Startup Improving Transparency in Philanthropy Receives Funding

South Bend, Ind. (June 1, 2022) – South Bend-based startup Groundata has received $20,000 in investment from the Elevate Ventures Community Ideation Fund. The company plans to use the funds for product development and to expand its sales and marketing efforts. 

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Groundata’s platform allows philanthropic funders and their portfolio nonprofits to automate processes, ensuring more transparency and consistency in data collection, analysis and reporting as per environmental, social and governance (ESG) or U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) standards. 

“Many individuals, companies and foundations financially support nonprofits and causes they believe in,” said Nicholas Kuhn, Elevate Ventures’ entrepreneur-in-residence serving Startup South Bend-Elkhart, a partnership supporting entrepreneurs in north-central Indiana. “A lack of transparency on the impact of those dollars is an issue, and Groundata is in the early stages of addressing this with automated solutions.”  

CEO Bethun Bhowmik launched Groundata in India in 2020. Bhowmik said the United States was its second-biggest market and decided to pursue an MBA at the University of Notre Dame. Bhowmik participated in the Fall 2021 Student Pre-Accelerator at the IDEA Center. 

“The funding from Elevate Ventures will allow us to continue working toward our mission of improving transparency in the philanthropic sector,” said Bhowmik. “We are grateful for the support and look forward to continuing to grow our business in Indiana.” 

Groundata also received a $20,000 pre-seed investment from the Elevate Nexus Regional Pitch Competition in 2021.