Social impact startup Aunt Bertha secures $16 million in Series C funding to connect individuals with government and charitable social service programs

Aunt Bertha, a social impact startup that enables individuals to find and apply for government and charitable social service programs, has raised $16 million in Series C funding to bolster  its team and expand its social care network. The round was led by Noro-Moseley Partners, with participation from Digitalis Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Techstars Impact, Capital Factory as well as other early investors in the company.

Founded in 2010 by Erine Gray, the Austin, Texas-based Aunt Bertha picks up where Uncle Sam leaves off by making it easy to find and apply for government and charitable social service programs. By organizing the world’s human service program information, people in need and the people who help them can find programs in seconds on. The startup is also driving down the cost of administering social service programs by providing a simple way for governments and charities to accept applications online.

Aunt Bertha was recognized as an Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) portfolio company, a 2012 Unreasonable Institute company and a member of Code for America’s 2012 Civic Software Accelerator.

Aunt Bertha’s mission is to connect all people in need and the programs that serve them with dignity and ease. Beyond its core search functionality, the company delivers enterprise solutions for identifying social needs, targeting interventions, “closing the loop” on social care referrals, and delivering rich reporting. The company serves more than 175 customers across the United States, ranging from healthcare systems, payers, higher education, housing developments, and more.

Aunt Bertha operates the largest and most used online search and referral platform for individuals looking to connect to Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in the United States. The platform has more than two million users from all 50 states and customers include leading health systems, health plans, school systems, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Rapid adoption has coincided with rising awareness of the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) as a key driver to lowering costs for healthcare organizations shifting to value-based care models.

“We have spent a lot of time researching this space with the help of our strategic partners, and we believe Aunt Bertha is the leading platform in the market today,” says Spence McClelland, partner at Noro-Moseley Partners. “The company’s broad network, data expertise and culture make them the solution of choice for the CBOs, customers and individuals they serve. We are looking forward to working with Erine and this highly experienced and passionate team.”

“Our customers are connecting the people they serve to food, housing, education and other programs using our nationwide Social Care Network. When people’s basic needs are met, they are less likely to consume unnecessary healthcare services, which improves healthcare organizations’ bottom line and ultimately overall health outcomes,” shares Erine Gray, Aunt Bertha’s founder and CEO. “Our customers see us as thought partners who understand the complexities that exist – after all, Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) used to be called poverty.”

The company intends to grow its Austin-based team, and is currently looking for product managers, engineers and account executives (jobs). “If you or someone you know is looking to join a team working on very difficult, but solvable problems, we want to talk to you,” adds Gray. “The work can be challenging, but meaningful. If that’s appealing, please reach out.”