Watsi
 | |
| Founded | May 23, 2011[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Chase Adam, Jesse Cooke |
| Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
| 45-3236734[2] | |
| Focus | Humanitarianism, Health care |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 37°46′23″N 122°24′16″W / 37.7730331°N 122.4045471°W |
Area served | Developing countries |
| Services | Funding medical treatment |
| Method | Crowd funding |
| Chase Adam[2][3] | |
Key people | Grace Garey, Jon Skaggs, Mary Everette Cann, Dr. Mitul Kapadia, Dinkar Jain, Paul Graham |
Revenue (2014) | $3,014,372[2] |
| Expenses (2014) | $2,071,760[2] |
Employees (2013) | 5[2] |
Volunteers (2013) | 10[2] |
| Website | watsi |
Watsi is a nonprofit healthcare crowdsourcing platform that enables individual donors to directly fund medical care for individuals in developing countries without access to affordable medical care.[4][5][6]
History
Watsi was the first nonprofit funded by seed accelerator Y Combinator.
Medical partners included Nyaya Health, Dr. Rick Hodes, Wuqu' Kawoq, Children's Surgical Centre, CURE International, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, Hope for West Africa, Project Muso, Lwala Community Alliance, Living Hope Haiti, Floating Doctors, Burma Border Projects, Partner for Surgery, International Care Ministries, The Kellermann Foundation, and World Altering Medicine.[7]
In 2016, Wasti partnered with Patientco, a healthcare payment technology company, to fund medical procedures throughout the world.[8]
Process
The medical partner identifies a patient that needs low-cost, high-impact medical care and submits the profile to Watsi. If the profile meets the criteria, Watsi accepts it and guarantees the medical partner that they will cover the cost of providing care to that patient. Watsi posts the profile online, donors browse the profile and fund it, and the medical partner provides care to the patient once the patient reaches his or her funding goal.
After the treatment is provided, the medical partner sends Watsi an update about the outcome of the treatment. After receiving the update, Watsi sends it to the donors who supported that patient and transfer the funds via PayPal to the medical partner’s bank account to cover the cost of the treatment.[9]
In 2014, Watsi's old logo, which had a blue cross with a white triangle, was the subject of a trademark suit from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association,[10] leading the company to change their logo to white triangles on a blue circle.[11]
References
- ^ "Watsi, Inc.". Business Entity Search. California Secretary of State. Accessed on June 30, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Watsi Inc. Guidestar. September 30, 2014.
- ^ "Our Team". Watsi. Accessed on June 30, 2016.
- ^ "First Global Crowdfunding Website for Medical Treatments Opens to Public". Watsi. FundRaising Success. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ Empson, Rip (30 August 2012). "Watsi Is Using Crowdfunding To Treat The 1B+ Worldwide Without Access To Medical Care". TechCrunch. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ Devin Coldewey, Devin (27 August 2012). "Watsi: A Kickstarter for third-world medical care". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ "Watsi Transparency Document". Watsi. Google Drive. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ "Brief: Watsi Teams Up With Patientco to Fund Medical Procedures Throughout the World". Crowdfund Insider. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
- ^ LaPorte, Nicole (13 April 2013). "Medical Care, Aided by the Crowd". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ Kumparak, Greg (26 February 2014). "Watsi Watsi To Change Its Logo Following Legal Threats From "Multi-Billion Dollar Health Insurance Company"". Techcrunch. AOL. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
- ^ http://exposure.watsi.org/introducing-watsis-new-logo