The missing infrastructure: Raiser opens pre seed round as momentum builds
The charity sector is currently locked in an AI arms race that nobody is winning. More applications are being written faster than ever, creating more noise and less clarity for the people trying to distribute funds.
We believe the answer isn’t “faster paperwork”—it’s better infrastructure. We’ve spent the last few months building a platform that allows charities to set up an Impact Story once, build a bank of outcomes evidence over time, and easily update it forever, giving funders the “gold dust” they’ve been looking for: comparable, portfolio-level data.
Led by the sector, for the sector
Raiser isn’t being built by tech bros looking for a quick exit; it is being led by a team of sector practitioners who have lived these problems for decades.
The founding team is led by Luke Wilkinson, a former charity CEO, fundraising consultant & trainer, and visiting lecturer at the Bayes Business School Centre for Charity Effectiveness, alongside Beckie Denny, founder of evaluation and fundraising consultancy The Charity Spark. Beckie brings 15 years of experience across national and regional charities, focusing on insight-led impact and strategy for organisations like the RHS and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
They are joined by James Poulter, a leading authority on AI and innovation. James, whose upcoming book AI at Work has already hit the top-ten charts on pre-order on Amazon, is also a Trustee at Christian Aid. He brings the technical depth of a founder who has successfully built and exited an AI startup, combined with a deep, grounded commitment to the voluntary sector.
The shift from product to infrastructure
Since being named a Tech Nation Rising Star 2025, the pace has accelerated. We’ve strengthened our board with sector veterans Howard Lake and Mark Carrigan, and we’re seeing a virtuous circle of investment from people who have built this sector’s past and want to build its future.
One of our recent investors is Ben Cartledge, who has previously backed other tech for good organisations in the same sector. Following the recent sale of Enthuse, Ben has immediately reinvested some of his return into Raiser.
Evidence from both sides of the table
The “pull” for this new way of working is coming from the people who actually move the money. Kate Symondson of The Symondson Foundation recently described Raiser as a “much-needed leveller” with the potential to reform an inequitable system.
On the frontline, the approach is already being validated. Simon Wallwork, CEO of Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust, recently used the Raiser framework to secure a £240,000 core grant.
Pre Seed to help us scale
We are now moving into our next phase of development. To support that, we are raising a small funding round, and the early response from people who share our vision for the sector has been very encouraging.
If you want to truly fix a system, the people it’s meant to serve need to be involved and we believe it is important for the sector to have a stake in its own infrastructure.
This is not another tool for the sector, Raiser is infrastructure for the sector, by the sector.
If you want to know more, please get in touch: luke@raiser.uk
