Giving Compass' Take:

• HandUp is a startup that is a public benefit corporation offering services to the homeless and was acquired by the Detroit-based South Oakland Shelter. 

• What makes HandUp a good example of a successful startup despite the acquisition?  

• Read about the need for early-stage funding as a nonprofit startup. 

In the slightly bittersweet news, startup HandUp is selling itself to the Detroit-based South Oakland Shelter for an undisclosed amount. This isn’t your typical Silicon Valley exit where the founders and investors made a bunch of money. HandUp CEO Rose Broome described it to me as a “primary philanthropic acquisition.” But it’s still a solid outcome for a startup that operates as a public benefit corporation.

SOS has been one of HandUp’s nonprofit partners for years. When the two organizations first started discussing working together, SOS at the time communicated that the organization had been wanting to build something like HandUp.

“HandUp’s tools have empowered us to better fulfill our own mission: building communities that end homelessness,” SOS CEO Ryan Hertz said in a statement. “We are proud to inherit and continue HandUp’s legacy as we extend our work into building digital communities.”

When HandUp first started, the goal was to create a scalable business that could grow and have the biggest impact possible, Broome said. Since then, HandUp raised $2.4 million in donations for 100 nonprofits across the country and helped 25,000 people meet some of their basic needs, like housing and medical care. While the business itself worked, the scale just wasn’t there.

“To say a startup focused on homelessness is going to have a positive exit, all things considered, is amazing,” Broome said. “We did every single thing that we could and worked so hard and created something wonderful and it’s going to live on. That’s the outcome we’re really celebrating.”

Read the full article about HandUp by Megan Rose Dickey on TechCrunch