Carl Nassib’s Rayze raises Series A funding for a new social media app

He may have created them with Rayze, a new app that connects people to each other and to nonprofits that appeal to their interests or are based where they live.

Now it’s just a matter of getting people and nonprofits to use it. “When we scale up, when we’re hanging out on a Saturday afternoon and have time to kill, we can pick up our phones and within 10 seconds find something in our neighborhood to give back,” Nassib said. “There will be countless possibilities.”

And after announcing an investment Monday in the form of Series A funding and incubation support from Financial Finesse Ventures, Rayze will launch programs to add users and nonprofits. Details of the investment were not released, although Financial Finesse Ventures said their typical investment ranges from $500,000 to $1.5 million for a minority stake.

Liz Davidson, CEO and founder of Financial Finesse Ventures, said Rayze met all the criteria that her firm’s venture arm was looking for in an investment – positive social impact, a strong business model and a CEO who can inspire people to collaborate .

“Carl is a force of nature,” Davidson said. “Honestly, it’s going to be really difficult to find other investments that can compete with that.”

Nassib, who made headlines last year when he became the first active NFL player to come out as gay, said the idea for Rayze had been with him since he volunteered with the Buccaneers in 2018 at a Tampa juvenile delinquent center.

“We visited children as young as 13 or 14 who were in jail cells – many of whom were there because they were running away from a violent home environment,” he said. “These kids were in really, really desperate need and the most touching thing was that they were half a mile from where we work every day,” he added. “And none of us knew they were there.”

Though many nonprofits say they’re struggling to find enough volunteers, Nassib says it’s because of a lack of connection, not a lack of compassion.

“Everyone wants to give something back,” he said. “Right now it’s just a little difficult, but we’ll do it as efficiently as possible.”

Nassib hopes to help smaller nonprofits by giving them a way to receive donations through Rayze, so they don’t have to build their own online fundraising sites. He said part of Financial Finesse Ventures’ investment would allow Rayze to match the skills of a volunteer with the needs of a nonprofit to address the shortage of volunteers who can help nonprofits with technology or marketing.

Social media platforms are going through a rough patch, between Elon Musk’s struggles with Twitter and Facebook parent Meta laying off 11,000 workers. However, Nassib and his supporters believe they can find an audience.

Rayze’s new funding will support a new series of in-person events called “Saturayze,” where people can meet nonprofit leaders in their own communities.

“I want to get people out there and give back to their communities — which makes it a popular thing,” Nassib said. “We really just want to encourage grassroots movements. And we want to do it culturally, where it’s part of society to get up and do something.”

The inaugural SatuRayze will take place Thursday at McCarren Park in New York City, with nonprofits including the New York Police Department Foundation, The Trevor Project, which provides suicide prevention and mental health services to LGBTQ youth, and Sow Good Now, which supports philanthropic athletes .

Kevin Wong, the Trevor Project’s vice president of communications, said the group is grateful for Nassib’s support. “Not only has he inspired so many young people to live their truth, but also adults to embrace and support LGBTQ people in their lives,” Wong said, adding that research shows that community interaction is important at events like SatuRayze. “Acceptance from at least one adult can reduce LGBTQ youth’s suicide risk by 40%.”

Nassib believes Rayze can make a difference to communities of all kinds.

“My vision is to get people out of their homes and get involved,” he said. “It’s just the most rewarding thing of all—serving other people. It gives you a sense of accomplishment, of self-worth, as opposed to constantly looking at social media, which is so crippling to your self-esteem and self-image. So we’re fighting all of these negative effects of social media by getting people out of their homes and giving back. It is fun.”

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The Associated Press’s philanthropy and nonprofit coverage is supported through AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US and is funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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