Earlier this week, Todd Wagner, CEO and founder of Chideo, announced the acquisition of Prizeo, a celebrity-based charitable fundraising platform (Update – July 2023: The Chideo website seems to be redirecting to charitybuzz.com, and we therefore deactivated the original link).
Prizeo, a UK-Slovak business founded by Oxford students and Y Combinator alumni, is a digital fundraising platform that enables influencers to use technology to mobilise their fan base to raise maximum amounts of funding and awareness for their chosen causes. In just two and a half years, the charity platform has run over 100 crowdfunding sweepstakes featuring unique celebrity experiences, resulting in millions of dollars being raised for nearly 100 charities around the world. Prizeo will continue to operate as its own entity in West Hollywood, CA.
“Prizeo brings us increased credibility as it is a proven experiences platform with a roster of great celebrities supported by a very strong team,” said Todd Wagner. He continued: “This means immediate synergy with Chideo, whose growing syndication partners and multiple fundraising streams will be able to extend Prizeo’s reach, and allow both companies to make a real impact on cause everywhere.”
The deal is also significant for the philanthropic space, because of Wagner’s background. He helped pioneer the streaming media landscape in the late 90s as CEO of Broadcast.com, and now his focus on Chideo has allowed him to consider how charities and celebrities can leverage this same basic technology to bring heightened awareness and support to causes across the world. The multi-platform broadcast network offers users exclusive video content, as well as a fundraising platform to distribute original cause-centric content.
Prizeo was launched at the end of 2012 and is dedicated to the principle that influential personalities can maximise both the funds and awareness they raise for charity on an inclusive platform, which in turns gives their fans the chance to win unique experiences while contributing to meaningful causes. Prizeo campaigns have featured celebrities including One Direction, Mark Ruffalo, Will Ferrell, U2, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Samuel L. Jackson, George R.R. Martin, and Ed Sheeran. A 2013 campaign featuring One Direction’s Harry Styles and Liam Payne raised nearly $800K for cancer research and prevention programmes.
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[…] Wagner, CEO and founder of Chideo, announced the acquisition of Prizeo – a celebrity-based charitable fundraising platform. Prizeo, a UK-Slovak business […]