Amid rising food insecurity, the $250k investment from Pivotal Ventures will allow Helping Hands to expand its reach and empower more food banks and other community partners across the U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Helping Hands Community, a nonprofit serving those suffering from food insecurity, announced a $250k strategic investment from Pivotal Ventures. Founded by Melinda Gates, Pivotal Ventures expands equality and opportunity in the United States through investment, partnership and advocacy.
Created in March 2020 to support individuals most at risk for COVID-19, Helping Hands Community's technology platform connects food banks, food pantries, and other community organizations with volunteers and logistics providers - like Uber and Lyft - to safely deliver goods straight to the door of their vulnerable constituents.
The Helping Hands platform has proven crucial amid the pandemic, as food insecurity--the lack of access to quality food--has skyrocketed. Today, Feeding America predicts that 42 million people, including 13 million children, will experience food insecurity in 2021--a 16% increase from 2019. Further, many who are experiencing this hardship today cannot travel to pick up food due to economic, childcare, or transportation reasons, or because they are at high-risk for COVID-19. Home delivery is the only way to serve the most vulnerable constituents who cannot safely leave their homes. As such, nonprofits have been put in a perilous position over the past year, as the pandemic has increased demand while making it harder to provide services to those in need.
Looking beyond the global pandemic, home delivery can be a better and more equitable way to serve people by saving them time and money associated with going to local food pantries. Premium service levels that save people time have given rise to the on-demand economy and to companies like Uber. Helping Hands Community extends this similar premium service to those who need it most, conveniently getting them the food they need at their doorstep.
"Helping Hands' empowers local nonprofits to dramatically scale their impact through last-mile delivery technology, creating a ripple effect on communities," said John Sage, CEO at Pivotal Ventures. "Pivotal invests in innovative solutions that help people improve their own lives and the lives of others. Our investment in Helping Hands will do just that, by allowing the organization to grow and serve even more people in need throughout the U.S."
"Equipped with learnings from many years with Uber, our co-founding team started Helping Hands at the beginning of the pandemic with a simple goal: build a technology solution to serve the most vulnerable members of our communities. Since inception, I'm proud that Helping Hand's technology platform has helped to deliver over 500,000 meals, to more than 50,000 families impacted by food insecurity across the country," said Jeff Miller, CEO and co-founder of Helping Hands. "Pivotal's investment is an exciting validation of our impact and will allow us to extend our technology solution to more food banks, enabling them to deliver a premium level of home-delivery service to their constituents."
Pivotal Ventures investment will also allow Helping Hands to augment its current organization of 150 part-time volunteers with some critical full-time paid roles, to expand the capabilities of its tech platform and extend it to more partners across the country.
To learn more about Helping Hands, visit helping hands.community. And Jeff Miller's latest Medium post.
To learn more about Pivotal Ventures, pivotalventures.org
About Helping Hands Community
Helping Hands Community is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving vulnerable community members impacted by Food Insecurity. Our technology platform connects partners—including food banks, food pantries, and community groups—with local community volunteers and logistic providers - like Uber and Lyft - to ensure food and other essential goods get delivered safely. Our work enables at-risk community members to stay home and stay safe while still receiving home delivery of the food and support they need. Founded by veterans of Uber, Facebook, and Google, the Helping Hands Community organization is built and operated by a diverse group of more than 150 volunteers nationwide.
SOURCE Pivotal Ventures
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