Watsi

Watsi, legally Watsi, Inc., is a nonprofit healthcare crowdsourcing platform that enables individual donors to directly fund medical care for individuals in developing countries without access to affordable medical care.[5][6][7]

Watsi, Inc.[1]
FoundedMay 23, 2011 (2011-05-23)[2]
FounderChase Adam
Grace Garey
Jesse Cooke
Type501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
45-3236734[3]
FocusHumanitarianism, Health care
Location
Coordinates37.7730331°N 122.4045471°W / 37.7730331; -122.4045471
Area served
Developing countries
ServicesFunding medical treatment
MethodCrowd funding
Chase Adam[3][4]
Key people
Jon Skaggs, Mary Everette Cann, Dr. Mitul Kapadia, Dinkar Jain, Paul Graham
Revenue (2014)
$3,014,372[3]
Expenses (2014)$2,071,760[3]
Employees (2013)
5[3]
Volunteers (2013)
10[3]
Websitewatsi.org

History

Watsi was the first nonprofit funded by seed accelerator Y Combinator.[8][9] They have also been funded by the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation.[10]

In November 2015 the company announced a $3.5M growth round of donations led by 12 investors including Paul Graham, Tencent, and The Pershing Square Foundation.[11]

Medical partners included Nyaya Health, Dr. Rick Hodes, Wuqu' Kawoq, Children's Surgical Centre, CURE International, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, Hope for West Africa, Project Muso, Lwala Community Alliance, Living Hope Haiti, Floating Doctors, Burma Border Projects, Partner for Surgery, International Care Ministries, The Kellermann Foundation, and World Altering Medicine.[12]

In 2016, Wasti partnered with Patientco, a healthcare payment technology company, to fund medical procedures throughout the world.[13]

Process

The medical partner identifies a patient that needs low-cost, high-impact medical care and submits the profile to Watsi. If the profile meets the criteria, Watsi accepts it and guarantees the medical partner that they will cover the cost of providing care to that patient. Watsi posts the profile online, donors browse the profile and fund it via PayPal or a credit card donation, and the medical partner provides care to the patient.

After the treatment is provided, the medical partner sends Watsi an update about the outcome of the treatment. After receiving the update, Watsi sends it to the donors who supported that patient and transfers the funds to the medical partner's bank account to cover the cost of the treatment.[14]

In 2014, Watsi's old logo, which had a blue cross with a white triangle, was the subject of a trademark suit from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association,[15] leading the company to change their logo to white triangles on a blue circle.[16]

References
  1. https://watsi.org/privacy
  2. "Watsi, Inc.". Business Entity Search. California Secretary of State. Accessed on June 30, 2016.
  3. "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Watsi Inc. Guidestar. September 30, 2014.
  4. "Our Team". Watsi. Accessed on June 30, 2016.
  5. "First Global Crowdfunding Website for Medical Treatments Opens to Public". Watsi. FundRaising Success. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  6. Empson, Rip (30 August 2012). "Watsi Is Using Crowdfunding To Treat The 1B+ Worldwide Without Access To Medical Care". TechCrunch. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  7. Devin Coldewey, Devin (27 August 2012). "Watsi: A Kickstarter for third-world medical care". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  8. "Watsi raises first-ever 'philanthropic seed round' from Silicon Valley investors". VentureBeat. 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  9. Piper, Kelsey (2018-10-26). "Silicon Valley wants to fight climate change with these "moonshot" ideas". Vox. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  10. "DRK Foundation". drkfoundation.org. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  11. "Watsi Receives $3.5M "Philanthropic Round" Donation For Nonprofit Healthcare Crowdfunding". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  12. "Watsi Transparency Document". Watsi. Google Drive. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  13. "Brief: Watsi Teams Up With Patientco to Fund Medical Procedures Throughout the World". Crowdfund Insider. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
  14. LaPorte, Nicole (13 April 2013). "Medical Care, Aided by the Crowd". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  15. Kumparak, Greg (26 February 2014). "Watsi Watsi To Change Its Logo Following Legal Threats From "Multi-Billion Dollar Health Insurance Company"". Techcrunch. AOL. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
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