climb [PRNewswire, October 2021] [LeadIQ] [Greenhouse, 2026].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenarios anchored to confirmed funding, geography, and partnership counts.
Sources
- [Business Wire, July 2015] Omaze Announces $9M in Funding Led by FirstMark Capital | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150715006146/en/Omaze-Announces-9M-Funding-Led-FirstMark-Capital
- [TechCrunch, July 2015] Omaze, The Democratized Fundraising Platform, Picks Up $9 Million In Series A | https://techcrunch.com/2015/07/15/omaze-the-democratized-fundraising-platform-picks-up-9-million-in-series-a/
- [TechCrunch, August 2020] Omaze raises $30M after expanding beyond celebrity campaigns | https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/13/omaze-series-b/
- [Forbes, September 2020] Purpose At Work: How Omaze Reinvented Philanthropy | https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2020/09/09/purpose-at-work-how-omaze-reinvented-philanthropy-to-unlock-exponential-growth-and-impact/
- [Forbes, November 2020] Omaze's Matt Pohlson On What Dying Taught Him About Optimism | https://www.forbes.com/sites/afdhelaziz/2020/11/16/omazes-matt-pohlson-on-what-dying-taught-him-about-optimism-and-their-new-goal-of-raising-a-billion-dollars-annually-for-good-causes/
- [PRNewswire, October 2021] Omaze Series C announcement
- [Omaze] Company website | https://www.omaze.com/
- [Omaze] About Us | https://www.omaze.com/pages/about-us
- [Omaze] Leadership Team | https://www.omaze.com/team.html
- [Omaze] Miami Dream House product page | https://www.omaze.com/products/miami-dream-house
- [LinkedIn] Omaze company page | https://www.linkedin.com/company/omaze
- [LinkedIn] Omaze UK | https://uk.linkedin.com/company/omaze-uk
- [Crunchbase] Omaze profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/omaze/profiles_and_contacts
- [ZoomInfo] Omaze overview | https://www.zoominfo.com/c/omaze-inc/354570053
- [Growjo] Omaze revenue and competitors | https://growjo.com/company/Omaze
- [LeadIQ] Omaze company overview | https://leadiq.com/c/omaze/5a1d8a8f2400002400643fcc
- [Greenhouse, 2026] Omaze open roles | https://boards.greenhouse.io/omaze
Articles about Omaze
- Omaze Is Selling a Miami Mansion to Bankroll 350 Charities — The Culver City prize-draw company has routed more than $150M to nonprofits and is pushing deeper into the UK and Germany.