Conshy’s WizeHive receives investment from local firm LLR Partners

Conshohocken-based grants and awards management software company WizeHive has raised a round of funding from local private equity firm LLR Partners’ $1.8 billion fund, both parties announced Monday.

WizeHive, which has a team of about 60 people, helps corporations, foundations, government entities, universities, and other nonprofits to accelerate the impact of their programs with software. The company’s tools aim to make it easier to engage applicants, minimize tedious activities for program administrators and deliver reports and insights. WizeHive has grown quite a bit in the last few years, nearly doubling in size, CTO Ravindar Gujral said a few months ago. 

The investment will go toward growing the company’s tech platform, Zengine, and further building out its customer success infastructure. It will also see continued investment in sales and marketing areas. Additionally, the team is in the early stages of building out a partnership channel, CEO Carl Guarino told Technical.ly.

Guarino said the company won’t be sharing the amount raised for now, but is considering it a kind of Series B (they raised a seed round back in 2013) and have previously received capital from Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Gabriel Investments, Mid-Atlantic Angel Group and Robin Hood Ventures.

LLR is the only investor in this round, and has also backed local companies like Five Below and Relay Network. Guarino said the landscape for the nonprofit world was just as tumultuous last year as for many other industries, but things started looking up around Labor Day last year. The relationship with LLR was strengthened during that time, and both agreed there was potential to grow a bit more aggressively, Guarino said.

“We expect further momentum post-COVID, especially as companies focus more on social responsibility and community impact,” Cheng Li, VP at LLR Partners, said in a statement. “Technology providers like WizeHive are increasingly seen as essential partners for foundations, corporations, and other entities to enable increasing volume of grant activity, simplify the process and improve reporting.”

The company has been embracing remote culture throughout the pandemic, but the CEO said he’s looking forward to a day that some employees can gather for collaboration in the office. And the continued hiring will likely be local, he said.

“We’re going to continue to hire here in the Philly region,” Guarino said. “I’m a Philly boy, and to raise this, do this growth in Philly and with a Philadelphia firm, that’s great for us.”